5 Business Lessons From “The Founder”
A client recommended I see the movie The Founder—the story of how McDonalds came to be an internationally known fast-food chain.
I’m glad I watched it. It definitely prompted some thoughts worth sharing:
1. The Irony of “Founder”
The movie is named after Ray Kroc, the guy who made the McDonald’s brothers’ brand into an internationally known fast food joint. The irony is that he didn’t found McDonalds—he just expanded it to have more locations.
It makes me think of the difference of creating and iterating that I’m learning first-hand as a business owner myself: It’s always easy to look at someone else’s work and see how they can do it better—it’s another ball game to have the guts to start something yourself.
2. Defining Success For Yourself
Kroc created a profitable corporate enterprise, but I still wouldn’t call him successful. At least, not compared to my standards. He achieved what he did by cheating, lying, and neglecting the relationships that were most close to him.
Sure, he made millions, but to me, what good is that if you had to stomp on other people and deny your own values in order to get there?
3. The Importance of Values
Speaking of values, the movie reiterates the importance of not just goals, but values. Goals might be where you want to get to, the destination, but your values are the path you’re willing to take to get there.
And for me, I’m grateful that my values are clear and instilled in my life and my business, and that I have integrity to stick with them, even if it might not always be the most financially profitable thing to do.
4. Your Values Determine Your Goals
From the beginning, the McDonalds brothers didn’t care about growth and expansion, they just had a goal of just being an authentic burger spot with extremely high quality. Krock, on the other hand, had a goal of making the most profit. And those goals clashed and severed the relationship between the partners. It reminds me that you’ve got to remember what you’re in business for.
For me, I actually have no desire to be rich. I value quality relationships much more than money, and I already have a lucky number of those in my life. So my goal as a business owner is about living out a purpose more than making huge amount of profit. And that feels good living in that integrity in my personal and business life.
5. The Payoff of Persistence
Persistence. Any entrepreneur or creator knows this. It’s the reason they say that you should do something you actually love, because the hard times will come and , it’s gonna be that passion and dedication that keeps you going when everything else is telling you to quit.
I feel very lucky to love what I do.
Anyway, it was a good movie, I enjoyed it!
