The success of a business model often lies in the fact that the founder made a series of "critical decisions" right. In a business war, the choice is often greater than the effort.

Lake Rock, the de facto "stepdad" of McDonald's, has become the "father of McDonald's." Even though the McDonald's brothers founded the McDonald's brand as early as 1940, it was Lake Rock that really made it an empire.

The business model he forged continues to this day and still supports the world's largest restaurant empire. Today, McDonald's has a market value of up to 170 billion U.S. dollars, has 30,000+ stores, and employs more than 1.5 million people. It is a well-deserved catering overlord. Looking back at the 1950s 70 years ago, it was precisely a few key decisions that continued to influence and created the great McDonald's.

ONE

Natural genes: good quality and low price

Good quality and low price are the common characteristics of all excellent business models. If you realize the high quality and low price of the product, then you can at least prove that you have done two things. Or problem, the second cheap price means that you have greatly exceeded the production and research efficiency of products of the same category, and you have built a strong barrier with cost-leading and efficiency-leading capabilities.

The genes of McDonald’s high quality and low price have been established since the McDonald’s brothers in the 1940s. When Recklock first arrived at McDonald’s first store in San Bernardino, he was stunned by the sight of the line in front of him. And an old customer described his feelings about McDonald’s like this: You can buy the best burger you've never eaten here for 15 cents, instead of waiting for a long time like in other places and accepting bad ones. Service, but also tip.

The words in this sentence point out the foundation of McDonald's at the beginning of its establishment, that is, high quality and low price, low price and affordable. Looking back, which super chain brands now dominate the Chinese market are also using the same reasoning to expand rapidly.

TWO

Keep it simple, stupid

Lake Rock regards "Keep it simple, stupid" as McDonald's "first business motto", and all this comes from Lake Rock’s vacation before running McDonald’s. In a bar with good business, he found the bar. The important reason for the good business is that all the drinks provided in it, whether it is champagne, brandy, or whiskey, are $1 a glass, and this store does not have a menu because there are only 3 main dishes to choose from: lobster, steak, and roast duck.

Many years later, after Lake Rock licensed to operate McDonald's, it strictly stipulated that the number of early McDonald's products was 9 models, and the raw materials used were only 35-40 kinds. Nowadays, the “the thinner the menu, the thicker the profit” approach pursued by catering people is exactly the same as the underlying logic.

THREE

Dedication to key products

Although Lake Rock was born in sales, he is definitely a madman who insists on productism. 70 years ago, the biggest "different" between McDonald's and other hamburger fast food brands was French fries. The difference of this little fries comes from the accidental actions of the founders of McDonald's brothers.

The French fries of McDonald's first store and the French fries that were popular at that time have a more unique taste and strong taste bud memory points. It is a must-order item for every customer in the store. Today, it can be regarded as an explosive product. But it was difficult for Lake Rock to make this taste when he opened the store. He finally discovered that the McDonald's brothers inadvertently let the potatoes volatilize more water when they were stored. This is the key to deliciousness. In the same way, even if it is a hot product, McDonald's still insists on selling at a "small profit", and you can buy 3 ounces of delicious French fries for 10 cents.

So Lake Rock and the team innovated the "pre-fried" method, which has been continued by McDonald's and many restaurants to this day. It can be said that having a productist mentality is the "values" that every catering person must have at the moment. Although the kitchen technology continues to become more advanced and more foolish, you will find that truly outstanding catering brands are more "chef"-like. I think what is behind this is the same.

FOUR

Never produce any products

Nowadays, most franchise chain brands are anchored to earn “back-end” money. In the fierce franchise market, it is becoming increasingly unrealistic to charge high franchise fees, so supply chain revenue has become a source of money for most franchisees. road.

But Lake Rock firmly believes that this is wrong!

His logic is simple: once the franchisee tries to become a supplier, the franchisee and the franchisee will have a serious conflict of interest, and the franchisee will think more about how to let the franchisee buy more products, rather than first thinking about how to let the franchisee Business to increase turnover. This subtle difference can lead to a completely different end result.

Come to think of it, this may be the reason why the joining industry is called cutting leeks. Therefore, Lake Rock believes that what he needs to establish is standards and systems, rather than establishing factories to sell products.

FIVE

Franchising and capitalization

The influence of franchising and capitalization on McDonald’s is very important. The reason why they are put together is that they are all “leverages” for McDonald’s long-term development, which greatly magnifies the advantages of McDonald’s and thus allows The business skyrocketed rapidly.

McDonald’s is obviously not the founder of franchising. After World War II, the American franchise model first appeared on the beverage and ice cream track, such as the famous "DQ" and the popular "Test" cold drinks in the United States that year. The "Ed Bear" who passed the Chinese market and finally came home.

The model designed by Lake Rock is the logic of building a store first and then joining. McDonald’s can take 1.9% of the turnover of licensed restaurants as a license fee (the McDonald’s brothers get 0.5% of it), and McDonald’s will give each franchisee A franchise fee of US$950 is charged, and the license period is 20 years.

Capitalization is also the path that McDonald’s chose from the beginning until the final listing. Whether it is loans or capital increase financing, McDonald’s has never stopped dealing with banks and funds. Each stage of development is inseparable from the help of capital. The deeper the pockets, The more Recklock dared to try and make mistakes, it eventually became a booster for the achievement of this great brand.

SIX

Establishment of the University of Hamburg

McDonald’s emphasized the value of “people” from the beginning to the end. Although McDonald’s is known for its standardized system with less labor, Lake Rock founded the early prototype of Hamburg University in the second year when he officially opened his own McDonald’s restaurant. Since 1956, Lake Rock has promised the licensee in every franchise contract that it will be responsible for training the employees of the licensee's store, and will send experienced management personnel to the store to assist them in their operations.

Now the real value of the University of Hamburg is that the batches of managers it has cultivated have become the cornerstone of the entire McDonald's operating system. Of course, as far as the industry is concerned, the University of Hamburg is undoubtedly like a missionary, allowing standardized restaurant operation thinking to be widely spread all over the world, which also laid the foundation for the thinking of the early professional managers in the Chinese catering market today.

The above is the wonderful and crucial decision made by Lake Rock 70 years ago. Looking back, the problems encountered by Chinese catering people at different stages are the same as those encountered by McDonald's 70 years ago.

Of course, I think there is another point in the key decision-making. It is not a model or business skill. It is the vision and pattern of the founder.

When Lake Rock drove hundreds of miles to learn about McDonald’s and persuaded the McDonald’s brothers to open more stores, the McDonald’s brothers fell silent. A text describing the scene said: After a while, Mike smiled slightly and took the seat. The chair turned to the hill opposite the restaurant outside the window, and slowly said: Do you see the house with a wide corridor in front of the door on the opposite hill? We live there and like him very much. We are willing to sit on the promenade every night to watch the sunset and enjoy a peaceful life. One restaurant is enough, and opening more restaurants means trouble.

Recklock was very disappointed, fell into thought, got up and said: Let's do it, I will do it!