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DAVE THOMAS
“Don’t just study people who succeed, study people who handle success well.”
—Dave Thomas
Dave Thomas was adopted by a loving family, but his mother died when he was only five. His father remarried three times, and the family moved more than a dozen times before Dave reached his mid-teens. The only constant in his life was his grandmother, who gave him security and taught him the pleasure of hard work. Dave remembers first learning about restaurants because his father took him out to eat quite often. Since he liked to eat, Dave thought that owning a restaurant would be a great career. He took a job at a Hobby House restaurant, and when his father moved again, Dave stayed behind. At age fifteen, he was on his own.
During the Korean War, Dave joined the army and attended its Cook and Baker’s School. After the war, he was given the opportunity to manage four Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants. Dave learned the business well and in 1968 sold his KFC stock to begin his own chain of restaurants named after his daughter Wendy. His concept was to create a better hamburger—made from fresh meat, made to order, and served in a relaxed, family atmosphere. Wendy’s grew rapidly until Thomas stepped out of the leadership in 1982. After several years of falling sales and declining quality, Thomas returned to the company as its “spokesman, in-house cheerleader, and roaming quality-control man.” Once back under the founder’s watchful eye, Wendy’s rebounded and once again began to prosper.
CONSIDER THIS: Success is a long-term proposition. It requires constant attention to the guiding principles that made you successful to begin with.
Submitted by Richard
“Don’t just study people who succeed, study people who handle success well.”
—Dave Thomas
Dave Thomas was adopted by a loving family, but his mother died when he was only five. His father remarried three times, and the family moved more than a dozen times before Dave reached his mid-teens. The only constant in his life was his grandmother, who gave him security and taught him the pleasure of hard work. Dave remembers first learning about restaurants because his father took him out to eat quite often. Since he liked to eat, Dave thought that owning a restaurant would be a great career. He took a job at a Hobby House restaurant, and when his father moved again, Dave stayed behind. At age fifteen, he was on his own.
During the Korean War, Dave joined the army and attended its Cook and Baker’s School. After the war, he was given the opportunity to manage four Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants. Dave learned the business well and in 1968 sold his KFC stock to begin his own chain of restaurants named after his daughter Wendy. His concept was to create a better hamburger—made from fresh meat, made to order, and served in a relaxed, family atmosphere. Wendy’s grew rapidly until Thomas stepped out of the leadership in 1982. After several years of falling sales and declining quality, Thomas returned to the company as its “spokesman, in-house cheerleader, and roaming quality-control man.” Once back under the founder’s watchful eye, Wendy’s rebounded and once again began to prosper.
CONSIDER THIS: Success is a long-term proposition. It requires constant attention to the guiding principles that made you successful to begin with.
Submitted by Richard
