Grinding it out is the story of how a man named Ray Kroc took a small restaurant and made it into the largest fast food chain restaurant in the nation. Kroc begins by writing about his humble beginnings and his obsession with business and making good deals. This character trait was his saving grace, and his demise at the same time. Though his knack for business was great for the corporation, it was awful for his personal relationships. Throughout the course of his life, Kroc adapted his business sense into his only sense, and only those strong enough to endure his passion for business would remain in his life. With Ray Kroc, it was all or nothing, and his all turned out to make him a fast food giant.

Ray Kroc was always good at business. He knew a good idea when he saw it and was an amazing salesman. He started his business career selling paper cups. He knew how to get restaurants, soda shops, and even hot dog stand owners, to buy his paper cups and knew how to keep them in business with him. Kroc never sold anyone a cup he didn't think they would not need. He was always very honest and prided himself in providing a tool to business owners that would improve their business and increase their customer and cash flow.

After making a series of bad mistakes, including working as a piano player for a bar that was selling illegal liquor, and then selling bad real estate, he decided to go back to selling paper cups. One day, he stumbled upon an invention called the Multimixer, which was a milkshake machine. This machine changed his life, the life of Americans, and the American culture forever. When he started getting calls from restaurant owners who wanted the mixer that a pair of brothers had out in California, he visited the guys that were providing him so much business. These men were the McDonald brothers. When Kroc saw the original McDonald's store in action for the first time, he knew that he could turn it into something bigger, something greater and special.

Kroc was in his fifties when he started the McDonald's empire. It took a lot of time, energy, and personal sacrifice to make the restaurant into the giant it is today. This book recalls those hard years and the effort that Ray Kroc put into living out his dream and going off on a businessman's whim. McDonald's was more than just a restaurant that sold 15 cent hamburgers; it was a way of life for Ray Kroc, and soon enough he made it a way of life for the majority of Americans.