Unexpected Opportunities

Truett Cathy has some useful advice to budding entrepreneurs - or to anyone, really: Work hard, never give up, be true to your values, and take advantage of unexpected opportunities. These virtues have taken him from near-penniless restaurateur to the billionaire owner of Chick-fil-A that he is today. His most recent autobiography, Eat More Chickin, Inspire More People: Doing Business the Chick-fil-A Way tells his incredible life story. He credits much of his success with taking advantage opportunities that suddenly appear.

The history of Chick-fil-A, in fact, is a series of unexpected opportunities. When we responded to them, we often found ourselves richly blessed.

Sometimes these unexpected opportunities are happy blessings that grow out of your our own doing, such as how Kids Meals "offered the opportunity to influence children...with a positive message." Sometimes its seeing a trend and choosing to capitalize on it rather than keep doing what you're doing, such as the way Cathy took advantage of the mall boom in the '70s and '80s to grow his restaurant chain. And sometimes, opportunity knocks in the midst of adversity:

The Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich itself was born in the wake of an unexpected opportunity. When one of my first two restaurants burned to the ground, I found myself with time on my hands and the availability to develop a new recipe.

Truett Cathy is a natural born marketer and entrepreneur, and the book features plenty of ideas on continually improving the value and service we offer to customers, no matter what industry we're in. He is doubly inspirational through his genuine commitment to core values. His very interesting story challenged me find ways to work harder but also to look at my life and double check my priorities. It will do the same for you.

One warning, though - it will make you hungry for a juicy Chick-fil-A sandwich with every page!