April 8, 2014
Who out there enjoys having to deal with difficult situations? Yet, situations like that are what make us who we are. When we accept the challenge of dealing with a difficult situation, we emotionally grow bigger than those who avoid dealing with them. If you read the biography of extremely successful people you will find that they became successful by facing tough situations head on and not by giving up.
One such biography is that by the founder of Domino’s Pizza, Tom Monaghan. He grew up in orphanages and detention homes and then started a business without understanding how to make a business successful. As such, he made a former owner of a failed pizza restaurant his partner who then took advantage of him by using the business as an asset to buy expensive cars, properties, and make lavish improvements to his home. His partner became entangled in $75,000 in debt. Tom’s attorneys advised him to declare bankruptcy.
However, failure was not an option for him. He instead began to work 18 hour days, from 10 A.M. to 4 A.M. just to pay off his partner’s debts and take full ownership of his business. After he started to get ahead and began to make a comfortable living, his corporate building burned down. The insurance he had on the building would only cover $13,000 of more than $150,000 in damages. This was another big setback where declaring bankruptcy looked like the right decision to make.
However, he instead cut back on expenses and found ways to increase his cash flows to pay for the fire losses. After overcoming that setback he opened his first franchise on April 1, 1967. Tom’s lawyers advised him against expanding too fast. However, he was too ambitious and thought that if he had been able to survive other difficult setbacks that he would be ready this time to overcome any setbacks as well. After opening numerous franchise stores business seemed good. However, within 18 months he found himself $1.5 million in debt.
He was again facing bankruptcy. However, he refused to accept failure. He instead tried to find an experienced partner. No one was interested. The bank that financed his business advised him to bring in a businessman that had experience in turning struggling businesses around. On May 1, 1970 he lost control of his company. He was forced to assign his stock partially to the bank and the remaining interest to the local businessman. However, he managed to stay as president with no authority. It was painful for him to work for someone but at least it kept him from filing bankruptcy. The new management closed unprofitable pizzerias and cut back on staff. Tom slept in his car to keep down expenses. After 10 months, the local businessman wanted out. He was convinced that Domino’s had no future. Tom then convinced the local businessman to give him back his stock in exchange for one of Tom’s franchises.
Tom then convinced all the creditors and vendors that he would pay everyone if they gave him time to get back on his feet. Most creditors agreed. His franchisees however, were not happy and chose instead to file a class-action antitrust suit against Domino’s. When Tom was served with the legal papers he sat on his desk and wept. However, for the next nine years, Tom slowly built back his business and paid off every creditor. For another five years he fought off a bitter trademark-infringement lawsuit brought by the makers of Domino Sugar. He then had to struggle against a wave of competition within the pizza industry.
By the time the dust had settled and the business flourished in full force Tom owned 97% of the company’s stock and became one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the country. When asked about his setbacks he said, “I feel that all these setbacks were tools for me to learn from. I used them as stepping-stones and didn’t see them as failures. A failure is when you stop trying and I never did that.”
Today, as you confront a problem, be appreciative and feel good about the fact that you’ll again have the opportunity to deal with a challenge that will improve your life. Success is just that. Mastering how to solve problems and never giving up.