Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc
1) The thing that surprised me the most about the entrepreneur is the amount of problems Ray Kroc had to deal with throughout his life but still persevered. As he started off his early life selling paper cups, Kroc did not have an easy start and I would think many other people would fail far from what he accomplished. Kroc was able to see things others weren't as he was able to see the true potential the McDonald brothers had created and make it what it is today. His dedication is just something to be astonished by as he was constantly working throughout his life in a pursuit of creating a name for himself and it was not until he reached his 50s where he found his prized idea of working with the McDonald brothers. The thing I most admired of the entrepreneur was his motivation throughout his entire life. I think that the determination he had is not something a lot of people have. He did not come from a wealthy background and therefore had to push himself for the things he wanted. Every step he took, Kroc was becoming a better person in the business world and it was his next step in selling multimixers that then eventually brought him into finding his biggest idea of working with the McDonald brothers. The thing I least admired about Kroc was his personal relationships with many of the people he interacted with. Something that was astonishing was his lack of motivation for trying to treat people in a respectable way. Several examples given were his several commitment issues on his wives and how he treated the McDonald brothers when he first started out business with them. This entrepreneur definitely faced adversity and failures throughout his lifetime. His initial life started off with him selling paper cups to having to deal with personal life issues and also having several weeks throughout his life where he had to work an exorbitant amount of time. All these issues were issues he fought through as every time he found an alternate route and worked with what he had.
2) There are several competencies that I noticed the entrepreneur exhibited. One of the biggest competencies that I am continually mentioning is his perseverance. Kroc's life was not perfect from the start but his continuous motivation led him to working with the McDonald brothers and creating the franchise we know of today. Kroc also had a competency of having many ideas and dreams which is something an entrepreneur can use to create more products or services that will help people and sell.
3) One part of the reading that was confusing was the relationship between the McDonald brothers and Ray Kroc. One of the reasons that I find difficulty in seeing how they had differences yet were still accomplishing many things. Kroc had certain goals that were different from the McDonald's goals and it was his big ideas that allowed the two parties accomplish many things that would have never happened. The franchise would not have been as popular as it is today if it was not for his ideas yet the two parties had an interesting conflicting relationship between each other.
4) One of the questions I would ask Kroc is whether or not he believes that starting off with selling paper cups was one of the biggest reasons he was able to come up with greater ideas and if that is what eventually lead to him coming up with ideas to create the fast food restaurant that exists today. Another question I would ask is whether or not he would like the food that McDonald's serves today and whether or not he believes that it can be improved.
5) I think Kroc is a clear example of an entrepreneur who had a strong work ethic. For these reasons, I believe that the entrepreneur Kroc would support hard work and say that it is one of the main reasons he was able to have a successful life. I share this opinion as well as this is something I like to think I have. I think that having a hard work ethic can unlock several doors that would never be unlocked with ideas and dreams.
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