A Law graduate decided to buy a McDonald’s franchise instead of seeking a job at a legal firm.
Lauren McAuslin, 34 owns the Blenheim store and another in New Plymouth. She is now the youngest franchisee in New Zealand.
One of her franchises earns about $10million every year and most stores in the region make at least $7million. When Lauren was younger, her parents owned a restaurant where she was needed to take over the day-to-day management of the place at age 22.
She told Stuff: ‘I was young and suddenly had lots of responsibility, and that was the toughest part. People were suddenly looking to me for advice, and that can be pretty difficult when you don’t have a lot of life skills,’
Lauren said her classmates used to get shocked after hearing she chose to run the family business rather than pursue a career in law.
‘I remember being at friends’ birthday parties and people from law school would ask ‘which firm do you work for?’. I’d say, ‘I’m working at McDonald’s,’ they’d say, ‘really?’ But I choose what I do, and I have control over my work life,’ she said.
The restaurants make huge profits but still, Lauren has lots of overheads as a franchisee are required to pay most of the bill for the interior design of the store and tools, as well as pay for the food and staff wages.
‘I watched them [former course-mates] take jobs to sit in desks, go into work at 6 am and leave at 11 pm, working under intense pressure. They didn’t seem to be having a lot of fun,’
‘But I can come into work, laugh with the crew and have a good time. There’s nothing like working on a Friday night when you’re really busy. It’s backs to the wall, but you’re just going for it. That’s much more fun than sitting at a desk all day.’
[rumble video_id=vn864 domain_id=u7nb2]