“Coca-Cola Only Sold 25 Bottles in it’s First Year”. This factoid floats around on social media as an inspirational quote shared by business people. I’ve seen it at least three times today. And it annoys me, simply because it isn’t true. In fact, Coca Cola probably sold about 100 times more than this spurious factoid suggests.
The truth is, Coca-Cola was still a failure when it started. John Pemberton, the founder of Coca-Cola likely netted about $50 dollars in his first year. A colossal failure when you consider that he spent $70 on advertising.
It was perseverance and faith in the product that would have kept Pemberton going. But did you know that Pemberton sold his business in 1888 and died shortly after? From that point on, the business continued to grow and now sells 1.4 billion servings a day. Pemberton never could have predicted the extreme success of his back-garden creation.
So, while Coca-Cola definitely didn’t sell 25 bottles in it’s first year, it wasn’t some overnight success. It took years to cultivate such a worthwhile brand with so much sticking power. That in itself is something to consider when you wonder why you haven’t reached your dream targets yet.
If you want to increase your sales and learn the strategies to help you take your business further, get in touch with me today for a free coaching session
