By Tom Feltenstein

During the start of my career in marketing, I was fortunate enough to work for several years with Ray Kroc, the legendary owner of McDonald’s who revolutionized the franchise business through neighborhood marketing.  Although Ray imparted enough wisdom to last a lifetime and fill countless volumes of literature, I’ve distilled his most valuable insights into the following 7 Lessons.   Please read them carefully, because if you adopt them as the guiding principles of your own business philosophy, you cannot help but win your competitive battles, no matter how formidable your foes are.

1. It’s all local
2. The heart and soul of your business is marketing inside your own walls
3. Community involvement.  Become an integral part of your community by being generous with your time and efforts to lend a helping hand to those in your neighborhood who are in need.
4. Trust your people.  Allow your employees the freedom to contribute their opinions, insight, and knowledge.  Give them the power to make decisions to benefit your customers.
5. A good idea doesn’t care where it comes from.
6. To make it work from top to bottom, it has to work from bottom to top.
7. Deliver a powerful level of service – beyond what’s expected – and you’ve created a tangible bond with a customer that no mass media program can achieve.