Grinding It Out by Ray Kroc

These are my notes from Grinding It Out by Ray Kroc. Each one contains a core idea from the book that stood out. The goal of writing my notes this way is that each could be it's own independent idea with the need for the specific context within the book.

Tethered Opportunity

In 1930 Ray Kroc was selling paper cups for Lily Tulip Cup Company. That year he made a sale that brought massive boost to his volume and gave him new insight into a distribution strategy. Kroc sold cups to the Walgreen Drug Company just as they entered a period of expansion. They used the cups for their soda fountain. Observing the traffic these fountains had at noon a new opportunity came to mind (tethered to his own success). If they had new cups they could sell to-go drinks to the overflow crowd. "You're crazy, or else you think I am," McNamara their food service guy said. "Mac, the only way in the world that you can increase your soda fountain volume is I add to people who don't have you a stool... I will give you 200 or 300 cointainers with covers, however many you need to try this for a month in your store" Ray Kroc proposed. Finally McNamara agreed. It was a wild success. They implemented this service in every Walgreen store. Every time a new one opened Ray Kroc got more business. The opportunities multiplied.

Imaginary Blackboard

In the first phase of his career Ray Kroc learned how to keep problems from interfering with his peace of mind. He used a system that allowed him to turn off nervous tensions and nagging questions. The imaginary blackboard. Kroc would think of his mind as an imaginary blackboard full of messages (most urgent). In his mind he visualized a hand erasing each message until the blackboard was clean. If a thought appeared, bam! He’d put it on there and erase it before it could fully form. The key to being able to work 12-14 hours a day comes from mastering rest which requires keeping problems from crushing you.

A System's Reputation Makes a Brand

McDonald's started out as just a name but as they hit dynamic growth Ray Kroc knew it was more. The goal was to build a restaurant system that was known for consistent high quality. They needed a system with uniform preparation across the country. The brand needed to have a reputation built by their stores' systems rather than any single store. It was the only way McDonald's would have repeat customers across the country independent of who owned that franchise store.

Study Goes Into Brand Image

Paul Schrage didn't design McDonald's iconic golden arches, but he created the guide book to manage their brand image. Schrage was on the same wave length as Ray Kroc when he created Ronald McDonald. A great deal of study went into it. Down to the color of his wig. Everyone loved Ronald. Esquire invited him to their "Party of the Decade" because he was the top newsmaker in the 60s.

The Monotony Index

The key to McDonald's nationwide success came from an idea Luigi Salveneschi developed called "The Monotony Index." The big idea was the higher the level of monotony in a town, the better chances of McDonald's success. Big cities had a lot of competition. McDonald’s competed with every other restaurant option. But in areas with nothing, the monotony index was high. People came more frequently. The impact McDonald's had on the communities was higher because highways and malls forgot about those towns.