McDonald's is a business culture
Entrepreneurship is now a buzzword. Based on a true story, "The Great Entrepreneur" shows the entrepreneurial process of McDonald's "founder" Ray Kroc very completely. Although it is not very interesting, it feels neutral and worth learning.
The first step is to build a special fast food restaurant. McDonald's was originally a fast-food restaurant created by the McDonald's brothers. According to their self-reported story is this:
The McDonald brothers left their hometown to go to Hollywood. They worked hard to save a fortune and opened a small theater, but they couldn't make any money. So he switched careers and opened a small shop selling hot dogs and orange juice. Because there were not many customers, he moved to the next city again, opened a McDonald's BBQ restaurant (fast food truck), sold 27 dishes, and hired beautiful women to deliver the food to the customers' cars. It started well, but later they discovered the problem of the fast food truck business model: the customers are basically gangsters, it takes a long time to prepare food, the waiters often deliver the wrong meals, and the most important thing is that the operating costs are too high (the wages of the waiters are also broken. plate). After the analysis, the McDonald brothers found that only three items were actually popular: hamburgers, fries and soft drinks (87%). So the brothers stopped selling other meals and focused on these three. They also made reforms in response to the large expenditures in operating expenses: eliminating the need for food delivery staff, allowing customers to line up to get their meals, using cigarette vending machines, jukeboxes, and reducing labor as much as possible; using paper once Sex utensils, so not only do not hire dishwashers, but also reduce the cost of breaking. Moreover, they no longer provide food to "little gangsters", but position customers in a "family" dining environment. More importantly, they decided: 30 seconds to complete an order instead of 30 minutes. In order to achieve this, they closed their business for a few months while still operating, split all the details, redistributed, rebuilt, rethought everything. I found a tennis court, used chalk on it to precisely draw the kitchen layout of the restaurant, brought all the employees there, and asked them to simulate what they would do at work. They keep repeating, splitting steps, like choreographing the Crazy Burger Ballet. In the end, they arranged everything, as the McDonald brothers put it:
It's a symphony of efficiency, not a waste of time. To create the world's first rapid food production line so far, this is definitely a revolution.
Although, they also encountered problems at first, that is, customers are not used to this form of "going to the window to order food, go to the window to get the food, and take out the food waste by themselves". To this end, one of the brothers is also ready to back down. They also spent money on "prosperous fields" for publicity. Finally, this new situation is accepted and recognized by everyone!
Although the brothers are very conceited about their "revolutionary" cause, they believe: our whole life has decided to throw off other people's ideas, we want to do something not just different, it has to be better, it has to be us want to do. But in fact, their entrepreneurial process is not much "different" from the current point of view. In essence, they just put the thinking and model of "analytical methods of efficiency experts" and "industrialized mass production" into the operation of fast-food restaurants, and transformed the operation mode of fast-food restaurants. Their entrepreneurial journey is not so much about innovation as it is about thinking about change when they are poor . Of course, this method of absorbing "new concepts" and reforming "old industries" is also a general and effective way of operating. Think about it, today's brilliant enterprises are basically adapting to the concepts of the times (such as "networking" and "information"). the product of "sharing").
The second step is replication, which is reproduction and expansion. The McDonald brothers, the real founders, were eventually squeezed out by Ray Kroc and replaced because the McDonald brothers stopped moving forward. In fact, when Kroc proposed to buy the "franchise" of McDonald's. It's not that the McDonald's brothers didn't think about opening a chain. They opened five other locations: three in Southern California, one in Sacramento and one in Phoenix. However, it failed because: Quality Control (Quality Control). Because they can't do it themselves, they don't have time to take care of them, so the actual operation of those stores is very bad, even hiring supervisors is ineffective. So, they went back to their original places, thinking that "it is better to have a good store than fifty or so crappy stores".
Because of this step, they did not look at it from the perspective and efforts of the previous "losers". Instead, he chose to give up from the perspective of a successful person. So, they go from winners to losers. It was eventually banned by Kroc.
