13A- Reading Reflection No. 1

Book: 

• Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc

#1A- What surprised you the most?- I was very surprised to learn that Ray Kroc started out his business career by selling paper cups. I had not imagined that the mastermind behind the McDonald's franchise would have started out selling something that seems so simple.

#1B- What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?- I admire Ray Kroc's dedication to franchising McDonald's. Without his perseverance and determination McDonald's would not be the instantly recognizable brand that it is today.

#1C- What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?- The factor I least admire about Ray Kroc was that he accepted a deal with his former paper cup company that allowed them to take 60% of his earnings despite knowing this was a bad deal. I feel that Ray Kroc could have worked out a better deal with the paper cup company to ensure a more profitable arrangement.

#1D- Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure?- Yes Ray Kroc encountered manner setbacks along his venture as he accepted a deal that caused him to lose 60% of his earnings in his early career selling Multi-mixers.

#2- What competencies did you notice the entrepreneur exhibited?- Ray Kroc exhibited competency with his skills in entrepreneurship.  He was able to successfully market two products and was then able to take advantage of the opportunities he saw in the McDonald's restaurant and take it to new levels via franchising.

#3- Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you- I was confused as to why Ray Kroc accepted the deal with the paper cup company that allowed them to take 60% of the earnings he made from the Multi-mixer sales. This seems like something Ray Kroc would not normally do.

#4-If you were able to ask the entrepreneur two questions what would they be?- 
#1- "What was it like established McDonald's as a chain of franchises?"
#2- "How did you manage so many franchises at once?"

#5- What do you think the entrepreneur thought of hard work? Do you share that opinion?- I think that Ray Kroc thought very highly of hard work and respected those willing to go above and beyond in the work environment. I also share this opinion as I feel that hard work is invaluable in the business environment.