Deluca Fred - Start Small Finish Big : Fifteen Key Lessons to Start - and Run - Your Own Successful Business

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You Cant Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar (with David Sandler)

Philadelphia in Color

Taming Your Turmoil (with Peter L. Brill, M.D.)

Lonely Fighter

Mooney Warther : Life of theWorlds Master Carver

This book is sold with theunderstanding that neither the publisher nor the authors are engaged inrendering financial, legal, or other professional advice, and you shouldconsult with professional advisors before starting a business.

Store counts, facts and figureswhich were current at the time of the first printing have changed. For up todate information please log onto www.subway.com .

Copyright 2000 by Frederick A. DeLuca and John P. Hayes

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Mandevilla Press, 7 Indian Valley Road, Weston, CT06883

First Mandevilla Press Printing: July 2012

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

DeLuca ,Fred.

Startsmall, finish big : fifteen key lessons to startandrunyour own successful business / Fred DeLuca withJohn P. Hayes.

p . cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-62704-002-0

1. New business enterprises. 2. Entrepreneurship. 3.Self-employed. I. Hayes, JohnPhillip, 1949- II. Title.

HD62.5 .D448 2000

658'.041dc21

00-024986

This book is dedicatedto the memory of my dad Salvatore DeLuca who wasthere for me from the start and to my mother Carmela DeLuca ,who still encourages me to follow my dreams.

To Haydee Buck for her support and for my partner Pete Buck. It was Pete who had the idea tostart our small business and who had the vision that it would finish big.

To my wife Liz and sonJonthank you for everything.

Of course, this book isfor the members of the Subway family who are the foundation of this business. Eachday they make me proud that we continued on our journey toward successforwithout them this book would have not been written.

Lastly, to all the upand coming entrepreneursmay this book help you as you set out to make yourdreams a reality.

Fred DeLuca

For more informationabout the SUBWAY chain, visit www.subway.com. Find us on Facebook:Facebook.com/subway. Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ subwayfreshbuzz .

FRED DeLUCAS

Fifteen Key Lessons to StartandRunYour Own Successful Business

LessonOne Start Small

LessonTwo Earn a Few Pennies

Lesson Three Beginwith an Idea

LessonFour Think Like aVisionary

LessonFive Keep the Faith

LessonSix Ready, Fire, Aim!

Lesson Seven Profit orPerish

Lesson Eight Be Positive

LessonNine Continuously ImproveYour Business

LessonTen Believe in YourPeople

Lesson Eleven Never Run Out ofMoney

Lesson Twelve Attract New CustomersEvery Day

Lesson Thirteen Be Persistent: Dont Give Up

Lesson Fourteen Build a BrandName

Lesson Fifteen OpportunityWaits for No One

You can become part of it by starting small as a microentrepreneur .

P aul Orfalea doesnt read verywell, he has a short attention span, suffers from dyslexia, and he struggled toget through school. But one day, without any business experience and hardly anymoney, he leased a small space in a garage, leased a copy machine, and launchedthe business that we know today as Kinkos. Through trial and error, and byfollowing many of the lessons discussed in this book, Paul was able to turn aprofit and eventually expand his business. Today, having started with just$5,000, Kinkos has opened more than 1,000 business centers worldwide. Illtell you more about the development of Kinkos later in the book. For now,lets just say that Paul Orfalea started small andhes finishing big.

Mike Ilitch also started small, and hes finishing big, bigger than anyone could ever haveimagined. In his twenties, the only world Mike knew was baseball. He was anamazing high school athlete, so much so that the Detroit Tigers recruited himduring those years. After a stint in the Marine Corps, Mike joined one of theTigers farm teams. He played well for several years, until he broke his ankle,and soon thereafter his baseball career was history. What would he do now tosupport his young family? He floundered for several years until he opened asmall pizza shop. Even then, lacking experience, he experimented with one ideaafter another. Success wasnt an overnight phenomenon, but Mike paid attentionto the details of his business, he learned one lesson after another, andeventually he opened multiple shops. That was the beginning of the LittleCaesars pizza chain, now known in nearly every community of the United States.Today, Mike Ilitch not only owns Little Caesars, healso owns several major sports franchises in Detroitincluding the Tigersandmany other businesses. But Ill save the rest of Mikes story, too, for laterin the book.

Even though the storiesof Paul Orfalea and Mike Ilitch sound incredible, they are typical of the stories youll find in this book.They are typical, in fact, of business stories everywhere. I know because Istarted Subway with $1,000. My story shares many similarities with the storiesof Paul, Mike, and the others who youll soon meet. We all started withsmall amounts of money, and my overall message in this book is that you, too,may be able to start small and finish big.

At any given moment inthe world millions of people are thinking about starting a business. They arepeople like you and me, motivated by the desire to be their own boss and tobecome financially independent. Some want the freedom and the flexibility ofself-employment. Others want to make more money, and some are tired of makingmoney for others. Some have lost their jobs, some are about to lose their jobs,and many others are simply tired of their jobs. A business of their own, frightening though it may be, sounds like alogical next step. An exciting next step. If only theycan get started.

For most of thesemillions of people, starting a business will remain merely a dream, locked inthe depths of their hearts and minds. Its something to think about. Something to talk about around the kitchen table, especially withfamily and friends who share similar dreams. Unfortunately, few take thefirst bold step to actually start a business. Few can muster the energy andcommitment to begin.

Why?

For avariety of reasons, all of which may be valid. They think they dont have thecapital. They think they lack the experience. They think they dont have theeducation, or they dont know how. They dont feel confident with their plan.They think they need money to make money. And, perhaps more often than not,they never start because a family member or friend told them they couldnt doit: Youd be crazy to try... play it safe and stick with your job. So what if youre miserable. At least you get a paycheck every week.Small businesses never amount to much of anything anyway.

Does it sound familiar?

Are you among themillions of people who think about starting a business, but you just never get started? If you are, youll be glad you read StartSmall, Finish Big. The lessons and messages in this book are especially foryou.

Around the world, andespecially in the United States, there are plenty of people like Paul Orfalea and Mike Ilitch who starttiny businesses with less than $10,000 (frequently much less). We call theseenterprises microbusinesses , the people whostart them microentrepreneurs , and theorganizations that loan them start-up money microlenders .These are important concepts to me. Microentrepreneurs are frequently overlooked simply because their businesses are tiny, but many ofthem contribute significantly to the American economy, and to several economiesworldwide. Not to mention the fact that many microentrepreneurs generate sizable personal incomes, and they buildbusinesses that can be kept in the family, or sold as valuable assets. I, forone, plan to do all that I can to focus attention on the phenomenon ofmicroenterprise, and youll learn more about my interests as you read thisbook.