27A- Reading Reflection 3

For my third and final reading reflection for this class, I chose to read Grinding it Out: The Making of McDonald's, which is written by Ray Kroc, the founder of the most popular food chain in the world. Two things that surprised me about Ray Kroc was that he started out his career by selling paper cups and that he played piano at a bar the sold alcohol illegally. I admired Ray Kroc's perseverance and that he sacrificed so much for the McDonald's franchise. The thing I least admired about Ray Kroc was that he knowingly sold bad real estate for a while, even though he eventually decided to change his ways. He definitely endured much failure and adversity throughout his career especially when he had to overcome his past decisions such as selling bad real estate. He also had to work countless hours in order to make McDonald's what it is today. Ray Kroc had several competencies. These included his knack for being an amazing salesman. He was also obsessed with being a businessman and was very good at what he did. He was very efficient and hard working. One part of the book that was quite confusing to me was how Ray Kroc simply took over the McDonald's franchise and the McDonald's brothers were so satisfied with giving him such a big role within it. 2 questions I would ask Ray Kroc would be 1). How did you overcome the biggest issues that you faced during your time as an entrepreneur and 2). What were your feelings and emotions when you realized that you were in control of the largest fast food empire in the world? I feel like both these questions would help me understand how great entrepreneurs think. Ray Kroc most likely has a very strong opinion on hard work as he worked his butt off for many years trying to get his franchise to the top. The name of the book is Grinding it Out so I am sure he values hard work and dedication very much so.