Colonel Sanders: From Desperation to Success – The Inspiring Journey of the KFC Founder
Have you ever wondered who the man in the logo of Kentucky Fried Chicken, one of the most popular Fast Food brands in the world, is? This man with the goatee and glasses, the founder of KFC: Colonel Harland Sanders. He is a successful entrepreneur who managed to get up and achieve his dreams despite falling down many times.
Let's take a closer look at his story that will inspire us all…
Colonel Harland David Sanders was born in Indiana in 1890. Sanders, who lost his father at the age of 5, had to take care of his siblings when he was 5, after his mother had to work.
His culinary talent, which laid the foundations of KFC, began with cooking for his siblings.
Sanders, who started working at the age of 10, left school at 16 and had been laid off from four different jobs by the time he was 17. After his mother's marriage, he ran away from home because he could not get along with his stepfather, and he changed his date of birth on his ID card and joined the American army.
However, after a while he was discharged from the army.
Colonel Sanders married Josephine King at the age of 18. He worked as a conductor on trains until he was 22, but when he was fired from there, his wife left him, taking their children with her.
The Colonel and Josephine had three children, but the son did not live long. The Colonel was starting to have a very difficult time.
Sanders worked in many different jobs for many years, but was unsuccessful. Sanders considered committing suicide because of these failures. While thinking about these, he remembered that he was talented at something: cooking!
Thereupon, he decided to open a shop.
Sanders started selling fried chicken with his own special sauce in his first KFC shop, which he opened at a gas station in the city of Corbin, near Tennessee, and his menus quickly became very popular with customers.
Thereupon, he opened a motel opposite the gas station to provide better service to his customers. The governor of Kentucky gave Sanders the nickname “Colonel”, as his fame spread throughout the state in a short time.
This success of Colonel Sanders did not last long. The road on which Sanders served, which was a frequent destination for everyone, became unusable due to a newly built highway, and Sanders went bankrupt.
Sanders' clients dwindled and he eventually had to sell everything to pay off his debts.
He was 66 years old and broke, but he still wasn't going to give up!
Sanders, who only had his pension left, started looking for a dealer to sell his chickens. Sanders, who received rejection responses from 1008 restaurants in America with his car, managed to get his offer accepted by the 1009th restaurant he went to.
Finally, he found the appropriate starting point to introduce his recipe to customers.
Sanders' fried chickens, which receive a commission for each chicken he sells, were once again loved by customers. Orders were constantly increasing, and Sanders franchised hundreds of restaurants all over the United States.
The times of abundance in his life had begun, albeit late.
With KFC becoming a legend, Colonel Sanders sold his company to John Brown Jr. for $2 million, on the condition that he remain the official face of the company. Since he remained the official face of the company, he would be paid $250,000 every year.
KFC, which Colonel Sanders, who passed away at the age of 90, left behind despite all the troubles he experienced, is now one of the most popular fast-food brands in the world, serving at more than 19,000 points in 115 countries.
I would like to end my article with a Japanese proverb appropriate to the subject:
“Fall seven times, stand up eight times!”
