It is likely that most people know the name Ray Kroc. In 1955, he opened the first McDonald’s restaurant, and… “The rest is history.” My research for this post brought me to two websites where I found most of this information. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197544# http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/our_story/our_history/the_ray_kroc_story.html
“If I had a brick for every time I’ve repeated the phrase ‘Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value,’ I think I’d probably be able to bridge the Atlantic Ocean with them.” —Ray Kroc
Like many other entrepreneurs, Ray Kroc started working when still a child. He ran a lemonade stand in front of his Oak Park, Illinois home; and he worked in his uncle’s grocery store soda fountain.
Kroc quit school and became a salesman for Lily-Tulip Cup Co. Selling came natural to him since he was young, willing and able to work long, hard hours, and he was very ambitious. He quickly became the company's top salesperson. While working with the cup company, he discovered that one of his customers had invented a unique shake mixing machine he called the Multimixer. Kroc was attracted to the exceptional machine, believing it could be an extremely lucrative product.
Kroc acquired exclusive marketing rights to the machine and spent several years traveling throughout the country selling Multimixers to restaurant and soda fountain owners. A decade or so later, as soda fountains began going out of business, Kroc’s business declined. However, about this time, a restaurant in San Bernardino, California ordered eight mixers. Curious about the large order, Kroc went to California. There he discovered that Dick and Mac McDonald ran a small, successful hamburger stand.
Their menu was very limited, allowing them to focus on their burgers, fries and beverages, resulting in quality products and service. The restaurant had no indoor seating, and the food was prepared in an assembly-line manner. The customers placed their order and received it in less than a minute! Kroc recognized the potential for huge profits if they built hundreds of these restaurants nationwide. He shared his vision with the brothers. The McDonald’s didn’t want to do it themselves. Kroc proposed that he do it instead. The brothers agreed and gave Kroc the exclusive rights to sell the McDonald's method.
In 1955 Kroc founded the McDonald’s Corporation and a few years later bought the exclusive rights to the McDonald’s name. The restaurants were so successful that 100 million hamburgers had been sold by 1958.
Ray opened his first McDonald's in April 1955 and used the meticulously clean, efficient restaurant as a showcase to sell McDonald's franchises. He sold18 franchises his first year in business. Kroc set up a company that purchased or leased land on which McDonald's restaurants would be located. Franchisees paid Kroc monthly rent for the land or a percentage of their sales.
Kroc and the McDonald brothers disagreed about the business, so in 1961, he bought out the McDonalds for $2.7 million-cash. He opened more than 700 restaurants in 44 states by 1965, and McDonald's became the first fast-food company to go public. By the end of the decade, there were nearly 1,500 McDonald's operating worldwide.
Ray Kroc created a training program, later called Hamburger University. Franchisees and operators were trained how to run a successful McDonald’s. More than 80,000 people have graduated from the program to date.
Ray Kroc never stopped working for McDonald's until he died in 1984. He went to work in his San Diego office nearly every day until his death in 1984.
After researching Ray Kroc, I truly believe that he was an Entrepreneur Extraordinaire.
========================
Comments
Thanks to you all for your feedback. I appreciate it.
Interesting PR, Julie. Ray Kroc had a dream and the determination to make it happen. What a great example for Entrepreneurs.
Excellent post and I have learnt a few things from this. I never heard of him but I go to MacDonals quite a bit !!!
Yes Julie I believe that Ray Kroc was a entrepreneur extraordinaire. He had a strong desire and vision and he took action. Thank you for sharing Ray Kroc's story and now I will share on Google plus.
Great review on Ray Kroc Julie. I agree with you that he was and Entrepreneur Extraordinaire. Great Read. Thanks for sharing. Liked and Shared.