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McDonald's company. McDonald's success story

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McDonald's- American corporation, the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants. Richard and Maurice McDonald Richard J. McDonald (1909–1998) & Maurice McDonald (1902–1971) brothers, owners of the first fast food restaurant. Comes from a family... The fate of eponyms. Dictionary-reference

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Ray Kroc is the man behind the operation of 29,000 fast food restaurants around the world, serving more than 45 million people a day. But he met the MacDonald brothers at the age of 52, having an impressive list of illnesses and problems behind him. The history of the development of McDonald's is at the same time the history of the development of which managed to earn $ 600 million at a very respectable age! This man managed not only to quickly and fabulously get rich, but also to significantly change the lifestyle of many people in the world.

The beginning of the journey - the McDonald's brothers

The McDonald brothers are the founders of the famous restaurant chain. It was with their help that the history of McDonald's began. They opened their first fast food restaurant in 1940. In the cafe of that ancient time, 25 dishes were traditionally served. The brothers significantly simplified the menu, leaving it with hamburgers and cheeseburgers, pies, chips, coffee, and all this was prepared and served very quickly in McDonald's restaurants. The history of the creation of the famous brand also began with the transition to self-service visitors, and lower prices for food.

By the way, in those days, girls could not work in such establishments, as the brothers believed that they would distract the male staff from work. The McDonalds were able to capture the desires of people in the difficult post-war period. Their business was doing great. The brothers were very active in promoting the McDonald's restaurant. The history of the logo began its journey in the mid-50s, it was then that the well-known red-yellow arch icon appeared. But the institution still lacked scope. It was then that Ray Kroc appeared - the man who changed the fast food restaurant forever.

Who made McDonald's grow?

Ray Kroc is not the inventor of fast food or anything else. The only thing he knew how to do well in his life was to trade. For a long 17 years, he sold paper cups from a well-known company, and then created his own business selling ice cream machines. True, competitors soon released a new model of the device, and Ray had to close the company. In desperation and looking for work, he began to travel around the country and one day he heard interesting news.

A small restaurant ordered as many as ten of his ice cream machines. When asked about what is happening there, his friend replied: "People make money." Krok, without a moment's hesitation, got behind the wheel and drove off to sunny California. McDonald's, whose history began in 1940, was in for big changes.

Franchise in San Bernardino

Once in the small town of San Bernardino, Ray hurried to see the coveted cafe. McDonald's turned out to be a small roadside establishment with a fast service system and disposable tableware. Ray saw iron kitchen counters and a very small menu of nine items. But most of all, he was surprised by the prices, which were half the prices of competitors. The McDonald brothers, who, unfortunately, were real mattresses, ran all the affairs here. The income that they had was quite suitable for them, and they did not want to achieve great success. If Kroc had not appeared in their lives, the history of McDonald's would simply have stopped. The brothers did not look for investors, and those sponsors that appeared on their way themselves were dissuaded from investing large sums in the construction of restaurants.

Selling a franchise for the right to open for very little money (up to 2.5 thousand dollars), they did not even demand a percentage of the income of this institution. The ruined Ray Kroc took matters into his own hands and offered the brothers a new scheme of interaction.

The history of McDonald's: the sale of franchises by Croc

Kroc invited the owners of the establishment to sell franchises throughout the country with his help. The price for 20 years was $950. Moreover, each cafe must pay a percentage of the profits, which was divided between the McDonald brothers and the enterprising Kroc. The percentage was given by the new owners for the use of the logo, brand and fast food system invented by the brothers.

At the time when Kroc and McDonald's significant acquaintance took place, all known chains of fast food restaurants were already selling franchises. It was believed that this is an easy way to earn good money. Many people who sold franchises were not interested in the further development of the brand and did not follow all the terms of the contract. They only cared about getting money. Kroc, on the other hand, wanted the history of the McDonald's brand to follow a different path. He wanted the restaurant to bring a steady income without dishonoring the brand across America.

He abandoned selling franchises in large areas, trading the right to open only one restaurant. If the owner of the establishment showed that he could be trusted with the brand, Ray allowed him to open another cafe. He did not cash in on restaurateurs, forcing them to buy equipment and products of his choice, but strictly monitored the quality of all purchased products. It had to meet the standard standards of McDonald's.

