Fred DeLuca was an American businessman and co-founder of the Subway franchises of sandwich shops. With a net worth of more than $3 billion dollars, DeLuca suffered a fate at the hands of Leukemia. Author of several books, DeLuca started his business with just $1,000 loaned from a family friend. Here is a look at some of the most monumental Fred DeLuca quotes ever recorded.
“Be positive. The school of hard knocks will beat you down, but not if you keep a positive attitude.”
“Continuously improve your business. It’s the best way to attract customers, and generate sales and profit.”
“Earn a few pennies. It’s good practice before you earn those dollars.”
“Even if you set a long-term goal, that doesn’t mean it’s a straight-line journey. Often, there are problems and obstacles along the way.”
“Everybody eats three times a day; it’s only a question of where they choose to eat. The longer-term trends are people eat out more often.”
“Everybody who goes through the business will make mistakes. The big question is how big will the mistakes be? How fast will they learn from the mistakes, and how quickly will they get the business in the correct direction?”
“Franchise profitability is the most important mission of the franchisor!”
“How you handle the obstacles has a big impact on how you do. If you give up, then you obviously don’t get there, but if you’re persistent, and you keep thinking of new ways to approach the business, you’re more likely to reach your goal.”
“I focused on the short-term objective of getting a store open, and not the long-term goal of thirty-two stores in ten years.”
“I made the first sandwich before entering college.”
We are saddened by the loss of our longtime friend & founder of @SUBWAY Fred DeLuca. He will be missed. pic.twitter.com/MwEdDaNC9z
— INVNT (@INVNT) September 18, 2015
“I was able to solve enough big problems along the way that the sheriff didn’t come along and put the ‘bankruptcy’ sign up.”
“If I were in charge of the government, I would index the minimum wage to inflation, so that way, everybody knows what they can count on.”
“If someone wants to eat healthy, they can do that and get the sandwich exactly right. I’m so pleased we’re able to influence so many people and their eating habits.”
“In a typical situation, it’s going to take pretty close to a year to get your location in, get your permits, and then get open.”
“It’s tough for people to get into business, especially a small business.”
“Keep the faith. Believe in yourself and your business, even when others don’t.”
“Keep your expenses low, collect any money due you as soon as possible, and borrow money before you need to.”
“Knowing less and actually doing something is far better than knowing everything and never doing anything at all.”
“Never run out of money. Borrow before you need to.”
“Opportunity waits for no one. Good or bad, breaks are what you make them.”
Fred DeLuca (co-founder and CEO at Subway); Milford, CT pic.twitter.com/sRhDqcJxiH
— Food People (@HairyAward) September 18, 2015
“People who give up ultimately have to go back and start all over again. Never give up!”
“Profit or perish. Increase sales, decrease costs. Anything less and your business will perish.”
“Profit or perish… There are only two ways to make money: increase sales and decrease costs.”
“The payroll tax is affecting sales. It’s causing sales declines.”
“The people who come to work deserve to be paid properly, and there’s no excuse. I could understand someone making a small error, but sometimes people make systematic errors, and that’s not right.”
“There are so many ingredients that are approved for use. You can’t be an expert on all of them.”
“There may be a perception that, with franchises, they’re all the same, so that limits the ability to experiment. But that’s not true. We’ve always kept two slots open on the menu of each Subway franchise – slots that franchisees can use to come up with their own sandwich ideas.”
“There’s huge access to information. If you need to learn something, you can go on the Internet and learn very quickly. You can reach across miles and miles to find companies that can assist you.”
“Unfortunately, few take the first bold step to actually start a business. Few can muster the energy and commitment to begin…”
“We decided to just go ahead and do it.”
Franchising411: #TBT to 2005 when Subway’s co-founder and CEO Fred DeLuca was presented with the prestigious Hall … pic.twitter.com/METySd8hzc
— ClickTecs (@clicktecs) September 17, 2015
“We give great value for our franchisees: They can build a store for well under $200,000. And we have extremely simple operating systems. The preparation is mostly done in front of the customer. That simplicity is really what attracts our Subway franchise. You see it, and you can do it.”
“We’re very much in the people business in that there are two important groups you have to work with: customers and employees.”
“When I started in the business, the minimum wage was $1.25. I’ve seen an enormous number of wage increases. Basically, it applies evenly to everyone in the business.”
“You could have everything right but be in the wrong place. You think your business is no good, but really, the problem is your place is no good.”
“You have to be able to communicate the vision to the people in your organization so that they know where and how they should direct themselves on a day-to-day basis.”
“You have to realize that the customer really is king. People who go into more established businesses probably have to be careful not to be casual about that.”
“You only fail if you quit.”
“You really have to understand this isn’t a business where you sit in the back room and do calculations – you have to be very concerned about employees and customers, because that’s really what’s going to bring you success.”
“You’ve got to say yes to something if you want to start and build a business.”
Here is a look at the Subway Co-Founder as featured on Bloomberg. Planning more than a 100,000 locations, Fred Deluca looks back at the history and success of Subway Restaurants.
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