Kroc's soft and hard bubbles, talking about ideals, talking about culture, talking about the American dream, literally got a "franchise" from the McDonald brothers (you know what? I've driven to many towns, many small towns. Generally speaking, They both have two things: they have courts, they have churches. Churches have crosses on top, and courts have flags on top, flags, crosses, crosses, flags. I can't stop talking about this house being so amazing while driving by Thinking of a restaurant, at the risk of profanity, please forgive me. These arches have a lot in common with these buildings, with a cross at the top of the building, what does that mean? This is where people gather. Decent and healthy people gather, they Sharing the values protected by the American flag, those buildings surrounded by beautiful arches, so to speak, express more or less the same thing. I'm not just saying, "It's got burgers in it." It signifies family, it Showing community, this is where Americans come together for bread. I'm here to tell you that McDonald's is going to be a new generation of America's church, feeding people's bodies and souls, and it's not just open on Sundays, friends, seven days All open. Crosses, flags, arches!). Since then began a new journey of McDonald's fast food restaurant. In fact, when we look to the end, we will find that Kroc just re-interpreted the entrepreneurial passion of the McDonald brothers with the dreams and efforts of the "losers".
Kroc, originally a salesman, an unsuccessful salesman. Even with his eloquence, he's been trying to get restaurants to buy his all-in-one blender with a "chicken first, egg first" argument all day so that they can deliver milkshakes faster and sell more milkshakes (and the restaurant owner understands Yes, we don't have that many customers and don't need a multi-purpose blender). Basically always a failed salesman, he stumbled across a restaurant called McDonald's and bought six all-in-one blenders in one fell swoop. He went there and was fascinated by it. He was fascinated by new things, excited by such a pattern, such an idea. Even, he's obsessed with the name McDonald's: it's a good name because it's really fast, and it's like something that jumped out of Henry Ford, or something.
Of course, starting a business needs to overcome obstacles. If it was easy, the predecessors would have succeeded. Of course, Kroc itself has an entrepreneurial quality, that is, greed, not satisfied! His wife persuaded him: it's time to enjoy some life and stop flying against the wind, when will you meet your demands? However, he still insisted and continued to take risks, mortgaged his house to the bank behind his wife's back. Because he firmly believes: do the right thing, do the right thing once, and do it once! (Be right, Just be right one time. One time. This sentence is obviously made of bacon :)
As for the revelation of the second stage of entrepreneurship in the film, it is: stick to the goal, encounter problems, and adjust the strategic direction.
Setback one:
Kroc used his expertise and "foraging habits" to sell the "franchise" right from the start. However, within a few days, he realized that something was wrong. After all, those wealthy investors don't care about the operation of McDonald's at all, they just buy a "multi-functional blender", and then don't read the manual, they can use it how they want. They actually sell corn, and they sell fried chicken (sounds like KFC style). Two investors made the two McDonald's go crazy. Kroc made one thing clear: Wealthy idlers, they played golf and cocktails, they were so complacent and hollow, husband and wife, looking after each other like a real team. Just when Kroc was worried about not having a suitable "branch" manager, he found one suitable candidate after another. The first one was a Jew who was promoting the Catholic Bible (because Jews believe in Judaism, which is different from Catholicism), and when Klock asked him why, he replied: to make a living. Kroc, because he was a salesman, naturally felt a connection to me. So I signed an agreement with him to let him be in charge of a branch management. Indeed, wealthy idlers are naturally not as diligent as those who are bent on survival and development. The arrangement of the new manager not only met Kroc's needs, but even exceeded Kroc's expectations. Because the Jewish salesman, working hard with his wife, is the perfect match: he's backstage, working in the kitchen; while she's in the foreground handing lollipops to kids. So Kroc used this successful appointment as a criterion to select a "husband and wife team" who "struggle for survival", and the result was a great success. The "husband and wife file" not only "doesn't get tired of working together with men and women", but the husband and wife work together for a cause (this is also the reason why Kroc couldn't satisfy his narrow and conservative wife, and finally chose to divorce); it also solved the problem that the McDonald brothers did not Ways to overcome the "quality problem".
Setback two:
Winning or losing does not matter. The McDonald's brothers failed to develop the chain at the beginning. They believed that the problem was uncontrollable quality, so they gave Kroc's agreement a lot of "extreme restrictions". Although this ensures that all McDonald's branches can be the same as the "first store", there are also problems: one is that it is difficult to adapt to local needs, for example, every restaurant in the Midwest has a basement and a stove, so Kroc added A basement and a stove, an application to the McDonald brothers, but they have not sent engineers to check, which delays Kroc a lot of time. The second is that it cannot promote improvement. The essence of McDonald's is an industrialized food production line, so under the condition of ensuring quality, how to improve efficiency and reduce costs is the key. Joan, the wife of one of Kroc's store owners (who would later become Kroc's wife), found a new product, "milk shake powder," that could save hundreds of dollars a year on electricity bills while halving the time it takes to make a milkshake , is only a little cost of ice cream, but it does not require refrigeration. It contains milk powder, thickener and emulsifier to simulate the texture of ice cream, with a consistent taste and simple production. However, because of the strong opposition of the McDonald brothers and the constraints of the contract, Kroc has no choice.
