Starting your own business is risk, but FedEx founder Frederick Smith took a huge gamble in 1974. A few years into the operation, the fledgling company was delivering over 1,000 packages each day and expanding into new cities – but Smith found himself unable to cover the rising fuel costs.
Knowing he owed $24,000 on Monday morning, Smith took a weekend trip to Vegas, armed with the company’s last $5,000. When his COO questioned where their significantly larger bank account balance came from, he simply replied, “I knew we needed money for Monday, so I took a plane to Las Vegas and won $27,000.” Smith then went on to raise the money required (through more traditional investment channels) and FedEx started on the up and up, spreading its reach around the world. Gambling is not typically a successful way of making money to cover your business expenses but it shows how close FedEx came to shutting its doors in its early years.
Source: https://www.headwaycapital.com/blog/how-8-companies-came-back-from-the-brink/