Preview

Milton Hershey: The Perception Of Success

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1256 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Milton Hershey: The Perception Of Success
Merriam-Webster defines the word success as “the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect or fame.” The definition of success differs from one person to another. Most people work hard throughout their life to achieve goals and be successful in their careers. That might mean acquiring a secondary education, being able to provide for one’s family, achieving a life’s ambition, or acquiring wealth. However, to a homeless man living in a busy city of New York, success might simply mean attaining enough cash to purchase a small meal. Success through the eyes of a United States Marine may be avoiding death in order to see one’s family. Perceptions of success can be faulty. In most cases, one can be successful in one part of life and be a total …show more content…
By 1867, Hershey’s father “had largely cut himself out of the family picture” (Milton). Following an incomplete rural school education, he was apprenticed at the age of fifteen but was fired shortly after. Four years later, Hershey borrowed one hundred and fifty dollars from a gracious aunt to set up his own shop in the heart of Philadelphia. For five long years Hershey put everything he had into the business. But success eluded him, he finally closed shop and headed west to reunite with his father. With his father, Hershey found work with a confectioner. But the entrepreneur in Hershey was not content to work for someone else, and he then struck out on his own again. First in Chicago and later in New York City, but in both cases he failed again (Milton). Then in 1883, he returned to Lancaster and still convinced that he could construct a successful candy company, started the Lancaster Carmel Company. Within a few short years Hershey had a successful and thriving business. But when Hershey got an up-close look at the art of chocolate making he was immediately hooked. “The fascination quickly became focused on milk chocolate, considered a delicacy” (Milton), but was largely dominated by the Swiss. In 1900, Hershey sold the Lancaster Caramel Company for a staggering one million dollars and started a new company. Quickly, the Hershey Chocolate Company surpassed the founder’s previous venture. …show more content…
Bill Gates is now one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, but he did not earn his fortune in a straight line to success. Before launching Microsoft, Bill Gates was a Harvard University dropout. Gates entered the entrepreneurial scene with a company called Traf-O-Data, which aimed to process and analyze data from traffic tapes in Seattle. Although when he attempted to sell the idea alongside his business partner, Paul Allen. The product barley worked, it was a complete disaster. Nevertheless, Gates prevailed through his failure driven by his passion for computer programming. Microsoft went public in 1986, “Gates amassed a huge paper fortune as the company’s largest individual shareholder. He became a paper billionaire in 1986” according to editors of Britannica

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Milton S. Hershey was born in a small Pennsylvania town named Derry Township on September 13, 18571. He was the only child of Fannie and Henry Hershey. His mother was a Mennonite2 and moved often, which disrupted his education and could only finish 4th grade3. Hershey became an apprentice of a Lancaster candy maker for four years and started to get into the candy business. Milton opened his first candy store in Philadelphia on 1876 at the age of 184which failed after 6 years and went bankrupt on 1882.5 Milton then tried his luck at opening candy stores at Chicago and New York, both resulting in failure and went bankrupt again on 1886.6 When Milton visited Denver, he discovered how to mix fresh milk with caramel and returned to Lancaster to start a caramel business on 1883. 7his business proved to be a huge success and was named the Lancaster Caramel Company8. The success of this caramel company was the thing that set Milton as a candy maker and provided him with financial stability to start on his next interest, chocolate. Milton purchased his first chocolate-making equipment from a German company called J.M.Lehmamm Company on 1893 that was displayed in the World’s Columbian Expedition9. He started a sub-company called Hershey Chocolate Company under the Lancaster Caramel Company and began to produce chocolates. On 1900, Hershey sold his successful caramel company for $1,000, 0010and in order to set his sights to begin mass-producing chocolate. Hershey…

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The story of Milton Hershey demonstrates , persistence and willingness to take risk in order to be successful is amazing. I'm going to give you all my reasons why it is to me and make you think it is too.…

    • 354 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    was persistent, hard-working and altruistic. Hershey exhibited his persistence in the business world because even though his first two businesses failed, he persevered and formed a lucrative caramel business. Along with being persistent, Hershey was a hard-working businessman. He believed that success was the quality of the product, not its monetary value. Hershey strived to make his products the nonpareils of the chocolate business. Hershey once said, "'I started with ambition and intention of making the best chocolate that money or skill could make, regardless of the cost of manufacture (Snavely 147).'" Hershey believed that the caliber of his products was the highest priority of his business. He wanted to make the best chocolate and worked hard to ascertain it happened. Lastly, Hershey was altruistic because he lived to serve others. Hershey said, "'One is only happy in proportion as he makes others feel happy...(Price 258).'" This quote exhibits how Hershey wanted the best for…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Milton Hershey

    • 1104 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Milton Hershey took another risk and started a company to manufacture caramels using the methods he had learned in Denver. He needed more tools and equipment. He looked for financing. It was difficult given his past failures. Hershey began to look for backers who valued his…

