27A - Reading Reflection No. 3

Grinding It Out: The Making of Mcdonald's, Ray Kroc

1. When reading this, the thing that surprised me the most was that Ray Kroc was already in his 50's when he started the business and he spent a significant amount of time after that continuing to develop his business. I admired his willingness to keep going and not give up in times of adversity. It was also interesting to see how he grew from the beginning of making paper cups into creating such a successful business. The thing that I admired least from Kroc is when he did not push harder to own the Multimixer business. One time when Kroc came across adversity was when he tried to make the french fries from the recipe that was given to him. Although this recipe was supposed to make great french fries, they did not come out like they were supposed to. However, he did not give up until he got the recipe just right to make the best french fries.

2. He is decisive and risk-taking when making decisions about the company. He was confident in knowing that his business was going to be successful even when he was having issues. He was also innovative and able to problem solve when he was not able to make the french fries correctly.

3. I did not understand why the paper cup employer was part of the Multimixer business. It became a little more clear as the reading went on.

4. How long did it take you to make Mcdonald's a really successful business?
Did you think you were going to fail when you could not get the recipe for french fries correct?

5. I think that the entrepreneur had a good opinion of hard work. I think that since he was older, he had a different outlook on life and why he wanted to be successful. I think he saw the potential in the business and was able to do different things in order to make it successful.