Assignment #13- Reading Reflection #1

I read "Grinding it Out" by Ray Kroc.

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?
• What surprised me the most was that Ray Kroc did not actually create McDonalds.  He simply expanded the business to what we know it to be today. Two brothers started McDonalds and had no plans to expand the business until Ray came along and said he would do it for them. After many years he was finally successful and bought out the brothers to be the sole owner of the McDonalds name. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I admired his endurance to grind it out. Ray hit many lows and hard times that were hard to come out of. Through his hard work and determination to make McDonald's a huge franchise he made it through all of the tough times. It is hard for me to imagine that I would have kept with the idea for as long as he did.  
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• Ray Kroc gave up his family to start McDonald's. With his first wife and daughter he did not spend any time with them so they grew apart and he ended up getting a divorce and being estranged from them.  His next wife he married after only knowing her for a few weeks. This marriage did not last long. A woman named Joni, who was married, was Ray Kroc's true love. After many years she finally decided to divorce her husband and marry Ray. When this happened Ray dropped his second wife like she meant nothing to him. I found this to be extremely revolting behavior. To me family should always come first, and because of that in my eyes Ray was not a good man. 
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Ray faced many adversities and failures. The whole point of the book is to point out how he over came each by grinding it out. No matter what came out Ray believed in McDonalds and the company it could be. He out in all his time and money to grind it out and make things work, and in the end he was successful. McDonalds is one of the worlds most known restaurants. 

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?

• Ray was persistent. He did not stop when he hit a wall, he plowed through it. He was also very smart to surround himself with hard working, smart individuals. He knew what he lacked in and surrounded himself with people who had those traits.  

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

• There was one part of the book that started to explain the financials and financial problems that McDonalds faced early on. This part of the book was hard for me to follow simply because I do not completely understand finance and how to all works together. I did understand that over all point that McDonalds was in trouble and had to find a way to get out of it.  

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

• Do you ever regret leaving your first wife and daughter and not having a strong relationship with your daughter?
• I would ask this question to see if he would go back and change how he treated them, or would he do the same thing over again. 
• Did you ever imagine that McDonalds would be as huge as it is today?
• I would ask this question because I know the book said that he thought McDonalds would be a huge success, but I want to know if he imagined it to go as global as it has. Wanting a company to be a success is much different than wanting it to be a success globally. 

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

• I think Ray's opinion of hard work was doing what ever it took to make his company grow.  He let nothing come in the way of work, not family, not health, nothing personal. He spent all his time on McDonalds and grinding it out. I do not agree with Ray's opinion. I believe that family comes above everything, even work.