1009 rejections before finding a taker for KFC recipe
Antarctica is the only continent that doesn't have a KFC for obvious reasons. When Colonel Harland Sanders founded his first restaurant at age 39, he never imagined it would be around the world today. Sanders didn't have the most leisurely start in life; his dad died when he was 4, he dropped out of school in the seventh grade, and he worked many jobs until his middle age. If you can name the job, he probably had it; they included:
Farmhand
Painting horse carriages
Train car conductor
US Army wagoner
Blacksmith's helper
Train cleaner
Fireman
Railroad laborer
Lawyer
Life insurance salesman
Ferry boat operator
Secretary at the Chamber of Commerce
Start a lamp company
Tire salesman
Service station operator
It took until Harland was in his 40s that he discovered his true passion: cooking. In 1930, he started serving food, including fried chicken, at the service station he was operating in Kentucky. The food was good, and cooking helped him finalize his secret KFC recipe in 1939. Still, Sanders would face setbacks due to World War II, forcing him to get other jobs to make ends meet, such as a supervisor or running cafeterias.
In 1952, Harland franchised his fried chicken recipe for the first time to spawn the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Utah. The hearsay goes that 1009 restaurants rejected him over the years before he found his first taker for his recipe.
Four years later, at 65, his original Kentucky restaurant failed due to a newly built highway reducing traffic, and Sanders being broke caused him to start seeking additional franchising opportunities. Harland would find takers much more quickly this time. By 1960, KFC expanded to 200 restaurants, and over 600 four years later.
Today, KFC is one of the largest restaurant chains in the world, with over 27,000 restaurants. It is also a Christmas tradition in Japan, and there are still commercials highlighting Colonel Sanders to this day.
Quotes
He had encountered repeated failure largely through bullheadedness, a lack of self-control, impatience, and a self-righteous lack of diplomacy
John Ed Pearce
I only have two rules: Do all you can, and do the best you can.
Colonel Sanders
References
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KFC
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The Story of Colonel Sanders, KFC Founder
It was hard work and dogged determination in the face of bad luck, and even worse judgement, that eventually brought Harland Sanders success. But that success didn’t come quickly
Fleximize
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Wikipedia
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statista
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The Tragic, Real-Life Story Of Colonel Sanders
Some of his career highlights included getting into a fistfight with his own client during a court case and leaving the ferry business after the construction of a nearby bridge put him out of work. As he left his youth and entered middle-age, it became increasingly likely that Sanders would never achieve the success which his hard work demanded.
Mashed
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Colonel Sanders Failed 1009 Times Before Succeeding
If the owner liked the chicken, they would enter into a handshake agreement to sell his chicken. He was turned down 1009 times before his chicken was accepted once!
Medium
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The Life of Colonel Sanders
Famously, Sanders' life had more ups and downs than the hero of a Dickens novel, making his success story all the more improbable.
Snopes
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About Utah: Story of first KFC shows anything can happen
But if it weren't for what happened here at the corner of 3900 South and State Street — smack in the heart of the Salt Lake Valley and a good 1,500 miles from Kentucky — it's entirely probable that the world would never have experienced the soothing southern comfort of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Deseret News
