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Staff post about: Tom Monaghan Become an Author

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My father was my hero and my favourite person in the world.

I entered the seminary in tenth grade, but got kicked out, I think probably because I was more rambunctious than most kids.

They weren’t even going to graduate me, but I pleaded with a nun. She said, ‘Well, you got good marks in the seminary, so I’ll let you graduate. But don’t ever ask me to recommend you for college.’

I went for a quarter, earned good marks, and got accepted at the University of Michigan. But I didn’t have any money.

It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I attribute my success in business to the Marine Corps.

I was having problems paying my way through school, so I said yes.

We had no idea what we were doing.

We opened up without an attorney. I didn’t even collect sales tax – didn’t know I had to.

That’s how I became the fastest pizza maker in the world.

I couldn’t pay the bills. My life was going down the tubes. I had all this debt.

I decided we would try that, and if we got behind, we’d pull the phones.

We never got busy, and yet we made 50 percent more money that night than we ever had. All of a sudden I was making money, just like that.

I decided we’d put three dots on the domino because we had three stores, and every time we added one, we’d add a dot. You can see I wasn’t thinking of a national chain back then.

I believe everyone on earth has a certain goal/dream in life. I also believe anyone can achieve this if they set their minds to it.

When I said I wanted to be a shortstop, a priest and an architect, and the other kids laughed, she didn’t say I couldn’t do it. All she said was, ‘Tommy, be a good boy.’ She was such an inspiration to me and that kind of brainwashed me.

I’d financed all these franchisees, but they weren’t doing any business. I had the busiest pizzerias in the world and the slowest pizzerias, all in the same chain…I kept them going because I thought they would be all right. I couldn’t believe a Domino’s store could do so badly.

The company was in such bad shape that the bank actually handed it back to me. I returned to a disaster.

That killed me. I actually did a fair amount of crying – I couldn’t believe it.

One at a time, I won them back.

I remember how exciting it was when we were growing, and I wanted to get that feeling back.

No matter what an individual decides to become, hard work and determination is very important in today’s competitive world. You may also encounter hardships along the way, but you must not get discouraged and you push on in order to fulfill your goals.

I was aboard a ship in the Pacific doing something I’ve always done a lot of: day dreaming. I was thinking about my future, the lifestyle I was going to have, all the cars and the beautiful home and the yachts and the airplanes. I wasn’t sure it was going to happen, but it wasn’t any fun doing this daydreaming if it wasn’t possible.

I was there from opening to close, and I made everyone else work hard. I was fanatical about preparing for the rush, saving time and motion. I was constantly trying to improve the pizza.

I owe all my success to stupidity.

The next night I cut out the nine-inch pizza, and all the bills caught up. I learned then that keeping things simple could be more profitable.

Wow, what I've got with this concept of pizza delivery is just as good as what they have; I just don't have as many stores.

Nobody thought you could make money on delivery. Most places just delivered to get some volume before they could afford to cut out the delivery.

It was a challenge. I just had to figure out how…so I decided to focus on that, and it was the best thing I've done.

I realized that all I was trying to do was have more than other people…I thought, ‘If pride is the greatest sin of all, I’ve got to be the greatest sinner of all.’

The car collection made sense because Domino's was in the delivery business. Airplanes because my time was money.

I was distracted by some of the rewards of success, which was hurting my business. If you're successful in business it's because you've served other people; you've served your employees; you've served your customers. You're creating jobs. Don't just create an empire for yourself and an imperial life.

Money is neutral. It prints Bibles and pays for priest, hospitals, orphanage and soup kitchens.

I had to get rich to see being rich is not important.

I put all of these distractions aside, and focused solely on Domino’s Pizza.

I decided to simplify my life. No more airplanes, no more yachts. It's been a big relief.

No matter what I did, I knew I had five priorities in life, physical and mental health, as well as the social, the spiritual and the financial. But the most important thing I could be was a good Catholic. That is my No. 1 priority. There's no compromising that.

There’s no question in my mind it would have turned out differently. I would not have been nearly as successful.

The golden rule of Domino’s: Treat people as you want to be treated. I don’t believe that in 38 years that I treated anyone unfairly. That may not be true, but as far as I know it is.

I don’t think anyone in business had a tougher time than I had. My faith sustained me when we had internal problems with franchises, when the media would write nasty things.

I am focusing on God, family and Domino’s Pizza.

The nuns taught us that honesty is the best policy. Many people think that the rich marry into money or steal it. I thought I could show that you can live by Christ’s teachings and be successful.

For every customer I lost, I gained many. My theory is you've got 10 percent of the people who were never going to buy a Domino's pizza even if they were starving to death. There were 10 percent who would buy my pizza because of my position. The rest couldn't care less, but the controversy was free advertising.

If you want to be successful over a long period, you have to have some idea why you were born and what life is about. I don't know how anybody can function without thinking that through.

Bankruptcy would have been easier. It wasn't in my vocabulary.

The greatest of all sins is pride.

I'm thankful that I have my faith, because I couldn't have gotten through Domino's without it.

I enjoyed Domino's, but I don't miss it at all. This is so much more fulfilling.

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