Ray Kroc and the brother had a great relationship up until the end. Kroc felt the original McDonald’s stores franchised by the brothers were poorly run. He saw an opportunity to spread the business, and the brothers declined. He also saw the company’s future; unfortunately, the brothers were too short-sighted. Kroc also used different advertising methods at various levels to create a famous brand name and used his many years of experience in sales to his advantage.

When Ray Kroc arrived at Mcdonald’s in San Bernardino, he was truly impressed from the beginning. Kroc fueded the brothers for control and bought the business and name rights for $2.7 million, which was a lot of money at the time. I think it was a good deal because I also believe that business is business and that you need to see the long-term value in your business, and Kroc thought of all of that. 

The local franchises’ primary focus was making money, so they focused on marketing their ideas to increase customer volume, which worked.

Harry Sonneborn advised Ray to get into the real estate business. Kroc takes the advice of Harry Sonneborn and pivots into buying the real estate he leases back to the franchise to make money. He had to make that shift to grow the business and his investment to reach his goals.

As a kid, I loved McDonald’s even though I rarely had it because my parents didn’t allow us to since they knew how unhealthy it was. As I grew older, I eventually stopped eating it because I focused more on healthy eating choices. However, the film did inspire me to think like an entrepreneur like Ray Kroc. He took risks as a true entrepreneur, applied his skills, experience, and gifts of salesmanship, and made McDonald’s the world’s largest restaurant chain it is today.