Success Story of Colonel Sanders (KFC)

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) may be considered as one of the best fast food restaurants in the world. But founder Colonel Sanders' recipe for success has a pinch of a rough past.

Harland Sanders was born on September 9, 1890 in Henryville, Indiana. Mr. Sanders had to step up and be the man of the house when his father went sick and eventually died. Being the eldest of the three, he was in charge of his siblings while her mother worked tediously to make ends meet. This is how he developed his skill in cooking, making this a significant part of his life.

When Harland turned 15, he decided to leave the house because of his abusive stepfather. He was able to enter the US Army by falsifying his birth certificate.

After finishing his term in the Army, he worked on several jobs but didn’t last long, for what he only knows best is to cook. So when he worked permanently at a refilling station in 1930, he began serving meals that he learned from his mother. People loved the food, especially his fried chicken which people dubbed as Kentucky’s national dish. It was such a huge success that in 1935 he was awarded the title Kentucky Colonel by Governor Ruby Laffoon for excellent food and service.

Harland saw a great opportunity to turn his small business into a fast food restaurant, catering a bigger amount of customers. He started introducing new dishes and improving their services. In 1940, Colonel Sanders began to develop a fried chicken recipe that will soon become KFC’s best recipe to success.

With his fried chicken, Sanders decided to sell his secret recipe to possible investors. It took some time before he made a deal. It was Pete Harman who realized the potential of Colonel’s food. They launched a new restaurant in 1952 and called it Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The restaurant had over 600 franchises already when Colonel Sanders decided to sell the business operations in 1964, on the condition that he gets $2million in cash and will remain as the face of the business for which he will receive $250,000 annually. Colonel continued as the restaurant’s spokesman until he died in December 1980 at the age of 90 due to leukemia.

KFC may have undergone several franchise transfers, but Colonel Harland Sanders' brainchild recipe remains as one of the most loved in the world of fried chicken.