Almost thirty thousand McDonald's restaurants around the world, which serve more than forty-five million visitors daily, owe their stunning success to Ray Kroc. This enterprising man at the age of fifty-two decided to completely change his life, betting on the founding brothers, who did not dream of a large-scale business project at all. And today the whole world is simply unthinkable without this global restaurant chain, which has been able to change the lifestyle of many people.
The founders of the restaurant chain of the same name - the McDonald brothers - started their business in 1940. Having opened their first establishment, they significantly changed the traditional menu for that time. Of the usual 25 dishes, only French fries, hamburgers, chips, pies, coffee and milkshakes remained. The main idea was to increase sales through fast food preparation and service. In addition, self-service was introduced, kitchen area modernization and significant price reductions.
It is interesting that in those years only men worked in the McDonald brothers' establishments, since the girls were perceived by the owners solely as a source of distraction to the working staff. The McDonald's restaurant quickly flourished due to the fact that the founders very accurately defined the desires of people in the war and post-war times. And the now world famous logo of the restaurant chain appeared in the mid-50s of the last century.
Ray Kroc and McDonald's
Sales manager Ray Kroc has been selling paper cups for a well-known firm for seventeen years. Then he decided to start his own business, redesigning to sell ice cream machines. In a new undertaking, he could not stand the tight competition and went bankrupt. Just while he was traveling around the country in search of realizing his potential as a businessman, he received an interesting information that one small restaurant ordered ten ice cream installations at once. This moment became the defining one in his stunning career.
Having learned the address of this establishment, Ray Kroc, without hesitation, went to California in his own car. Now "McDonald's" was waiting for global changes.
Selling franchises
A roadside McDonald's cafe in small San Bernardino immediately surprised Ray with its disposable tableware, metal kitchen counters, modest menus, very low prices and fast service system. After the very first communication with the McDonald brothers, the experienced "salesman" immediately realized that the owners of the unique establishment did not want to seriously expand and generally conduct business without attracting investors. They sold their market-demanded franchise for a junk two and a half thousand dollars, not at all interested in the fate of these restaurants and not demanding a percentage of the profits.
Quickly figuring out how to get the business back on track, Ray negotiated with the McDonald brothers a new system for selling franchises. Now the relationship scheme was built on a different basis. The franchise was sold for twenty years for $ 950, and it also included a percentage of the profits for using the brand, logo and the quick service system itself, which was divided between the founding brothers and Croc.
Despite the established system of circulation of franchises at that time, which provided only a one-time receipt of money for their sale, Croc convinced the McDonald's that it was possible to secure both a permanent income and the spread of the network throughout the country. Moreover, he did not seek to trade franchises on the terms of their implementation in large areas, but made a deal only with restaurant owners, who proved by their activities that they can be trusted with their brand safely for their reputation.
Ray Kroc took a very responsible attitude to the implementation of a large-scale project and closely monitored the quality of the purchased products by the restaurants included in the McDonald's chain. He realized that big investors didn't like buying licenses for individual establishments rather than state licenses, for example, while entrepreneurs with limited finances were not happy with a twenty-year franchise instead of open-ended conditions. So he mustered patience and was content with a modest debut year of eighteen franchises sold.
Sanford Agatha and the Ransom of the McDonald's Founding Brothers
The success story of the McDonald's restaurant chain owes a happy occasion when Kroc sold another franchise to journalist Agatha, who saved up a certain amount and wished to start his own small business. The newly born businessman decided to open a restaurant in the city of Wokegan, for which he bought a franchise, equipment and paid for the construction. And in May 1955, this small restaurant opened and, to the surprise of many people, immediately became very popular with the local population. The resounding success was associated with a monthly profit of the institution, equal to thirty thousand dollars, which was not at all typical for this type of activity. Soon Agate became the owner of a luxurious mansion and began to live in grand style.
This story quickly spread across almost the entire country and inspired many enterprising people with little savings to follow the tried and tested path. From that time on, Croc had no shortage of clients. The scheme worked like clockwork and guaranteed the franchise owners a payback in six months. Now the conditions for fulfilling the strict standards of the McDonald's chain began to be met by all the owners of the establishments strictly.
In 1961, the founding brothers of McDonald's agreed to Kroc's persuasion to sell him his promoted brand and the right to solely manage the franchise. The M logo was valued at $ 2.7 million, which Ray needed a substantial loan to buy back. The financier of the restaurant chain Harry Sonneborn, who, after a series of setbacks, guessed to get ownership of all the restaurant lands and buildings, helped to safely resolve this situation.
Harry was able to "draw" on paper such a smart business plan for lenders, in which he convinced them to invest not in fast food, but in real estate. After receiving the required amount, Kroc quickly settled with the McDonald's and moved to develop the business on his own.
Further development of the McDonald's network
In 1961, the former traveling salesman founded the Hamburger University laboratory, which continues to carry out case studies while simultaneously training the company's top managers. In the 60s, the history of McDonald's began to contact the famous clown Ronald, who replaced Speedy in this position. It is this character that is so fond of the younger generation of visitors to the restaurant chain.
In the 70s, the McDonald's network grew rapidly, and Kroc's revenues, published by Forbes, reached $ 340 million. However, the owner of a successful business was not going to stop there. And in 1984 he died. This "restaurant empire" is currently run by James Skinner.
The history of McDonald's development in our country began back in 1976, when, on the eve of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, the Soviet Union tried in vain to buy out the famous franchise. Then the owners of the worldwide restaurant chain explained their refusal by the instability of the economic and political situation.
And the first domestic "McDonald's" on Pushkin Square in Moscow opened in 1990. Then, on his first day at work, thirty thousand people lined up in front of the doors of the restaurant. This is still an absolute record for the attendance of this restaurant chain. Currently, there are already many McDonald's restaurants operating in Russia, and their number continues to grow regularly.
Today, the history of this legendary restaurant chain already has a lot of interesting facts behind it, among which the following should be especially highlighted.
- In the 1970s, feminists won the right to work in a corporation, but their form does not differ from that of a man. In addition, women are prohibited from wearing jewelry and makeup.
- Ronald the clown and the Happy Meal lunch toy are the main feature of the establishment aimed at attracting children.
- If the client does not specify the size of the portion, then the largest portion is given to him by default.
- The restaurant chain has been attacked by terrorists thirteen times in Greece, India, France and other countries.
- The restaurant on Pushkinskaya Square (the first in Russia) is the largest in Europe.
- The documentary "Double Serve", directed by Morgan Spurlock, talks about the dangers of fast and tasty food.
- The international network is actively cooperating with Hummer and Disney.
- All establishments provide their clients with free Internet.
- Ray Kroc played the piano, acquired a baseball team in 1974, and named one of his best employees as his son.
- The taste of beek-mak has not changed in the least since the days when it was first prepared.
- Fred Turner became the head of the corporation after Kroc's death.
