People tend to think of entrepreneurs as business owners. Usually the image is that of someone starting a new business, toiling away in a garage or a kitchen table until, voila, the world suddenly realizes what a great business there is, and the rest, as they say, is history. The reality is far less dramatic, and far more work. While there are hundreds, if not thousands, of entrepreneurs toiling away in garages, they’re also working in large corporations. They are working away in menial jobs. They are secretaries and engineers. They are everywhere.
An entrepreneur doesn’t have to be self-employed. Large companies such as 3M, Apple, McDonald’s and more all depend on entrepreneurs for their growth and success. Most of us are familiar with the story of Ray Kroc. Kroc was a milkshake maker salesman whose curiosity was piqued when one restaurant bought a large number of milkshake makers. He went to a hamburger stand owned by the McDonald brothers and was astounded at the number of customers they were serving. More than that, the McDonald brothers had developed a system that allowed them to create the exact same burger, time after time, and do it quickly and efficiently. Kroc was impressed and came up with the idea to franchise the process. He took over McDonald’s and proceeded to grow it into the world’s largest hamburger chain. Kroc didn’t invent anything. He didn’t toil in a garage. Is Kroc an entrepreneur? Absolutely. He saw the potential that the McDonald’s restaurant had and he pursued it. McDonald’s would not have been born if it wasn’t for Ray Kroc. It wouldn’t be the success it is, however, if it weren’t for another entrepreneur, Jim Delligatti.
Delligatti’s story is less well known than Ray Kroc’s. Delligatti lived in Pennsylvania and, like Ray Kroc, he saw the potential in McDonald’s. Delligatti was one of the early franchisees of McDonald’s. Delligatti saw that as well as McDonald’s was doing, it could be doing better. He saw there was a hole in its menu. By creating all of its hamburgers exactly the same way, McDonald’s had failed to take into consideration that, for some people, one hamburger was too small to make a meal. Delligatti decided to put two patties on a sandwich. He also realized that some of his customers wanted something different, something more than two burgers would give them. The regular cheeseburger already had cheese, pickles, onions, and ketchup. His new double burger added lettuce and replaced ketchup with a “special sauce.” Early reviews of the burger were great but there was still one problem to overcome. It was very messy. The patties kept sliding around and everything would fall off the bun. To fix that complaint, a second piece of bread was added between the patties. The Big Mac was born. The construction was close enough to the original burgers that it could fit into McDonald’s much vaunted system, but gave the customers that something extra they wanted. Delligatti served the Big Mac in his store for a year and then the company rolled it out nationwide.
What both Kroc and Delligatti had in common was they saw a need and proceeded to fill that need. They were both entrepreneurs.
To find out how The Modern Observer Group can help you grow into an entrepreneur, contact us.
Connect With Us