COLONEL SAUNDERS. FINGER LICKIN’ OLD

If you’re stuck in a rut but think it’s too late to start your own business, consider ‘Colonel’ Harland Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

A true silver entrepreneur, Colonel Sanders didn’t launch KFC until he was 64 years old. His path to success wasn’t finger-lickin’ easy.

Born in 1890, Sanders held various jobs—steamboat pilot, railroad fireman and farmer—before running a small restaurant out of a Kentucky gas station in his 40s. The combined operation was called ‘Saunders Court and Café.’

FINGER LICKIN’ RECIPE

It was there Saunders developed his famous fried chicken recipe, which quickly became a hit with truck drivers and families alike.

At the age of 60, Sanders faced a major setback: a new highway was built that diverted traffic away from his restaurant. Business dried up overnight.

But instead of retiring, Sanders embraced the entrepreneurial spirit.

Armed with little more than his secret recipe, he hit the road. Traveling across the country he worked to franchise his fried chicken concept and create Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Saunders secured his first franchise deal in 1952 with a restaurant owner in Utah called Peter Harman.

Legend has it that the slogan ‘Finger Licking Good’ was created soon after, from an ad lib on a commercial shoot.

By 1964, KFC had grown to over 600 outlets across North America.

Now in his 70s, Colonel Sanders became a multi-millionaire, and the moustachio’d public face of his exploding franchise business.

SILVER ENTREPRENEURS SUCCEED

One of the most in-depth studies on the relationship between age and startup success was conducted by researchers from MIT, Northwestern, Wharton, and the U.S. Census Bureau. (Sadly, no such comprehensive study has been carried out in the UK.)

The study found that the average age of U.S startup founders was 42.

Even in high-tech sectors—where you might assume founders are younger—the average age was 43. And for founders of ultra-fast growth unicorns, the average age was 45.

A 50-year-old founder is twice as likely to build a thriving enterprise—one that goes public or is acquired—than a 30-year-old founder.

So although a youth infatuated media may tell you otherwise, it seems that when it comes to starting a business, experience counts.