"One quality separates the most successful business owners from all others, according to billionaire Jimmy John Liautaud: They work really, really hard. In that vein, the 61-year-old founder and former chairman of the Jimmy John's sandwich chain doesn't believe in work-life balance, he said in a TikTok video posted by The School of Hardknocks on Oct. 9. "Work-life balance [for entrepreneurs] is the biggest line of bulls--- that's ever been created," he said."
"Liautaud speaks from experience: Despite graduating second-to-last in his high school class, he created a billion-dollar brand, he said. He launched his first sandwich shop in Charleston, Illinois in 1983, as a 19-year-old with a $25,000 loan from his father and spent the next 36 years carefully and persistently growing his business, he told the "American Optimist" podcast during an October 2024 episode."
"Jimmy John's now has over 2,600 locations across 45 states. In September 2016, Liautaud sold his majority stake in the company, 65% of the business, to Atlanta-based private equity firm Roark Capital Group at a valuation of "about $3.5 billion," he said in the TikTok video. He stepped down as chairman in October 2019, after Roark-owned Inspire Brands acquired the rest of Jimmy John's for an undisclosed sum."
Relentless hard work is the defining quality behind top entrepreneurs; work-life balance is dismissed as unrealistic for founders. Liautaud built Jimmy John's from a single shop launched in Charleston, Illinois in 1983 with a $25,000 loan, expanding over 36 years by operating initial stores himself before franchising. The chain now exceeds 2,600 locations in 45 states. In September 2016, 65% of the company was sold to Roark Capital Group at about a $3.5 billion valuation. Liautaud stepped down as chairman in October 2019 after Inspire Brands acquired the remaining stake.
Read at www.cnbc.com
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