Ray Kroc Was 52, Broke, and Selling Mixers. Then He Created McDonald’s

Boomerpreneurship has become a big thing. Here’s a fun story about one such individual (long before the Boomers!)

In 1954, Ray Kroc was 52 years old, pretty much broke, and selling milkshake machines door to door.

It’s not exactly the resume of a future billionaire.

But then something strange happened. A small burger joint in San Bernardino ordered eight of his mixers.

Eight? That was unheard of. Curious, Kroc had to see whatever this place was for himself. What he found would change his life, and American business, forever.

I Have Seen the Future of Hamburgers

The McDonald brothers had built a restaurant unlike anything Kroc had ever seen.

The brothers had developed a simple, efficient format that they named the “Speedee Service System”, which included, for starters, a self-service counter that eliminated the need for waiters and waitresses.

There were only 15 items on the menu, and burgers, fries, and shakes were served up in a couple of minutes. Also, the place was spotless. The prices were cheap. Customers lined up out the door.

But what blew Kroc away was that Seedee system. It was revolutionary. Kroc knew that he just had to be part of it.

Important aside: In the late 1970s, a music writer for Rolling Stone happened upon a small music venue in Asbury Park New Jersey. There he saw a virtually unknown named Bruce Springsteen rock for 4 hours. The next day, Marsh wrote a sentance that would be prophetic:

“I have seen the future of rock and roll, and his name is Bruce Springsteen.”

That’s what McDonald’s was to Ray Kroc.

He tried explaining to the brothers that they were sitting on a goldmine, but either they didn’t see it or didn’t care. Kroc sure did. Yet the brothers had no interest in expanding.

Kroc could not let it go.

All In

Kroc became obsessed and so within a year he talked his way into a job becoming the first franchise agent for the flagship restaurant.

He convinced them to let him open new locations and they did and he did.

But scaling was not easy. The brothers resisted change. They wanted to keep things small, manageable. Kroc clearly wanted to go big.

Within five years, Kroc bought the brothers out. It was his baby now.

His first innovation was standardization. You could go into a McDonald’s in Ceder Rapids, Iowa and get the exact same burger and fries you got in Chicago. That had never been true ever before, anywhere.

For My Next Trick

Next, Kroc invented franchising.

Franchisees bought into the system, agreeing to run their restaurants the way Kroc’s system required. And then they would go to yet another Kroc innovation, Hamburger University where they would learn all the secrets and systems.

All of these changes created a McDonald’s juggernaut.

In less than 10 years after Kroc became the sole owner of McDonald’s, the number of the chain’s outlets topped 1,000.

Not bad, not bad at all for a guy who found his calling much later in life than most.

The Takeaway

One of the great things about entrepreneurship is that it has few limits. If you can dream it, and you dare to build it, you get to try. Even at 52. Harlan Sanders was 65 when he started Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The takeaway? You’re never too old.

Steal This Strategy

📖 Book - Grinding It Out by Ray Kroc
Great lessons from the guy who started it all.

🎥 Video - The Founder (2016)
Michael Keaton plays Kroc in a sharp, revealing biopic. Here, he visits McDonald’s for the first time.

🌐 Website - McDonald’s Franchise Info
See how it works today.

📖 Book - - Never Too Old to Get Rich
Starting a business later in life.

Overnight Challenge

Find your 8-mixer moment. What is one unusual signal - a big order, a happy customer, a process that runs weirdly well - that might be hiding a much bigger opportunity? Hmmmmm

About Steve

Steve Strauss is the best-selling author of The Small Business Bible (and 17 other books), Inc.’s small business columnist, a lawyer (non-practicing), and an entrepreneur. He sold his last venture, TheSelfEmployed.com to Mark Cuban & Zen Business. Need a ghostwriter or a newsletter for your business? Contact Steve!