Founder of KFC – Who doesn’t know KFC? Of course 90 percent of Indonesian people, especially those who live in urban areas, have and often eat fast food which is quite popular. The main menu of KFC is the fried chicken. KFC or Kentucky Fried Chicken is indeed very popular and already has hundreds of branches spread in almost all corners of the world.
This fast food restaurant which is synonymous with crispy fried chicken was founded by someone named Harland David Sanders. For those of you who have bought KFC, you will definitely be familiar with the faces of the grandparents in various corners of the restaurant. Well, the grandfather’s face is Harland David Sanders, the founder of KFC, our favorite fast food restaurant. Usually, he is known as Colonel Sanders.
At KFC restaurants, most people don’t only make processed fried chicken. However, the biography of Colonel Sanders is also often sought after by many people, especially KFC or Kentucky Fried Chicken fans. Because, his story and also his life journey and his career journey to achieve success have inspired many people. So, for those of you who are curious about the founder of KFC alias Colonel Sanders, in this article we will thoroughly discuss the biography of the founder of KFC. You can use this as motivation to build your own business. The following is a full explanation.
Colonel Sanders Brief Biography
Harland Sanders or better known as Colonel Sanders was born on September 9, 1890 in Henryville, Indiana, United States. Sanders is the eldest child of the couple Wilbur David and Margaret Ann Sanders. The father works on one of the plantations and sometimes earns additional income by working in a slaughterhouse. While his mother is a housewife whose job is to look after and care for Sanders and also her two younger siblings. At the age of 6 years, Sanders has experienced a difficult period in his life. Where at that time the mother had to look for work outside to help the father support the needs of his family.
Even Sanders had to switch positions to look after his siblings and also cook. Therefore, Sanders has become accustomed to cooking activities, because he has been doing these activities continuously since he was 10 years old. So Sanders felt that he had sufficient cooking skills. For a child at his age, Sanders can cook various kinds of menus and can use knives and other cooking utensils properly and skillfully.
At the age of 12, his mother decided to remarry. Then after that it turned out that Sanders didn’t get along with his stepfather. Because of this, his performance at school fell apart. Then at the age of 13 when Sanders was in the 7th grade of middle school, Sanders was naked to get out of school and decided to leave the house. He then worked odd jobs to survive. Where one of the jobs he ever did was to be a horse-drawn carriage painter in Indianapolis. Then at the age of 14, Sanders moved to Southern Indiana and worked on one of Sam Wilson’s farms.
When working as a farmhand, Sanders could only earn no more than sixteen cents. Not only that, Sanders also worked as a parking attendant. After obtaining approval from his mother, finally Sanders and his uncle went to New Albany Indiana in 1906. At that time, his uncle worked for a tram company and Sanders was also used as a conductor.
Faking Date of Birth to Join the United States Army
He has tried various kinds of jobs to be able to finance daily life for himself or his family. Even in 1906, when he was only 16 years old, he falsified his date of birth in order to enlist in the United States Army. The method turned out to be successful and Sanders got his first assignment in Cuba and one year later he was honorably discharged.
Changing Places of Residence Until Marriage
After quitting the United States Army in 1907, Sanders then returned to live with his uncle in Sheffield, Alabama. Sanders was working for the Southern Railway working as a blacksmith at the workshops. Then after that, Sanders had time to change residence and also work. Then in 1909, Sanders met a woman named Josephine and they finally married.
Studying Law
In the same year as when he met and married Josephine, Sanders then began studying law at La Salle Extension University. There, Sanders continued to explore his abilities until he finally got a diploma in law. Even though he has often handled a case in several courts in Little Arkansas. But Sanders still feels that his income is still far below standard. Until he thought that the diploma he had obtained was useless.
Established a Ferry Company But Failed
In 1920, Sanders founded a cherry boat company. This effort is considered quite successful. In just two years, the ferry company owned by Sanders has generated profits of up to thousands of duake and is also being looked at by investors. Ultimately, in 1923, Sanders gave up the company and sold it to investors. The proceeds from the sale of the company were used by Sanders to establish a new company, namely lighting in 1924. However, the company failed miserably in the middle of the journey because another power company emerged that was more dominant and could create new technology.
Moved to Corbin, Kentucky, which became the forerunner to the creation of KFC
After his lighting company failed, Sanders then decided to move from Indiana to Kentucky. This is where Sanders opened a gas station. But unfortunately this effort was also not successful because in 1930 the United States experienced a very severe economic crisis. Where the crisis is known to the world as “The Great Depression”. After the crisis, Sanders tried to return his luck by turning his gas station into a restaurant called “Harland Sanders Restaurant”. With his cooking skills, Sanders is able to provide a variety of food menus, from fried chicken to steak. Apparently, this one business was quite successful and lasted for dozens of years.
Because the restaurant is quite famous in the Kentucky area. Sanders became known by the people there as “Colonel Sanders”. Despite the fact that Sanders never earned the title of colonel while he was still in the military. But the colonel here doesn’t mean the military force, but the colonel in the fried chicken bucket. The popularity of these foods is growing very rapidly. So that in 1939, Sanders was able to buy a motel in Asheville, North Carolina which he later turned into a restaurant. But sadly, in November 1939, that place caught fire. Therefore, Sanders had to rebuild his restaurant, with an increasing number of seats.