True, such conditions did not please buyers. Wealthy investors wanted to purchase a license for an entire state, while people with fewer opportunities were not satisfied with the fact that the franchise was only valid for 20 years under the strict control of Kroc. Ray only sold 18 franchises in his first year of new business. Moreover, half of the restaurateurs did whatever they wanted, selling even pizza and hot dogs in cafes. Ray Kroc dreamed of something completely different. An unexpected incident helped him - acquaintance with Sanford Agate.

McDonald's: The Success Story of Sanford Agate

46-year-old journalist Agathe had saved up $25,000 and wanted to start his own business. Kroc sold him a franchise to open a restaurant in the town of Waukegan. Agaté paid the construction fee, bought the equipment, and his money ran out.

In May 1955, the small restaurant opened to an unexpected resounding success. Every day his income was about a thousand dollars. The man who leased the land was outraged. He had no idea that a small establishment in a small town would bring the owner an income equal to 30 thousand a month. He himself received only one thousand for rent. Soon, Agate bought himself a luxurious house and began to live for his own pleasure. This success inspired many people who had little savings but a great passion for work and wealth. People began to line up for Kroc, hoping to repeat the success of Sanford. The history of McDonald's has moved forward. Krok was not selling people a new business, he was giving them success! The restaurant paid off in about six months, starting to bring excellent profits. For the sake of this, people were ready to fulfill all the instructions and requirements of Ray, as he wanted. His dreams began to come true.

Buying out the rights from the founding brothers

The history of McDonald's took a new path when, in 1961, its founders agreed to sell Croc and the right to manage it independently without their participation. The letter "M", which is considered the sign of all institutions, they estimated at 2.7 million dollars. The former salesman, of course, did not have that kind of money. Although the restaurant chain brought in a huge income, Ray's percentage was negligible. In addition, the amount of existing debt already exceeded $ 5 million. Kroc urgently needed a large loan. Sonneborn (network financier) persuaded several well-known universities to invest 2.7 million in business development. But the day before receiving the money, a refusal came, motivated by the unreliability of this enterprise. Then Sonneborn came up with the idea of combining the restaurant business and the real estate market. The goal of the company was to obtain ownership of all restaurant buildings and the land on which they stood. And it was very difficult!

Acquisition of land and buildings

The history of McDonald's would not have been so radiant if not for Harry Sonneborn. He made a huge contribution to the development of the network. By finding an experienced accountant, Harry creates on paper the appearance of a very successful company. This was necessary in order for the banks to agree to give a good loan. By telling creditors that the firm's main business was not fast food, but the sale of real estate, Kroc was able to take out a $2.7 million loan in 1961. Finally, the brothers received their compensation and retired completely. The history of McDonald's has moved on without its founders.

hamburger university

In the 70s, the fast food chain became extremely popular. Croc's income is growing day by day. The famous edition of Forbes published a note stating that his fortune is equal to 340 million dollars. But the former salesman did not even think of stopping! Despite enough, he does not stop working and improving.

In 1961, he opens a laboratory called "Hamburger University". There was a study of all the parameters of cooking potatoes, buns and cutlets. The "University" is still working, however, top managers of the company are trained in it. In the 60s, a famous clown named Ronald came to replace Speedy. The history of McDonald's currently means nothing without this character loved by all children in many countries of the world. Toddlers go to the restaurant on weekends, wanting to see this fun guy!

Ray Kroc died in 1984. Today, a huge corporation is run by James Skinner (the fourth person to cope with such a difficult task).

Fast food restaurant in Russia

For a very long time, the people of our country could not taste the same cheeseburgers as the Americans. The owners of the network explained the refusal to sell the franchise by the instability of the Russian economy and politics. The history of McDonald's in Russia began with long negotiations in 1976. This happened during the Olympic Games in Montreal. The Soviet Union eventually signs an agreement with a large chain of fast food restaurants. In 1990, the first McDonald's in Russia was opened, located on the success of the institution was amazing - on the first day of work, a queue of 30 thousand people lined up in front of the doors! This has never happened in the history of the network. Now many of these restaurants are scattered across the territory of our country, and the management plans to open many more establishments.

The history of McDonald's was briefly reviewed by us in this article, and now you can devote time to interesting and unusual facts about this corporation:

Raymond Kroc fulfilled his dream of becoming a millionaire, initially with only $950 in cash. To achieve the ultimate goal, he needed: a passion for victory, a sharp mind and insight, as well as a little providence. He became a great example for many people going towards their goal. The corporation's products are now loved and chosen by millions of people around the world, because it meets all quality standards! And the taste of the Big Mac hasn't changed since it was first made.

Everyone knows about McDonald's fast food restaurants, and every major (and not so) city has these establishments. Despite the fact that the vast majority of people understand and admit that food at McDonald's is unhealthy and unhealthy, these establishments are very popular. And for many people, frequent visits to McDonald's have already become a habit. Now it is a huge chain of restaurants around the world with an established system of work and its own special marketing, but where did the story of this real fast food giant begin?

Brothers Dick and Mack McDonald's Restaurant

The founders of McDonald's, the McDonald brothers, owned a small restaurant in California in the 40s of the 20th century, which brought them a small but constant profit. Things were going steadily, but when the economic situation in the country changed for the worse, the restaurant owners decided to change the concept of service, hoping that this would save their business a little. Then the brothers' restaurant became a self-service establishment, that is, the waiters did not come to each table to take an order, and the visitors themselves took their food from the cashier's counter, and then sat down at a free table. The number of items on the menu also had to be reduced to nine items: there were hamburgers, cheeseburgers, potato chips, pies, french fries and a few drinks.

To keep costs to a minimum, the brothers also changed the food preparation system - now the kitchen has become like an assembly line that continuously produces the same hamburgers and other food. So it was possible to save both on staff and on the ingredients themselves. Food prices have gone down and there have been more visitors. Competitors, whose products cost a little higher, were rapidly losing regular visitors.

After 10 years, namely by the mid-50s, the McDonald brothers' restaurant began to bring them twice as much profit as in the 40s. Dick and Mack made about $350,000 a year from their business. Their restaurant has become quite popular and loved by many Californians. However, the brothers were in no hurry to somehow expand their restaurant activities, either because of the fear of change, or because of ordinary human laziness.

The arrival of Ray Kroc

So the family restaurant business slowly "floated" until the same Ray Kroc appeared on the horizon, who brought the McDonald's brand to a new level. Many believe that Ray Kroc is the inventor of the fast food system used in McDonald's restaurants. However, this opinion is erroneous: the very idea of quick service belongs to the McDonald brothers, and they came to it long before Ray Kroc appeared in the business. He had a rather extraordinary mind, however, for some reason, he could not achieve the desired success in those areas in which he tried himself before he found out about the McDonald brothers restaurant.

Having once visited this institution, it dawned on Ray: but such a service system will work "with a bang" almost anywhere! Especially with delicious and relatively cheap food. The brothers did not want to burden themselves with the worries of expanding the business and turning it into a whole restaurant chain. Ray Kroc began to do this, and already in 1955 a company called “McDonalds System Inc” appeared, which sold restaurant franchises. Then, in order to get the right to use the brand created by the McDonald brothers for 20 years, it was necessary to pay only 950 dollars.

In those years, the concept of franchising was already known - the first in this business was Singer with his sewing machines. However, Ray Kroc approached his new activity with full responsibility and commitment - he did not sell franchises to everyone, but carefully selected only competent restaurateurs. Ray Kroc's first year with McDonald's wasn't as fruitful as he expected, with only 18 franchises purchased. Experienced and large businessmen, perhaps, did not consider the fast food business serious enough for them, and aspiring entrepreneurs were afraid of failure in this business, and therefore were in no hurry to declare themselves as contenders for the purchase of a franchise.

After some time, the franchise was sold to journalist Sanford Agat, who managed to show by his own example how much income can be obtained from running the McDonald's restaurant business. In a couple of years, he was able to earn money for a decent mansion. So many entrepreneurs became interested in the McDonald's franchise.

Departure of the Macdonald brothers from the business

In the early 1960s, the McDonald brothers decided to sell all rights to the McDonald's brand to Ray Kroc. The brothers set a price of $2.7 million. Krok was not able to immediately pay such an amount, so he had to look for options on how to get this money. Economist Harry Sonnenborn joined the case. Entrepreneurs applied for a loan, which they were immediately denied due to the "unreliability of the catering business." Sonnenborn came up with the idea not only to sell franchises for the business, but also to buy out the land on which the restaurants are located. This idea proved to be key to the development of the McDonald's brand, as without it, Krok and Sonnenborg might not have received the loan.

After a while, the company's account was already quite an impressive amount for those times. However, there was still not enough money for business development, and again there was a need for a loan. Now the company's accountant, Richard Boylen, played a key role in this, using a little trick in compiling the financial statement of activities. In the section of the company's assets, he indicated that real estate (land) that was not yet wholly owned by the company. Being an honest accountant, Boylen put this information in the notes of the report, which are usually written at the very bottom in small print. It was precisely because of this that they did not pay much attention to this information (or simply did not read the report up to this point), and the bank agreed to issue a loan, considering Croc's business to be quite trustworthy.

So Ray Kroc became the owner of all rights to use the McDonald's brand, and the brothers Dick and Mack no longer had anything to do with him. The active development of a chain of restaurants began. In the mid-1960s, the billionth McDonald's hamburger was sold.

After a while, McAvto restaurants began to open. They immediately began to be in demand, and the profit from them was almost half of the income from the entire network. In 1975, McDonald's restaurants were already in more than 20 countries around the world.

Now, McDonald's is second only to Subway in terms of the number of restaurants. The Ray Kroc business is continued by James Skinner and Don Thompson, who are the company's chief executive officer and president, respectively.

Today, McDonald's is the world's most popular representative of the fast food industry. This is a place for family holidays and romantic dates, meetings with friends and just quick snacks at lunchtime. At the same time, the presence of McDonald's eateries in our lives has become so familiar, and the system of their work and service is so flexible and streamlined that it is difficult for us to imagine that it was not always like this.

Meanwhile, the founder of McDonald's, whose biography is replete not only with successful ideas and realized desires, but also with a series of failures and crises, at one time made an incredible amount of effort to keep this system safely afloat. Of course, it's not just about Ray Kroc, who managed to adopt and improve the fast service system in the McDonald's restaurant chain. We are talking about those huge teams of workers who worked in this system. And of course, about the brothers Dick and Maurice McDonald, whose name and technologies Ray Kroc borrowed in his business.

Founder of McDonald's

The biography of Ray Kroc (1902-1984), an American businessman, the discoverer of fast food restaurants, is proof that you should always believe in success at any age, despite various vicissitudes of fate. The beginning of work on the organization of the McDonald's network fell on Ray's solid years. By that time, he already had several serious physical illnesses (diabetes was one of them). However, this did not stop the entrepreneur in his career. Activity, creativity and discipline are the main components of Ray Kroc's success.

Carier start

Ray Kroc was born on October 5, 1902 in Illinois (Chicago). He was the eldest of three children. The difficult financial situation in the family did not give the boy the opportunity to get a good education (Ray graduated from only ten classes). However, young Kroc believed that hard work would eventually lead him to success. He tried to start his first business at the age of 15, selling musical instruments and notes with his friends.

After returning from the front (the period of the First World War), Krok got married and began working as a seller of paper cups. During this period, his entrepreneurial spirit and creative approach to business begin to appear. So, the future founder of McDonald's comes up with the idea of organizing the delivery of water to the house. However, his idea is not supported. Then Croc arranges the first trial delivery of water for free. This marketing move not only worked, but was a huge success. Krok's next invention is the multimixer, a device that allows whisking five cocktails at the same time (1937). Ray even runs his own multifunctional mixer business. However, it took two years before the product began to gradually conquer the market.

Getting to know McDonald's

In 1954, Kroc met the McDonald brothers, Dick and Maurice, who owned a small restaurant in San Bernardino, California. Eight of Ray's multi-mixers were used in this establishment. But this is not what attracted the attention of the businessman. A feature of the restaurant was the system of high-speed customer service: serving fried potatoes, hamburgers, milkshakes, etc. For example, 40 milkshakes were prepared at the same time. High-speed service was built at the expense of an in-line production line for order servicing. In addition, all dishes were inexpensive, and therefore accessible to the general population. The restaurant itself was clean and tidy, all employees wore uniforms, which also made a positive impression.

What he saw surprised Kroc so much that he offered the MacDonald brothers cooperation. Dick and Maurice refused to expand production. But they agreed to an agreement according to which Croc gets the right to replicate the McDonald business using their name, and they receive 0.5% of the proceeds.

The rebirth of McDonald's

In the process of implementing a new type of eateries, Ray improves the system of high-speed service. Now each employee had to perform exactly one operation. Since the menu included a rather limited number of dishes, such a move was fully justified. In addition, strict discipline was required from all employees. The founder of McDonald's liked to repeat the phrase that would later become famous: "A man in himself is nothing. The main thing is organization.

