Assignment 13- Reading Reflection No. 1

Reading Reflection:

For my book for this reflection I chose to read Grinding It Outby Ray Kroc, it was such a great read that I even gave to my dad afterwards so he could read it. I learned a lot of valuable information and learned a lot about Reay Kroc that I hadn’t known before. Below I will dive deeper into what I learned from this autobiography.



1. You read about an entrepreneur:

· What surprised you the most?I think what surprised me the most about Ray was the fact that he didn’t get McDonalds up and running until he was in his early 50’s. Prior to this book I had the misconception that entrepreneurs struck it big at a young age. It was interesting to me to see how much prior experience Kroc had before even thinking up the idea of McDonalds franchises. But I now realize how this prior experience plays a crucial role in helping induvial develop the skills needed to create a business.

· What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?What I most admired about Kroc is his ability to say no to anyone. He wasn’t scared to stand up for himself when his boss attempted to cut his pay and when he didn’t see potential in his employees he was not afraid to let others know. I admire his openness and drive towards others; I believe this is what allowed him to persevere throughout his lifetime.

· What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?I didn’t like how little time Ray devoted to his family. Granted, this was one of the reasons he was able to succeed. However, if I were Ethel I don’t think I would be able to deal with having a husband who didn’t make it home some nights until 4 am. I was raised with the notion that family is most important and I felt as though Ray almost neglected his. He did address in the book that he felt bad about this, but I felt he didn’t do TOO much to change it because his business came first.

· Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity or failure? If so, what did they do about it?There were many times throughout the novel where people stood in the way of Ray and his goals. For example, Mac and Dick (the original McDonald brothers) posed some issues when they would send over official paperwork that it was ok for Ray to build a basement in one of his first built franchises. Ray also experienced failure when his ideas of Delacato (a frozen alcoholic drink genre) and “fold-a-nook” did not catch on. Whenever something knocked Ray down of crushed his spirits he would get back up, push through it as best he could and simply try something else; which is something I came to admire most about him.

2. What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? Ray exhibited many competencies throughout the autobiography. For one, he was skillful in his career as a sales man and had the skills necessary to sell virtually any kind of item to anyone, even customers who had said no multiple times before. Ray was also able to put his work before anything else including sleep. He would work for nearly 22 hours some days when he played the piano at night as a job as well. His desire to succeed trumped his desire to rest which I think was all due to his determination and drive to create a successful business. He was also able to negotiate very well, if something didn’t go exactly Ray’s way he was willing to compromise because he had his end goal in mind at all times.

3. Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you: One part of the reading that confused me was when Ray moved down to Florida to sell swamp land that was basically unable to be built upon to tourists. Ray claims that he thought it was an honest job that he got roped into but now recognized that it was a scam. I was confused how a man with so much common sense even thought for a minute that selling this land to innocent tourists was something ethical and fair to do.

4. If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur what would you ask? Why? My first question to Ray would be: Did you with Walt Disney after your Red Cross World War I days? I found that fact so interesting because what are the odds that Ray and Walt both knew each other? It was just crazy to me and really gave me chills when I read it. Although, it doesn’t have anything to do with his ability as an entrepreneur it is just something I would like to know. My second question would be: How were you able to never give up on your journey after all of the financial and time burdens that you faced? I believe this would be a good question to ask because I think a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs are faced with issues and give up much to quick, so the answer to this would be able to help several people.



5. For Fun: what do you think the entrepreneur’s opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?I believe that Ray thought without hard work and time away from other important obligations in life he would not have been able to create the business that he created. In other words, it is necessary in order to be successful in any type of business. He even said himself that because Harry and June put in 110% like he did he was able to trust them and they pushed him to keep his efforts and work ethic up. I would agree that one cannot be successful without hard work, however it depends how much hard work one is willing to put in. You can’t expect to work 9-5 and create the next McDonald’s but if you’re not willing to give up time with your family then that’s ok.