Reading Reflection No. 1

1) I read Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's by Ray Kroc. 

• I was surprised by how many times Ray Kroc experienced adversity and fought through it. Throughout all of his adversities he was constantly trying to learn and find new opportunities. It was surprising that he never gave up or showed doubt that his career would work. He was relentless and never lost faith in himself and his abilities despite continuous struggles. 
• I admired his drive and passion for working constantly to be as successful as possible. He worked hard his entire life and was eventually rewarded. His tenacity and constant ability to learn and adapt to become successful in the end. He is a truly remarkable entrepreneur to study and learn from.
• Ray Kroc had an amazing business sense and it is what allowed him to become so successful. However, he used his business sense in every aspect of his life which led to him hurting the people closest to him. His relentless drive to succeed hurt his first marriage and led to a divorce. He also did not hesitate to take advantage of other people in order for him to gain power. He took advantage of Mac and Dick McDonald who founded the original McDonald’s. He eventually bought them out of the company and reneged on a handshake deal to give them 0.5% of royalties which was evaluated at $305 million in 2012. 
• Kroc encountered many adversities throughout his life. He was a door to door salesman for 17 years of his life before he became involved with McDonald’s. Kroc had to hang in even when sales were down and this allowed him to view adverse situations as mere roadblocks on the pathway to success. Experiencing failure over and over again is what gave Ray Kroc the resolve to work as hard as he needed to in order to be successful. 

2) Ray Kroc was an extremely hard-working man who believed that working hard and persistence would lead to success. His perseverance and relentlessness is what caused him to be successful rather than any innate talents or skills. Giving up was not something that Ray Kroc did or understood and it is what allowed him to power through the hardships he endured. Ray was also good in social situations and learning from his peers to imitate them and even improve upon what they taught him.

3)  One part of the reading that was confusing to me was when Ray Kroc started 18 franchises in his first year of business with McDonald’s yet he was barely making enough money to cover expenses. While 1.9% of the gross sales seems like a good deal, it isn’t so much when you realize that 15 cent hamburgers are being sold. While starting 18 franchises would seem like a large cash flow it was not, and Kroc had to adapt in order to stay afloat. By buying the real estate upon which the franchises were eventually built, Kroc was able to get a steady cash flow which allowed him to expand across the world.  

4)

(1) Do you regret having to sacrifice past relationships in your life in order to be successful?

• Getting a divorce as a result of working too hard on his career must have been difficult for him to live with. While his passion to be successful was his main drive, he certainly loved his wife and leaving her behind must have been a painful experience. 

(2) What would you say is the key to success?

• Ray Kroc was an extremely successful man and if I could ask him questions one of them would have to be what he thinks the key to success is. He worked hard his whole life and accomplished what everyone dreams of and I wonder what he attributes the success to.

5) Ray Kroc’s opinion of hard work would be waking up at dawn and working until you went to bed exhausted from a long day of fruitful labor. Ray put everything into his work and his persistence and dedication is what made him successful in the end. Because of this, Ray Kroc would put a high emphasis on hard work and work ethic. He was always thinking about work and would believe that one needs to be completely consumed with the job at hand in order to be considered hard work.