    • 1104 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Milton Hershey

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Most people think Milton Hershey was just the maker of Hershey chocolate, but he has done much more.…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Success is being satisfied in a personal & a career life. Being successful does not always mean at top. It has a different meaning for everybody, one can be successful in her eyes, but the same can be unsuccessful in other people's eyes or vice-versa. Success is not evaluated on how much money,houses, and materials one has. It depends on how you behave,treat others with in life, and how happy the person is.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Milton S. Hershey

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages

    At the age of 19, Hershey decided to go into the candy business for himself. His venture in Philadelphia failed, as did efforts with his father. Back in Lancaster, Hershey began manufacturing caramels. The business quickly expanded and in 1900 he sold his company for $1 million. He used the money for a construction of a chocolate processing plant in Derry Township, about 15 miles east of Harrisburg.…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Success is one thing most humans strive for. That the purpose or end goal of life is to be successful in of any kind of task. The true feeling accomplishment is a joyful, never ending happiness. Knowing everything you have worked for payed off in the end is just about the most pleasant emotion. Success is achieving one’s true desire in the soul and mind.…

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Born into a poor, lower-class family, Milton S. Hershey dropped out of school before reaching the fourth grade. He developed an interest in becoming a confectioner. He believed there would be great demand for affordable, mass-produced chocolate, and thus he built the Hershey Chocolate Company. Hershey’s is now the largest producer of quality chocolates in North America and a global leader in chocolate and sugar confectionery. Although he enjoyed making money, Milton S. Hershey was intent on using his vast fortune for philanthropic purposes. He decided to surround his enterprise with a model town and personally financed the building of roads, utilities, houses, and public buildings. In addition, he and his wife donated their whole fortune to create the Milton Hershey School. The Hershey Trust Company was created to manage the founder’s large endowment. Additionally, the Hershey Trust Company’s board of trustees was given the principal objective to financially support the mission of the Milton Hershey School. By 2002, the Hershey Trust Company became Hershey Foods Corporation’s largest shareholder, owning 77% of the stockholders’ votes. In March of 2002, the Hershey Trust Company’s board of trustees decided to sell the shares it held in the Hershey Foods Corporation with the belief that it would be better to diversify its holdings and not concentrate the bulk of its investments in Hershey stock. The Hershey Trust Company board of trustees considered two offers: a $12.5 billion dollar bid from the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company; and a $10.5 billion dollar joint bid from Nestlé S.A. and Cadbury Schweppes PLC. Hershey Foods Corporation, its employees, the community of Hershey, Pennsylvania, and the Attorney General of the state of Pennsylvania were adamantly opposed to this sale.…

    • 4138 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Defining success is never as simple as it seems. People spend their entire lives aiming to be successful in their goals, but in actuality, many individuals don’t even know what it is they’re striving to achieve. The reason for this is that success can be defined in a number of different ways depending on the person that you ask. In particular, countless individuals associate success with the widespread idea that achieving milestones such as gaining wealth or power; but for others, defining success is a more difficult, personal, and complex experience.…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    “To make a comparison and contrast of two chocolate products/companies; Swiss chocolate company Lindt and American chocolate company Hershey, in regards to media outlets, community impacts and sustainability”…

    • 2114 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Hershey Food Corporation is a very successful and quality business. Many products are manufactured by this corporation. Most relating, but not limited to chocolate. The corporation plays a role in deciding where products are produced. Hershey's has expanded to both Canada and Mexico, which calls for many corporate decisions. There are an amazing amount of products associated with Hershey. These include Jolly Ranchers, Hershey Kisses, Hershey drink mixes, the entire line of Reese's products as well as good old fashion chocolate bars. These products serve in the candy/snack foods division of sales. Society could do without them... but why would we want to?…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Milton Hershey

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Milton Hershey was a man with an admirable amount of determination and a genuine spirit for those he employed. *Hershey has become a household name from the beginning. He has even built an entire town around his business. At the age of 14, only a year after dropping out of school, Milton expressed an interest in candy making and began an apprenticing with a master confectioner in Lancaster, PA. Four years later, Hershey borrowed $150 from his aunt to set up his own candy shop in Philadelphia. For 5 years he put his determination into that business but success eluded him. He then reunited with his father out west and found work with a confectioner. It was there that he discovered caramel and how fresh milk could be used to make it. That is when Milton decided to return Lancaster Pennsylvania. In 1883 he started the Lancaster Caramel Company and in 1900 sold it for an amazing $1 million dollars. For several years after this sale he spent his time looking for a perfect way to mass produce milk chocolate. With the wealth he generated from the sale of Lancaster Caramel Company, he could put his plan into action. In 1905 he opened what is still known today as the Hershey Chocolate Company.…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hershey's Company Profile

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The story of Hershey spans nearly a century and a half of industrial and social change. It tells of how one determined pioneer from rural Pennsylvania built an international company, a town to go with it, and a chocolate and confectionery sensation…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    hershey

    • 3002 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Incredible and inspiring, the story of Hershey 's begins with the tale of one determined pioneer: Milton S. Hershey. Raised in rural central Pennsylvania, Milton Hershey…

    • 3002 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays