Dearest Reader, welcome to the month of March, welcome to a new week!

Wherever you are reading this from, my sincere desire for you is that this month becomes a better month for you than the last. My name is Miracle, I recently joined the CC Team and this is my first article on the blog, yaaaay!

I promise to make it worth your while, especially if you love food like I do. Though many people will ask; how do I love food so much and I am still just a skinny girl. Well, I can’t answer that question on an empty stomach. Bring me a wrap of shawarma or a plate of chicken and we can talk better…

 

Back to business, have you ever wondered how some businesses move from regular businesses to become global brands?

Is it something you ponder about like I do? I mean, isn’t it crazy? Out of millions of businesses in the world, how did these small everyday businesses move from being a regular business to becoming a highly sort-after global brand?

Is it money?

But we have seen companies with big bucks pack up shops and never to see the light of day again.

Is it the business type?

But to every business that survived, a thousand and one died along the way.

Is it about the founders themselves? 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

But what then are the strategies they applied to get them there?

Well, you are about to find out…

Once again, welcome, this is the CC Blog…

Now let us begin…

Man & this Weapon called ‘Tech’

Life as we know it is an evolving story; an incredible tale of many stories, one which we will never know its origin or its ending. Same with business; one cannot truly tell which business will succeed or fail in the marketplace. However, one can tell that those who succeed learnt early enough to embrace change, adapt to new situations and adopt new strategies to grow.

It is true that technology has come to help humans, and it has come to stay; those making the most of technology are those who have decided to integrate technology into their sales and marketing processes.

Examples…

Amazon became a multi-billion dollar company leveraging technology early enough…

Apple became the first trillion dollar company by leveraging health and tech

Microsoft is fast reclaiming its spot in the tech space by leveraging Ai technology

All over the globe, companies that thrive leverage technology. In Nigeria, e-commerce brands like Jumia, Konga, Jiji and all other fast growing e-commerce brands have been able to experience growth by integrating technology into their businesses, and selling online.

In today’s post, we will be looking at the humble beginning of a global brand and how they have been able to grow to become the global brand that they are, through the use of technology in marketing.

A Smile That Makes Hunger Go Away

 

You must have seen this food restaurant on your way to school, church or work place! It’s so popular that even a little kid can recognize the brand’s face anywhere and anytime. That’s how well the KFC brand has grown.

Did you, like millions of others, love getting your favourite chicken at KFC? Are you aware that KFC serves more than 20 billion pieces of chicken every day? But it wasn’t always so.

How did the smile of one man become the recipe to make hunger go away?

How did Colonel Sanders, a 65year old man build KFC to become a multibillion-dollar brand that it is today. Again, it wasn’t always so…

How It All Began…

The Failed Marriage and Losing as a Parent

It is often said the worst mistake anyone can make is marrying the wrong person. A life partner contributes significantly to your general success in life and in business. However, did Colonel Sanders marry the wrong person or was he the wrong person to be married to at the time?

Think of it this way, life can be tough on young men just starting life. I mean, Sanders became an expert chef after his father passed away when he was only 6 years old. Subsequently, he left home before turning fifteen and dropped out of school at 16. The 16-year-old Sanders was captivated by the trains. In his memoirs, he stated, “If anything in those days had a future for a young man full of ambition, it was the country’s railroads.”

He joined the US Army and was released from service before turning seventeen.

At age 20, his wife left him and took their baby daughter. I wonder how he would have felt at the time. This led to him trying to kidnap his own daughter, which he failed at. Soon after, he became a cook in a small cafe and convinced his wife to return home.

But things didn’t turn rosy immediately.

The young colonel was having trouble keeping a job. He had series of bad employment and failed business endeavors during his 20s and 30s. His brief legal career came to an abrupt end when he got into a confrontation with one of his clients. Later, he worked as an insurance salesperson but was fired.

His whole life literally reeked of failures and rejections.

Failed time in military service

Failed marriage

Failed as a parent

Failed as a legal practitioner

Failed as a sales person

However, after all these failures and rejections, Sanders never lost hope. He was a man with great ambitions and he had strong belief in himself. This belief helped him to be persistent until a particular restaurant decided to sell his fried chicken recipe… Brings me to my first Recipe of Success:

 

Recipe 1

The No.1 Recipe for Success is Persistency & Consistency

Rejection has a way of weighing one down. As an entrepreneur, you will face a lot of rejections and failures, however, your ability to stay up at night still working on the business and wake up early to work on the business despite these failures is what will eventually bring you success.

You cannot get results if you give up half way. Whatever you stay long enough with is bound to produce results.

Most global brands have one thing in common, PERSISTENCY. It doesn’t matter what happened along the way, they stayed committed to the vision. You can’t fold up each time there are storms and expect to become a global business. You have to toughen up and brace the storms.

 

Recipe 2

A FOOL AT 62

There is an overwhelming concept of success being tied to age. At certain age you are expected to have done xyz and achieved abc. It is strange how, once a man begins to approach 30, there is an unspoken pressure to achieve something. If there is nothing to show in terms of material or financial success, he is considered a failure.

However, I have come to realize that life is a music with different tunes for different folks. The way we dance to the music of life differs greatly. Colonel Sanders only became successful at the age of 62/65. Does it mean we should not try to achieve success early? No. It means, sometimes, we need to learn that success can be instant and it can also take a long time.

You are not a failure as a business owner as long as there is still a business to run.

It doesn’t matter if you are not making millions yet, keep going.

You are not a fool at 40 because you are yet to hit the big bucks. Keep going, success is coming.

Dearest Reader, as much as I would love to go into the Marketing Strategies of KFC, I really just wanted to introduce myself to you with this writeup. I will be back. In my next article, I will share the Marketing Strategies of KFC and what you can learn from it to grow your own business.

Till I see you again, be good.

Miracle Salifu

Categories: Blog

3 comments

  1. This is a wonderful piece, though have a read a part of his story, yet this shed light more on his determination to success.

    Cheers Miracle!!! Creative Chaos got themselves a fire piece.

  2. This is really motivational. Thanks Mimi for bringing my attention to this by posting it on your WhatsApp status. This is just the boost I need.

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