Lessons from The Founder: Vision, determination and persistence
Yesterday I went to the movie theatre to watch “The Founder”, the story of Ray Kroc and McDonalds. Not only the movie was entertaining, but it was also a very good business lesson, which is why I decided to share a few business insights from the movie. These insights may not only be valuable for business owners and entrepreneurs, they are also life lessons, reminding us to focus on the essentials – having a vision, being persistent, being creative, caring about others, and serving others.
The revolution in establishing McDonalds as a new type of restaurant as compared to other restaurants at the time relied on a simple distinction: serving only a few items: hamburgers, french fries, soft drinks, and milkshakes. In other words, having a simple line of products that is consistent across all McDonalds franchises ensured an easier choice for clients. The simplicity of the menu allowed “Speedee service”, thus addressing one of the most common complaints with restaurants at the time – the wait to get served. Simplicity speeds up things, including client decisions, turnover, and revenue.
Ray Kroc’s innovative franchising model of granting a franchisee the right to only one store location at a time, thus retaining the ability to exert control over the franchises and maintain uniformity of service and quality was key in building the McDonalds empire. By imposing a careful design franchising strategy – i.e. divide and control – he ensured uniformity of service and quality. Creativity, careful planning, and execution lead to increased returns.
Kroc established strictly standardised operations for all McDonald’s franchises, including portion sizes and food preparation, packaging, and ingredients. Customer service standards were also high, although franchisees were allowed to determine how to market their businesses. While controlling and setting carefully all the internal processes within the restaurant that directly impacted the point of distinction of McDonalds, Kroc left some flexibility on the marketing approach, allowing the franchisee to tailor design their marketing to suit their local environment. Focus on the essentials, but be flexible enough to the local environment to drive innovation and the beginning of crowdsourcing.
Although Kroc did not create the concept of a chain restaurant, he saw a niche and developed the plan to transform burgers, fries, and shakes into a huge empire. With his eagerness to always want more, he developed a global vision for McDonalds which lead to the creation of McDonald's global empire. Everything starts with a vision and the magnitude of the vision dictates the magnitude of the manifestation. Trust in the vision, single-mindedness of focus, and persistence are the keys to success.
Kroc was a stickler for consistency and cleanliness in all of his establishments. In addition, he did everything he could to keep costs down so that even low-income people could afford a meal out at McDonald’s. Keeping the cost down to ensure a low entry barrier can lead to widespread success.
Kroc’s insight to standardise cooking and serving procedures meant that all processes were efficient and easily learned, even by new and unskilled employees. By making the system clear, simple, and easily learnable, you can open Pandora’s box to scalability and build an empire.
Kroc established a welcoming franchisee arrangement so that he could increase his presence. He used the method of charging a 1.9 percent commission on a franchisee’s sales, rather than charging a large startup fee. A system that allows itself to expand with low startup cost for franchisees, but a commission on success. Long-term vision pays more than short-term gratification.
As McDonald’s became the biggest restaurant company in the world, savvy salesman Kroc continued to live by his motto of providing customers with what they wanted. Gives the customer what he wants – quality food, cheap, simple with clean service, fast – and you’ll never have to worry about the customer. Stick to the essence of what the customer wants and you can’t make mistakes.
Finally, I’ll end with Ray Kroc’s motto: Persistence and determination can get you anywhere you desire.
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Ray Kroc
In Nutshell:
VISION + DETERMINATION + PERSISTENCE = PERSONAL / PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS
ABOUT US
Drs. Marcia & Olivier Becherel are Personal Leadership Specialists, Life & Business Strategists, Executive Coaches, and the founders of Mastery to Success.
Our mission is to help you activate your personal leadership and tap into your unique design so you can create a clear path forward and enjoy a rewarding, fulfilling, and meaningful life and career.
We help high-achieving professionals, business owners, and emerging leaders to break through to the next level of their life and career by creating a clear path forward.
With more than two decades of experience, our coaching experience and skillsets have set new standards in tuning the human mind, body, and behaviour to achieve greater success, fulfilment, and impact by mastering the science of personal leadership.
Combining our coaching experience and expertise in neuroscience, human behaviour, leadership, the mind-body connection, and business, we work as a powerful team to deliver real-life results fast for our clients.
FIND OUT MORE 👩💻
Want to know more about how we might be able to help you, please visit our websites:
✅ Step Up To The Next Level with a Clear Path Forward with Drs. Marcia & Olivier Becherel
https://MasteryToSuccess.com.au
✅ Activate Your Personal Leadership to Accelerate Your Career & Success with Dr. Olivier Becherel
✅ Break Through Mental & Emotional Roadblocks To Reclaim Your Personal Power with Dr. Marcia Becherel
CHAT WITH US 📩
Want to have a quick chat with us to get more clarity on yourself and on the way forward?
☎️ Schedule an obligation-free call at https://masterytosuccess.as.me
FOLLOW US & CONNECT WITH US
➡️ Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/drolivierbecherel/
https://www.instagram.com/drmarciabecherel/
➡️ Facebook
https://facebook.com/masterytosuccess
➡️ Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivierbecherel/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marciabecherel/
📺 SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel for more tips and wisdom! 👍🏻