Assignment 13A

Reading Reflection No. 1

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

• What surprised you the most? The most surprising part of Ray Kroc's story is that McDonald's was not started by a large group of people. The first restaurant was actually opened by the McDonald brothers, Mac and Dick. Ray was actually a Multimixer salesman at the time. A Multimixer was a tool used to make milkshakes, Ray was so entranced that the McDonald brothers had eight Multimixers in use at the same time. As he looked at their internal operations and their unique products, he saw the promise of a prosperous business. So he decided to make McDonald's a chain restaurant and eventually bought the McDonald brothers out of their share of the company. It was surprising that Ray Kroc was in a different business before he found the McDonald brothers and that he was a salesman before becoming a business owner. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? Above all, I admire Ray Kroc's tenacity. He always kept fighting to make his dream a reality. That is the same goal that I wish to accomplish. There was a quote that he said that reads "Taking reasonable risks is part of the challenge, its the fun"(59). This quote stuck out to me because throughout Ray Kroc's career, he always took reasonable risks that often had large pay-offs. Ray's attitude was always positive as well, which I really admire. No matter what situation he was in, he always tried to find the positive angle to look at the situation. I think this quality strengthened his abilities as a salesman and as a businessman.
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? The quality that I least admired about Ray had nothing to do with his business. I disliked that he cheated on his wife. I think that this kind of dishonesty has the potential to taint an individual. While he did cheat on his wife, he still ran a very successful business that was constantly growing and becoming a household name.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? Ray encountered a great deal of adversity and failure. For the most part, he never broke down and gave up on his dream. He always kept fighting to transform his company into something great. When he found out that Clem Bohr was not actually opening up franchises like he promised, he had to find a way to pay the debt that he now owed multiple people. This failure strengthened his business because he had to bounce back from this failure and still land on his feet. Ray said "adversity can strengthen you if you have the will to grind it out"(106). This quote was extremely inspiring to me because even one of the world's most powerful business moguls had to encounter failure to end up on top.

2.) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? Ray Kroc wanted his business to grow throughout the United States and beyond. But he also wanted to keep making a valuable product that would change the future of fast food.

3.) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. When business words and concepts were discussed, I had a little bit of trouble following. When these concepts were introduced, I had to read the passage again and I could usually get an understanding of the concept. 

4.) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? 

I would ask Ray Kroc what his favorite moment from his McDonald's journey, I would ask this question because I am interested in what aspect of growing his business was the most influential to his success. I would also ask him if he regretted not finishing school? I believe that my education is the only thing that cannot be taken from me and I wonder if he wished that he finished his schooling.

5.) What do you think that author's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? 

Ray Kroc's opinion of hard work stood out to me throughout my reading. He said that "Work is the meat in the hamburger of life. There is an old saying that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". I never believed it because, for me, work was play"(15). I agree with his viewpoint of work, I believe that without hard work and dedication, there can be no success. Ray worked tirelessly to see his dreams come to life and that is evident with the booming success of his business. I hope to follow my passions much like Ray Kroc.