Ray Kroc

You may be wondering what an independent restaurant operator could possibly learn from the man who created the McDonald's empire. What could you possibly have in common with that huge corporate monster that serves in excess of 25 million people a day at nearly 20,000 outlets world wide?

From an operational standpoint, you may not have a lot in common with McDonalds, however, Mr. Kroc's ingenious approach and guiding principles are not only relevant but, include gems of wisdom every restaurant owner should know. His leadership and business sense helped make McDonald's the biggest restaurant chain of all time and made more people (his franchisees) into millionaires than any one organization in history.

Just how Ray Kroc was able build such a massive and extremely profitable business operation in a relatively short time span is certainly deserving of some attention.

Going to Work "On" The Business
When Ray Kroc secured the master franchising rights to McDonalds, he didn't go to work "in" a McDonald's "restaurant". He went to work "on" McDonald's "the business". To Kroc, the first McDonald's restaurant was just a model or prototype that could be reproduced again and again in cities and towns all over the country.

Instead of personally rolling up his sleeves to run the joint, he instead began analyzing every operational function of the original McDonald's from purchasing to prep to the cooking and cleaning. Without changing the essence of the concept, he made refinements and proceeded to develop a comprehensive set of standards and procedures, essentially a SYSTEM for running a hamburger stand "the McDonald's way".

When Mr. Kroc had completed his first objective of building a complete "set of instructions" for operating a McDonald's restaurant, he then he moved on to the next phase of his plan. He was now able to show others, in this case franchisees, exactly how to run a McDonald's restaurant.

Ray Kroc told his franchisees that following the McDonald's system would enable them to give their customer the same food and service as the original McDonalds AND give them the best shot at becoming successful business owners. We now know that it worked, almost without exception!

The Tyranny of Working "In" Your Own Restaurant
By contrast, many independent restaurant owners never stop working "in" the restaurant. They start out as doing the work of the manager, chef or maitre' d, which, of course, may be the only option in a new restaurant, but five years later they are still doing the same thing. They continue to function, not as an owner, but as another employee.

Recognize the implications in the way you approach your business and how you function in it. If you're spending most of your time and energy running the restaurant, chances are your business isn't achieving its' potential for success and chances are you're not having much a life outside of the restaurant either. The reason is that you're not focused on the things an owner of a business, any business, should be doing.

The Difference Between a Restaurant and a Business
The problem is that most people who open their own restaurant have always worked in one (no that's not a typo). There's a big difference between working in a restaurant as a cook, chef or manager and building a successful business. A restaurant is not just a restaurant, it's also a business and the knowledge, understanding and skills it takes to manage a successful business is very different from the knowledge and skills it takes to run a restaurant.

Basic business skills would include an understanding of the three main functions of any business -- operational, financial and marketing. These areas are discussed in detail in the Toolkit section. However, we suggest that you continue to read and reflect on the remaining topics in this section first.

A Shift In Thinking
As we noted in the introduction of "Food For Thought", these articles are designed to make you "think" about your restaurant and the role you play in it. We believe that it's impossible for you to change your restaurant without first changing the way you think.

All we ask is that you try to keep an open mind. See if you can validate some of what is said based on your own experience. If you aren't achieving the level of success you want, maybe it's because there's something you haven't learned yet.

Our initial goal is to challenge your current way of thinking. We want you to gain a deeper understanding of some principles that will cause you to change the way you look at your restaurant and the way you function in it.