If we compare the labels of these various cereals we’ll find that the brand name products are pretty similar to the generic products. In fact, the only real difference appears to be the price. The generic cereal costs less. So what are we going to do? More often than not, people will spend a little more and buy the brand name.
The fact is, branded products sell, and they sell for more than unbranded products.
Lesson Fifteen: Opportunity Waits for No One. When my business partner, Pete Buck, who you’ll soon read more about, invited me to go into business with him, I had the choice of saying yes or no. If I had said no I don’t know what I’d be doing today, and there’s a chance Pete would have offered the same opportunity to someone else. Of course, it was easy for me to say yes because of the circumstances. First, I had nothing better to do, and second, Pete was investing the money. Nonetheless, when you’re faced with opportunity it’s important to be prepared to say yes before the opportunity goes elsewhere.
This is not to say that I believe in taking every opportunity that comes along. But you’ve got to say yes to something if you want to start and build a business.
* * *
There you have them. Now that it’s clear how I learned these Fifteen Key Lessons, and what they mean, let’s move on. I’m going to tell you my story in the next chapter, and then, through the resourceful research and writing of my co-author, John Hayes, I’ll tell you the stories of other microentrepreneurs who collectively have implemented all of the lessons in their businesses. You’ll find these stories in Chapters 4 through 18. Finally, I’ll conclude the book with some ideas and information about how you can apply the lessons that I’m sharing with you. You’ll also find more information in the Appendixes about microenterprise, microlenders, and how you can start a Micro Investment Lending Enterprise in your city.
Besides the help these Fifteen Key Lessons gave me, I truly believe they can help most people who start small. Thirty-five years ago, just out of high school, I planned to be a medical doctor. One day Pete Buck, a family friend, suggested that I open a tiny sandwich shop to earn my college tuition money. What I didn’t know—what no one knew—was that Pete’s idea would lead to the creation of Subway, the world’s largest chain of sandwich shops, and for many years, the world’s fastest-growing franchise company. Even in my wildest dreams I couldn’t have imagined how this opportunity would change my life, or how the resulting business would impact the lives of thousands of people worldwide. Now, with more than 36,000 restaurants in more than ninety eight countries, and annual sales in excess of $16billion, even I admit it’s an incredible story.
But beyond the importance of the Fifteen Key Lessons, there’s a valuable take-away message that I want to be sure you understand before we go any further. You can adapt these lessons to your business, either one that already exists, or one that you plan to start. You can use these lessons to build an exciting and rewarding business. You can use these lessons to start small and finish big. I’ve done it, others have done it, and you can do it, too!
chapter three
My Story
How a seventeen-year-old kid from “The Projects” started Subway Restaurants with a microloan of $1,000.
This story could have happened to almost anyone, anywhere. Carmela Ombres and Salvatore DeLuca just so happened to live in Brooklyn in the 1940s. One day they met, and not long thereafter they were married. In 1947 they had a son, and that was me.
For the first several years of my life we lived in the basement apartment of a two-family house. It was a humble, low-rent apartment, something that newlyweds could afford. When I was five, we moved to the Bronx to a new development, which everyone called “The Projects.” It was public housing, one of many similar developments built after World War II. For the DeLuca family, it was a step up!
When I was ten, my dad’s employer, Empire Devices, moved its manufacturing facility 120 miles upstate to Amsterdam, New York. Since my mother had just given birth to my sister, Suzanne, and since my father’s job was fairly secure—he was the foreman of a small production line—we left the Bronx for a small apartment in Schenectady, near Amsterdam. And that’s where we met Pete Buck and his wife, Haydee, who soon became close friends.
It was an unlikely friendship in my estimation. Pete was a brilliant scientist who had earned a doctoral degree from Columbia University. My dad was a high school dropout who worked in an electrical factory. It didn’t seem the two could have much in common, but they became pals—bow hunting was among their favorite pastimes—and they frequently brought their families together for picnics and parties.
The family friendship was briefly interrupted in 1964. Empire Devices moved again, this time to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and once again we followed dad’s job. Much to our delight, Pete called several months later to say that he was switching jobs and moving his family to Armonk, New York, about forty miles from Bridgeport. One Sunday in July 1965, after nearly a year’s separation, we were invited to visit the Bucks’ new home and enjoy a family barbecue. That was the day Pete and I formed a business relationship that would eventually make a huge impact in the fast food industry.
I had just graduated from high school and my only real concern was to figure out how to pay my way through college. While I was growing up, my mother instilled in me the value of an education. She not only told me how important it was to go to school, she also gave me the confidence to believe that I could graduate from high school, and college, too. But in the summer of 1965 there wasn’t much hope that I could get through college because my family simply didn’t have the money. I worked at a local hardware store as a stock clerk earning $1.25, the minimum hourly wage. It was a good job for a kid, but it wasn’t going to provide the money I needed for a college education.
The more I thought about college, the more I wondered about how I could find the money. As we pulled into Pete’s driveway it occurred to me that I might ask Pete for some advice. The Bucks lived in a large white house built on three quarters of an acre, which to me seemed like a sprawling property. I was really impressed when I saw the two-car garage with two cars parked inside! Pete must have landed himself a great job, one that paid a lot of money, I thought to myself.
It was late afternoon when I saw the opportunity to talk privately with Pete in his backyard. His young children were playing in another part of the yard with my sister. My parents and Pete’s wife were sitting at the picnic table not far from the house, still catching up with each other’s lives. As Pete and I stood in the middle of his green lawn I said, “Pete, I want to go to college, to the University of Bridgeport, but I don’t have the money. And I was wondering if you had any ideas about how I might get the money to pay my way through school?”
When I asked that question I had a secret hope that Pete might offer to loan me the money and tell me to pay him back after I graduated. After all, he had known me for half my life and he liked me. Pete used to get a kick out of the way I thought through problems. He’d challenge me with mathematical games and I amused him by spitting out the answers in rapid fire. Pete knew that I was a hard worker, and while I wasn’t a straight-A student, I was competent and dependable. Once he heard how badly I wanted to go to college, and that I wanted to be a medical doctor, I thought there was a good chance he might help me financially.
But Pete looked at me, and without hesitation he said, “I think you should open a submarine sandwich shop.”
What?
Of all the possible answers, this was not one I expected. What an odd thing to say to a seventeen-year-old kid, especially one who came from a modest home where no one had ever owned a business. Sure, I had my own paper route and I participated in Junior Achievement where I learned a little about business, but I was just a kid! I didn’t know what to say. Fortunately, my natural curiosity took over, and before I could say yes or no, I heard myself asking