1. What makes Ray Kroc and the brothers different from each other?
Ray Kroc was an aspiring businessman and the brothers were business owners and entrepreneurs. Kroc had ideas in expanding profit in business while he was only selling milkshake machines. The brothers developed their business into a mass and fast productive local food restaurant. When Kroc met the brothers he was the one who saw the opportunity in developing more franchises to expand the local business. Kroc focuses more on the quantity and profit of a business and the brothers focused more on controlling the quality of their business.
2. Do you think the McDonald’s brothers did the right thing by selling out to Ray Kroc? Did Ray Kroc give the brothers a good deal?
I don’t think the brothers did the right thing by selling out to Ray Kroc. I think they could have learned from Ray Kroc and improved their business and themselves if they wanted the profit. On the other hand, for the business itself that happened at the right moment and expanded it further. Perhaps if the brothers would have took some time and learned over time the things that Kroc wanted to do for the business, they could have made their business expand just how Kroc made it expand but at a later time than it did when Kroc took over. Ray Kroc did not give the brothers a good deal at all. Because the business did so well, he could have gave them more. It was their production and granted, Kroc was the one who opened the franchises all over but they just had different values at the time but that doesn’t mean that Kroc owned the rights of all of the business. The brothers started it so they deserved more than that.
3. How did the local store franchisees make money?
The local store franchises made their money by following the established processes made by McDonalds. Faster production of food could take in more customers especially working ones who had money to pay for a quick meal on their break after working. The use of products like InstaMix helped the business keep more profit instead of having to spend more money on inventory.
4. How did Kroc make money? How was that different than the franchisees, running the local stores?
Ray expanded and spoke to people who would invest in the expanding business. He went into real estate and put forth the notion of owning the land that the franchises were on. He saw where the local franchises were lacking and he stretched his businessman ideas where he could, to make the business do more for them the way he believed it could. He made it different than the franchisees running the local stores because the local stores were just making enough to keep itself going but they were not thinking bigger like Kroc was.
5. Does this film change your view of McDonald’s?
The film changed the way I view McDonalds. Usually, there are many negative stories about McDonalds and the type of food they sell. If I was easily moved by notions that were strong negative opinions I would probably think McDonalds was a scam from the get go after watching the film. However, knowing that the fast food that McDonald’s serves has always been a business move rather than solely feeding people garbage just to profit off of the bad ways people eat, I appreciate what their purpose was. Even if Kroc came in to expand franchise, the business was still built on the brothers’ purpose in their food quality which makes me feel better about eating and buying McDonalds when I need to get something quick.