Chapter Three: Lesson 3
As my friend tells the story, Ray spent a good amount of time
explaining his viewpoint. In his business plan, Ray knew that the
primary business focus was to sell hamburger franchises, but what
he never lost sight of was the location of each franchise. He knew
that the land and its location were the most significant factors in
the success of each franchise. Basically, the person who bought the
franchise was also buying the real estate under the franchise for Ray
Kroc’s organization.
Today, McDonald’s is the largest single owner of real estate in
the world, owning even more than the Catholic church. McDonald’s
owns some of the most valuable intersections and street corners in
America and around the globe.
My friend considers this as one of the most important lessons in
his life. Today he owns car washes, but his business is the real estate
under those car washes.
The previous chapter presented diagrams illustrating that most people
work for everyone but themselves. They work first for the owners of the
company, then for the government through taxes, and finally for the bank
that owns their mortgage.
When I was a young boy, we did not have a McDonald’s nearby.
Yet my rich dad was responsible for teaching Mike and me the
same lesson that Ray Kroc talked about at the University of Texas.
It is secret number three of the rich. That secret is: Mind your own
business. Financial struggle is often directly the result of people
working all their lives for someone else. Many people will simply have
nothing at the end of their working days to show for their efforts.
Our current educational system focuses on preparing today’s
youth to get good jobs by developing scholastic skills. Their lives
will revolve around their wages or, as described earlier, their income
column. Many will study further to become engineers, scientists,
cooks, police officers, artists, writers, and so on. These professional
skills allow them to enter the workforce and work for money.
But there is a big difference between your profession and your
business. Often I ask people, “What is your business?” And they will