McDonald’s longest-serving Queensland employee now owns four stores of her own

WHEN one thinks of employment at McDonald’s, a part-time job while studying often comes to mind, not a lifelong career.

Ann Brown McDonalds store owner of McDonalds in Carina. Pic Annette Dew

WHEN one thinks of employment at McDonald’s, a part-time job while studying often comes to mind, not a lifelong career.

But that’s exactly what happened to Ann Brown, who is Queensland’s longest serving McDonald’s employee, franchisee to four stores and employer to 400 staff.

“It was a great career path,” said Ms Brown, who this year marks 40 years with McDonald’s.

McDonald’s employs 90,000 staff in restaurants and corporate offices across the country and is the largest employer of youth in Australia.

Ms Brown believes that while most of the new franchisees are second generation owners following in their parent’s footsteps, the fast food giant is open to all potential owners willing to put in the work.

“If they are the right individual, passionate about what they do and willing to put in the time, it’s possible,” she said.

“The applicants have to go through a rigorous interviewing process to get board approval. After that, there is 12 months of unpaid training. You can’t maintain your existing employment; you need to donate 100 per cent of your time to McDonald’s.”

Ms Brown warned with the standard franchise license period of 20 years, the industry is not suited to someone looking to become an overnight success.

“It probably took about six years to make a profit,” Ms Brown said. “We had to sell an awful lot of Big Macs to make a dollar.

EARLY DAYS: Ann Brown when she first started working

“I have often said there are a lot easier ways to make money, but if you enjoy a hands-on approach to business and mentoring young people it can be very satisfying.”

Many questions have been raised about the viability of being able to purchase a McDonald’s franchise as the start-up costs have skyrocketed with inflation.

Ms Brown however believes the prices only appearing larger due to today’s economic climate.

“The way people get into it now is to have equity, sell their home for the deposit and take a loan with the bank,” she said.

“It also depends on which location they are purchasing. A new location starts at $2 million while an existing location can be $3-4 million depending on the site.”

However she doesn’t see start-up costs as the greatest challenge, but rather the growing cost of labour.

“Labour (cost) is going up higher than our sales are. “The average store is spending an extra 4-5 per cent on labour which means the bottom line is gone,” she said.