Tips from Fred DeLuca, Subway’s Founder

Fred DeLuca opened his first submarine sandwich shop in 1965 at the age of 17 with a $1,000 loan from partner and family friend, Dr. Peter Buck. His first sandwich shop was named Pete's Super Submarines. By 1974, the name had changed to Subway, and the duo owned and operated 16 units throughout the state of Connecticut. Subway started franchising in 1974.

Subway now has over 29,000 units open. It seems Peter Buck got a good return on his $1,000 investment.

I found a great slide show on Inc.com that offers Five Tips from Subway's Founder. What I like about Fred's approach was that he set ongoing goals. Most people set a goal and are satisfied once they reach that goal. Fred set an ongoing goal to always be ahead of one of his competitors. At the time this competitor had 32 locations. As Fred's competitor opened more locations Fred set his goals to open even more locations. This was a great approach and it worked out for Fred. Setting goals that encourage you to always be striving to do better should really help your franchise business.