The thing I learned from him (and my mom, who worked in the corporate Meetings and Conventions department) was that McDonalds was a real estate business with a finely-tuned system for producing revenue from that real estate. Also, that the youngest child determines where the family will eat (hence Ronald), and that knowing there’s a clean bathroom will attract customers over restaurants where that’s an unknown.
Here’s a link to a 2011 article on the family who owned the franchise where I worked back in the 1970s. 35 years later, they are still at it. I’m sure the owners do not remember me, but I will never forget them for all the positive things that I learned during my two years at McDonalds:
http://www.connecticutmag.com/Connecticut-Magazine/January-2011/Where-the-Arches-are-Made-of-Gold/