Have you heard of the name colonel Sanders? No. But you must have seen that guy. Yes, he is the same guy who smiles at you when you buy something from KFC. He is the guy who started the world-famous secret recipe of fried chicken.

In this story, we’ll talk about how even after facing multiple rejections and failures, this guy succeded finally.

Who is Colonel Sanders?

Colonel Harland David Sanders was an American businessman who founded the fast-food restaurant chain KFC. Yes, he is the same guy who smiles at you when you buy fast food from KFC.

He was born in 1890. His father died when he was only five years old. So, his mother had to take care of young Sanders along with his two siblings. She had to move out for work and sanders was the only one to look after his siblings at home. This helped him to be skilled at cooking bread, vegetables, and meat. And he was only 7 years old at that time.

He started working in the farmlands by the age of 10. In 1902 his mother remarried that created a bad environment for him. This forced him to leave home at 14.

Sanders took dozens of jobs that never really stick with him. In 1906, he took a job as a bus conductor. He worked as a blacksmith’s helper in the workshops. He also got the job of cleaning the ash pans of trains. He became fireman at the age of 16 for three years.

He studied law and practiced law for some years. But, his law career came to an end after the courtroom brawl with his own client. This incident forced sanders to move back in with his mother and worked as a laborer. In 1916, he got a job as a salesman of Life Insurance where he was fired after a short time because of insubordination.

In 1920, he established a boat company in the Ohio River that became an instant success. From 1920 to 1930 he established an acetylene lamp company that failed and sold tires in Winchester Kentucky. During the great depression, the station where he sold tires closed.

The Beginning of KFC

In 1930, he opened a restaurant inside a Shell oil company, North Corbin, Kentucky to serve chicken dishes and other meals. His local popularity started growing and In 1939, he started a motel and restaurant. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by fire just four months later.

He rebuilt the motel in 1940 but it didn’t last long either. World War 2 forced him to close it down. He started his secret recipe ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken’ franchise for the first time in 1952.

In 1955, once again one of his restaurants failed after an Interstate route that led traffic past that restaurant, was changed. In the same year, he was just left with a $105 social security check to his name.

At the age of 65-years old, he set out to sell his franchised-chicken model to restaurants across the country. He traveled door to door houses and restaurants all over his local area.

He was famously rejected by 1,009 restaurants before one agreed to his idea. He wanted to find someone to help promote his chicken recipe but was faced with a lot of disappointments.

He was rejected by 1009 restaurants before one agreed to his idea. And then everyone knows the story.

When most people think of retiring, this man set out to share his secret recipe for fried chicken, faced multiple rejections, and finally succeeded.

In 1964, he sold he had more than 600 franchises with his trademark and sold the Kentucky Fried Chicken corporation for $2 million.

He is an inspiration for all of us to never stop trying because of failure and rejections. And it’s never too late to build your dream.