Accurate calculation was also used by Croc in cooking. So, for example, a hamburger patty was made strictly according to specifications: weight - 1.6 ounces (about 45 g), diameter - 3.875 inches (about 10 cm), fat content - no more than 19%, etc. All burgers had the same size and high quality. In order to maintain the accuracy of the production process, Kroc even creates a special laboratory. And in 1961, the founder of McDonald's conducts classes on a special training program (the so-called Hamburger University). Licensees and vendors were introduced to new scientific methods for successful fast food restaurant management.

Ray introduces army-style white uniforms for his employees. The discipline in the organization also resembled that of the army. By the way, this was the main reason why Krok did not hire women for the first time, fearing amorous deeds that could violate the strict military order. Subsequently, the girls were still allowed to work, but they preferred to take less attractive ones.

In 1961, the McDonald brothers agree to completely transfer ownership of their brand to Krok, giving him freedom of control. It should be noted that the letter "M" (the famous McDonald's logo) was valued at $2.7 million.

The first Big Mac

The high performance of Kroc's restaurants, which could hardly have been different from the first McDonald's, nevertheless had its drawbacks. For fear of slowing down the pace of the distribution line, Ray was forced to refuse to include new dishes on his menu. Gradually, visitors began to complain about the monotony of the diet - they were tired of eating the same foods every day. All attempts to improve the quality of existing dishes have led to nothing. And this despite the fact that more than $ 3 million was spent on the secret of special frying of potatoes alone!

On the exchange

Affiliated companies McDonald's Canada[d], McDonald's in Israel, McDonald's New Zealand[d], Redbox[d], McDonald's South Africa[d], McDonald's Company (Japan), Ltd. [d] And McCafe[d]

The company's headquarters is located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook.

Story

On March 25, 2019 the McDonald's company announced purchase of the Israeli IT startup Dynamic Yield Ltd which is engaged in technologies in the field of artificial intelligence. The transaction is called the largest in the history of the corporation over the past 20 years, according to unconfirmed information, its amount may be $ 300 million.

Owners and management

Almost 100% of the company's shares are in free float. Capitalization for the middle of June, 2009 - $64.2 billion.

Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of the company - James Skinner ( James A Skinner), President - Don Thompson.

Activity

As of mid-June 2009, there were 32,060 restaurants operating under the McDonald's trademark in 118 countries around the world (including about 14,000 of them located in the USA). Of these, a significant part (25,578) was managed by franchising, so the range of restaurants, the size and composition of portions can vary greatly in different countries. At the end of 2010, 32,737 restaurants around the world operated under the McDonald's brand (thus, McDonald's lost the championship to the Subway chain). One of the most developing projects of the company in recent years has become a network of coffee houses "McCafé".

The range of restaurants includes hamburgers (including "Big Mac"), sandwiches, french fries, desserts, drinks, etc. In most countries of the world, beer is sold in chain restaurants, but in Russia, McDonald's restaurants are completely non-alcoholic.

The total number of the company's personnel in 2008 was about 400 thousand people. The company's revenue in 2008 amounted to $23.5 billion (in 2007 - $22.8 billion), operating profit - $4.3 billion ($2.4 billion), net profit - $2.6 billion ($2.3 billion). In 2010, the corporation's revenue reached a record high of $24.07 billion. At the same time, McDonald's net profit amounted to $4.94 billion.

Criticism

Journalist Oksana Prilepina in her article compares McDonald's with a totalitarian state, with its cruel laws.

Cooperation with Hummer

Notes

2010 Form 10-K, McDonald's Corporation (indefinite) . United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
The World's Biggest Public Companies List
McDonald Corporation. Corporation Information (indefinite) .
"McDonald's" / I. V. Uryupin // Lomonosov - Manizer. - M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2011. - S. 515-516. - (Great Russian encyclopedia: [in 35 volumes] / ch. ed. Yu. S. Osipov; 2004-2017, v. 18). - ISBN 978-5-85270-351-4.
McDonald's restaurant franchise
Subway toppled McDonald's from the throne of the world's largest restaurant chain
Fortune Global 500 // money.cnn.com (Retrieved May 10, 2017)
(indefinite) .
McDonald's to Acquire Dynamic Yield (indefinite) .
Janet Edami. "I love to eat, I love food" - Ralph Alvarez, president of McDonald's // Vedomosti, 06/22/2009, No. 112 (2382). Copy of text Archived July 30, 2013 at the Wayback Machine
McDonald's - Company Overview - Hoover's // hoovers.com (Retrieved June 22, 2009)
McDonald's - Financial Statements - Hoover's // hoovers.com (Retrieved June 22, 2009)