Nothing is perfect, and every problem has two sides, but smart people can always respond flexibly and give full play to their subjective initiative to solve problems.
Setback three:
cost crisis. Kroc was clearly successful, and McDonald's had exploded (13 stores in nine states), but was forced into debt by banks, unable to repay the loan on time, and plunged into crisis. Fortunately, another person with a heart appeared at this time. This bank, after hearing Kroc's argument with the bank manager, Harry Thorne took the initiative to find Kroc, because Harry is also a smart man, he and Kroc said: I go to your Waukee twice a week Root branch, always has a fantastic crowd. He saw a huge opportunity for McDonald's. Then it pointed out Kroc's key problem: If you're not managing your money, there must be a big problem. After Harry looked at the ledger, he summed up the current situation of Kroc: you have some income stream, no cash retention, heavy contract, which requires you to spend a long time on internal procedures, and can only issue decrees after approval, it seems that from Not approved. And analyze the key to the problem. Before, Kroc cooperated with the franchise operator in this way: the franchise operator found a position he liked and signed a contract. Usually 20 years, use our construction loan, build the storefront, start business. That is to say, the franchisee decides the location, and Kroc is responsible for the training, equipment, operation methods, and they are responsible for the rest. Harry pointed out the problem with this model: the biggest problem. You don't seem to realize what you're doing, you're not in the burger business, you're in the real estate business, you're not building an empire, you're only making 1.4% of your hamburgers for 15 cents. Use real estate to make a profit, it is the real estate of your burger shop, what you should buy is to buy a lot of land. After that, it will be leased to those franchise operators. They are limited by the terms and will lease from you, and only you can lease. This will bring you two benefits: 1. A stable up-front income stream, before creating the first One burger and you have income; two, greater capital expansion, which in turn stimulates further land acquisitions, which in turn further stimulates expansion, and so on and on and on. Land, this is the creation of value, it also needs to be controlled, fully control the franchise operators, if the quality cannot meet the standard, you stop leasing, and take control of Mike and Dick (McDonald's brothers), and in the end, you control the bank and the Franchise operators, playing in the palm of your hand.
The third step is to change.
Many entrepreneurs, working hard, have indeed achieved success, but the problem is that most of the income goes into the pockets of real estate developers. On the one hand, Kroc is subject to the contract of the McDonald's brothers, and on the other hand, because it only provides franchisees with "services" of training, identification and operation methods, he can only get a small commission. The hard work paid off, but he couldn't even keep his mortgaged house. Inspired by Harry, and under Harry's arrangement, Kroc, with the support of investors and financial institutions, also opened a brilliant red real estate company (just a rental service company I established for those new Franchise stores provide loan services), bypassing the previous contract (because your contract states that any kind of change must be in writing and approved, unless it is not a change), as Kroc said: this is not a change, It's a company, another company operating independently, not under your management because that's another company, another thing. You clearly state that you have the right to everything inside the restaurant, but outside the restaurant, above, and below, the limit of your authority is the door, and the floor inside the door. Of course, the cunning Kroc has now also bought the land under the "McDonald's No. 1 store" that the McDonald brothers themselves have been running. To put it bluntly, Kroc bypassed the McDonald's brothers and became the decision of everything, because the real estate even decided that the McDonald's brothers' own store may be gone.
Kroc eventually went to glory, and the earthlings could not stop him. Because what he needs to consider now is to keep buying land and opening McDonald's. Wherever there is traffic, there is a McDonald's. As he and his new wife, Joan, planned: They're building a brand new stadium, and yes, I heard, there are professional baseball and football teams that will use it as their home. I think I know where you're referring, a stadium with 40,000 seats is just stones? Imagine the traffic there, hungry families looking for something to eat after a game, or before a game? never mind. That's it, yeah, Joan, you're thinking big.
In other words, Kroc has achieved a successful model that is simple to replicate. The key point is that this model far exceeds the “industrialized” and “family-style” store operations of the McDonald’s brothers, as well as the “chain operation” that Kroc focuses on. It is a wider-scale capital operation and a wider-level business Operation, it does not consider the store itself, but the resource integration of land, manpower and flow of people.
So, we look at McDonald's now, don't vaguely understand that this is an American culture, this is American culture, yes, but it is a shrewd business culture.
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