By Harvey Mackay
Originally published February 3, 2002
When I read the obituary of Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's, I knew
I had to write a column about him. He was a great American, a model
businessman, a humanitarian of the first rank and a total
inspiration.
Marketing surveys showed that 90 percent of Americans recognized his
picture. And that 70 percent of Americans knew him from his name
alone. That's not surprising. For 13 years Dave appeared in TV ads
for Wendy's International, the company he founded and grew into the
third largest hamburger chain in the world. In the ads he was
direct, friendly, down-to-earth and totally convincing. He appeared
in more commercials than Lee Iacocca, Orville Redenbacher and
Colonel Sanders combined.
Dave opened the first Wendy's in 1969 in Columbus, Ohio. His mission
was to serve a good hamburger at a fair price in a clean and
friendly environment. He set out to fill a market need he discovered
himself. No matter where he looked in Columbus, he couldn't find a
good hamburger. Ten years later there were more than 1,000 Wendy's.
Today there are over 6,000.
Dave was born out of wedlock in 1932 to a mother he never knew. When
he was 5 years old his adoptive mother died. Over the next five
years he lost two stepmothers. He traveled around the Midwest with
his often-unemployed stepfather. He worked as a paperboy, pinsetter,
caddy, and delivery boy. He and his dad stayed in dirty rooming
houses and ate at counters in five-and-dime stores. While they ate,
his father rarely talked to him. So Dave studied how food was served
and how restaurants worked.
He was a genuine Horatio Alger -- rags to riches -- hero. When he
was 12 he got a job working at a soda fountain in a Walgreen's. He
lost it when management learned he wasn't yet 16. Three years later
he got a part-time job in another restaurant. When his father
decided to move on, Dave refused to go with him. Instead he dropped
out of school in the 10th grade and went to work in the restaurant
full-time.
During his stint in the Army he ran a club for enlisted men. After
his discharge, he turned around three Kentucky Fried Chicken
franchises that were about to go belly up. Next he worked in
management for Kentucky Fried Chicken and helped establish the
Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips chain. He followed his dream, and
it led him to open the first Wendy's. He named it for his daughter
and based his business philosophy on what his adoptive grandmother,
Minnie Sinclair, taught him. She always told him never to cut
corners. So Wendy's hamburgers are square.
She also told him that hard work was good for the soul and kept you
from feeling sorry for yourself. So Dave never tired of preaching
his mantra to mop floors and wipe tables. In every restaurant he
worked in Dave did these chores without hesitation. Dave might be
the only board chairman in business history to insist he show up on
the jacket of one of his books wringing out a mop.
As a humanitarian he lobbied all of his life for the importance of
adopting children and putting love into their lives. He was
particularly vocal about the importance of adopting children who
didn't fit the perfect mold. He encouraged people to adopt older
children and children with physical and learning disabilities. He
established the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Presidents
George Bush and Bill Clinton both acknowledged him for his work in
this field. Adoption wasn't the whole story. Dave's checkbook also
fought cancer. He backed literacy programs and homes for abused kids
and rec centers for physically challenged children.
What do I remember most about Dave? He had the nerve to write about
his mistakes. You heard right, mistakes. Two he mentioned were
resting on his laurels after Wendy's turned into a success and
building too showy of an office building for a corporate
headquarters.
But his greatest regret was not finishing high school. So he hired a
tutor and passed the G.E.D. test when he was 60 years old. A high
school in Fort Lauderdale made him a member of their senior class
and proceeded to vote him Most Likely to Succeed. Dave and his wife
were king and queen of the prom.
Mackay's Moral: Like Dave's Grandma Minnie would say - Don't
cut corners! If there's a shortcut, there's probably a longcut...and,
some sense for using it.
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