Basics

A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.

― Michael LeBoeuf

McDonald's CEO told investors last week his company will go back to basics.

The flip comes after research revealed customers had fled the chain not to fancy, fast-casual restaurants like Panera and Chipotle, but to other fast-food joints like Burger King and Five Guys.

To escape the pickle, McDonald's plans to beef up its burger recipes; roll out mobile ordering and home delivery; and fork over $1.1 billion for store renovations.

The company will no longer dish out wraps, salads, oatmeal, and other high-end food.

The move comes two years after McDonald's canned the CEO's predecessor and Consumer Reports ranked the chain's burgers as the nation's worst.

The lessons here are basic:

• No business can survive if its offerings are flawed

• Sound strategy often lies in what a business chooses not to do

In his autobiography Grinding It Out, McDonald's founder, Ray Kroc, got to the meat of it:

"Perfection is very difficult to achieve, and perfection was what I wanted in McDonald's. Everything else was secondary for me."