Reading Reflection

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most? What surprised me most about the Entrepreneur was that he didn't start expanding the franchise internationally until he was 52. It shows no matter what your age, if the right opportunity arises then you can take it.   
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? Yes he encountered adversity throughout his entire career. At first he had to play in scrappy, run down bars to make a living because he struggled getting a job elsewhere. When the paper cups market started to go downhill he decided to go to Florida and flip houses to make money for his family. 
• What I admired most about the entrepreneur was his 'go with the flow attitude'. He dropped out of school because he wasn't enjoying it and it was too slow for him. He then spent periods playing the piano at different bars, moved to Florida and started flipping houses, spent time selling paper cups, then milkshake makers and finally expanded the McDonald's francize worldwide. He basically just went through life, doing what he enjoyed, just trying to make money along the way. As someone who likes structure and security, I admire this attitude.  
• What I least admired about the entrepreneur was that he was that always tried to say that loyalty was so important in all of his McDonald's franchises but then married three times. I feel what he was preaching didn't match his personal lifestyle. 

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 
One competency that I noticed was exemplified by the title of the book: Grinding it out. He showed amazing persistence and devotion throughout his career. From performing as a musician to make some extra cash, to going to Florida to exploit an opportunity to expanding one of the biggest companies the world has ever seen. Kroc showed great character in everything thing he did. He worked hard, and had very little time for play. But as he said in his book, his work was his play. He did what he was passionate about and it served him well. 
3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
One part of the reading that was a little confusing was the beginning. He started off telling a story of how he met the McDonalds brothers and how he took up the opportunity to expand the business himself. However, in the following chapters it started a story about the beginning of the career and didn't address the starting story again.  Personally, I didn't think the first part of the book was necessary. 
4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
What as the lowest part of your career and why?
You stated in your book that you must know when to stop talking and ask for the sale, when exactly does this moment occur and how do you pose the question?
5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
The Entrepreneur didn't just think you should work hard, he believed working should be your life. He was always working, as a 'salesman' at heart, he would work tirelessly to make sales, and make sure he was making profit for his company and serving his customers well. He stated that he wouldn't even try and make a sale if his customer didn't need the product, which I respected. Personally, I believe in hard work but also in play. As play can often facilitate creativity and innovation that is essential for the Entrepreneur.