Fred DeLuca

Six months after we started, in 1964, there was a day when we sold only seven sandwiches. If we'd taken all the money from the register, we couldn't have paid an employee, much less the food or the rent or all that. It could have been a turning point. We could have given up. ”

Subway is a real point of pride. We have influenced the way people eat. ”

I guess that's one of the benefits of being sick. Your wife lets you have a big-screen TV in the living room. ”

You have to be able to communicate the vision to the people in your organization so that they know where and how they should direct themselves on a day-to-day basis. ”

Even if you set a long-term goal, that doesn't mean it's a straight-line journey. Often, there are problems and obstacles along the way. ”

You really have to understand this isn't a business where you sit in the back room and do calculations - you have to be very concerned about employees and customers, because that's really what's going to bring you success. ”

We find that no matter what country we're in, if we hit the right economic notes and appeal to the mass market, we're able to build the business very, very rapidly. ”

By and large, we're a bread-eating culture. People like sandwiches. We don't really over-think that one. ”

I know a lot of people at some point in their business careers decide they'll just cash in and do something else, but for some reason, I've never had that feeling. ”

I don't think I ever dreamt of going into business. No one in my family was in business. ”