My favorite reading was about Ray Kroc. Aside from the fact that he created the largest restaurant franchise ever, he's determination and motivation to create the empire that McDonalds became is just amazing. What surprised me is that he wasn't the original owner and was sent to help Dick and Mac McDonald spar their business. What I really admired it how he kept things so simple, mainly the menu, and was able to gain this much success by doing something we all probably think sounds easy. What I didn't really admire was how brutal he was on some of his employees. I get that you want to be struck and every to follow specific protocol, but if your employees aren't happy that can effect your business.
Kroc definitely faced adversity and had to go out and get a lot of things on his own. Going door to door to promote their business was a daily thing for Kroc, and he was doing this for a business that wasn't even his yet. Even though there were two original owner of the restaurant, its no doubt that Kroc is the mastermind behind the whole corporation. Going from one restaurant to over 7500 across 3 dozen countries is truly remarkable and unmatchable. One thing I found confusing however was how the french fries were the most important thing on the menu. I always thought it was the Big Mac that was the main attraction but the way he tirelessly emphasized the importance of marking the trend fries was a bit odd.
If I could ask Kroc two questions my first would be did he switch from president to senior chairman multiple times, and why did you put so much effort into making the fries the main priority. In terms of a hard worker, I don't think theres many people who work harder than Kroc did. Even when it came to low level employees, he made sure every was held on the high pedestal and was ruthless in ensuring that every bring their A game every single day.
I read the same book! The first thing that I would like to point out is the fact that I thought THE SAME THING when I learned that he wasn't the first creator of McDonald's. He just took a company and helped it grow! He definitely was the mastermind behind the operation because in the book the two original owners didn't have any interest in expanding. They liked living in their home on land and going to work everyday! To answer your question that you would ask him, the fries were apparently the seller of the company not the actual burgers so that could be one of the reasons why. He went through a lot of trouble to make sure those fries were perfect! I am not a huge fan of fast food but the story was really interesting.
ReplyDeleteHey Ben!
ReplyDeleteI read the same book. Just like you and Danielle, I thought he was the first creator of McDonalds.I literally had no idea that he wasn't. I was truly amazed how he took the vision and brand of someone else and made it into what it is now.
It was definitely an inspirational entrepreneurship story, Ray Kroc had. He changes the game forever for anyone that has aspirations to going into the restaurant chain business. He had incredible ingenuity when establishing a spin off idea from the actual founders that set their constraints from growth. I will always keep in mind his tenacity to reaching out and making idea feasible.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Ben!
ReplyDeleteKroc was truly a leader and entrepreneur we can all look up-to and learn from. He face tenacity in some aspects of his life and they way he reacted to it is what made him so successful. I always tried to understand why Kroc focused so much on the french fries too. Guess it worked out for him in the long-run.