Fall Bankrupt
Several years later, the layout of the city of Kentucky began to change. So the Sanders restaurant is no longer strategic and attracts visitors to come. That is one of the reasons why he was forced to sell the place to eat through an open auction at a fairly cheap price of 70,000 dollars. This amount is not even enough to pay off all the debts.
Love the Fried Chicken
Sanders is a fan of fried chicken who doesn’t use the classic method, namely by using oil that doesn’t produce the flavor he wants. Then in 1939, Sanders found a fairly effective way to fry chicken. One of the things that helped him in discovering his new method was the invention of a pressure cooker or pressure cooker that could produce delicious and fresh chicken in just ten seconds by steaming.
Spent More Than A Year Testing Fried Chicken Recipes
Harland Sanders realized that all this time the customers at his restaurant really liked his fried chicken. Then he tried to redevelop the fried chicken recipe and make it a business. With the capital he had at that time, Sanders spent about 1 year doing various kinds of trials with his fried chicken recipe. Then in 1940, Sanders had succeeded in completing his secret recipe for frying chicken so that it was tasty, delicious and fresh.
Experiencing Lots of Rejection
Harland Sanders tries to sell a KFC-style fried chicken recipe to restaurants in the Outta area, USA. Sanders tried to offer the recipe for his discovery. At that time, Sanders went directly to markets to promote the idea of selling his KFC chicken even though he was old and had rheumatic diseases. Sanders sometimes fell asleep in the car to meet the needs of his hotel. During the two years he went around offering his recipe, Sanders could only satisfy five restaurants. The chicken recipe he made was mostly laughed at and rejected. During his two years of touring, Sanders received more than 1000 rejections. But tirelessly, Sanders remains convinced that he will succeed if he keeps trying.
Opened a Special Fried Chicken Restaurant
Because Sanders’ fried chicken recipe was simply delicious, the small business paid off. Where in 1953, he decided to open another restaurant that specifically sells fried chicken. This one restaurant is named Kentucky Fried Chicken or KfC. In his restaurant, Sanders serves a variety of Colonel Sanders’ signature fried chicken menus which have been seasoned with eleven secret spices. That restaurant grew very rapidly and eventually became one of the largest fast food franchises in the world. Colonel Sanders’ KFC is finally successful. By the time KfC was famous, Sanders was nearly 70 years old at the time.
Success in Old Age
By 1963, the KFC franchise had successfully covered six hundred restaurants. This amount is certainly very large and it is impossible for Sander to manage it alone. Therefore, Sanders decided to sell his business or business to John Brown Junior and also a billionaire, Jack Mass for one million dollars. Not only that, from this, Sanders continued to earn a monthly salary of four thousand dollars for life and then increased to seventy thousand dollars in exchange for the consultant role, the advertisements Sanders had published, and his position as one of the company’s main directors.
Still Working in Old Age
Sanders could get KFC’s success when he was old. Of course, this made him accustomed to working with his old body. At the age of eight, Sanders is still working to promote KFC in various regions. Even though at that time his wealth was so great that it was countless. But Sanders still frequently visits KFC branches in various regions and even countries to provide motivation, promotions, or carry out inspections.
Harland Sanders Dies
In 1980, Sanders was diagnosed with leukemia. Then he died on December 6, 1980 at the age of 90 years. Sanders died at the Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky and was later buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. After Sanders died, in 1982, the KFC franchise business became part of the Reynolds subsidiary and in 1986, KFC was bought again by the Pepsi Cola company for eight hundred and forty million dollars. Then in 1995, the number of fried chicken restaurants reached nine thousand. While the employees working at the restaurant reach seven hundred and fifty thousand people spread across ninety-two countries in the world.
Success Lessons From the Founder of KFC
The story of the founder of KFC’s career is certainly very inspiring for many people. Where it is possible that people at that time underestimated Sanders because he was too old to achieve success. But look, in the end Sanders was able to succeed and have a lot of achievements in his old age. The following are some lessons we can take from the success story of the founder of KFC: Colonel Sanders.
a. We Must Go Through Failure To Achieve A Success
In the discussion above, we already know that Sanders received more than 1,000 rejections before finally succeeding in selling his fried chicken recipe to restaurants or places to eat. Not only that, but Sanders also always fails in every career path he tries to take. Even Sanders has tried various jobs or businesses and all failed at the age of 10 to 40 years. By simply showing that no matter how many failures you face in life, there will always be time to become someone who succeeds. For anyone reading this article and thinking that it’s too late to make a new breakthrough in your life, then you think again.
b. There is never an age limit to be successful
By the time KFC achieved success and sold it for two million dollars, Colonel Sanders was already 75 years old. However, he still serves as one of the company’s spokespersons even though the company has been successfully sold. Maybe at the age of 75, most people will give up on doing great things and achieving unfulfilled dreams. In fact, many people have stopped thinking that they can be successful in their 30s. However, Sanders did not think so. Therefore, he was finally able to become the founder of KFC and was successful in his old age.
Those are some explanations about the founder of KFC and how the story of his journey to become the most successful fried chicken restaurant in the world. Are you inspired by the hard work of Colonel Sanders?