PASSIONATE PRINCIPLES

Learn to Say No.


Look over the history of the thousands who have failed in business, and
you will find in nearly every instance the failure was due to an
inability to say No.

People come to us under various guises and ask us to do things which in
our better judgment we had rather not do, and too many have not the
backbone to say No.

We are led to invest in mining stocks and to embark in precarious
enterprises because we cannot say No.

We endorse notes and go security for our friends, not because we want
to but because we cannot say No.

There is a class of "good fellows" who are after us to join them in
physical pleasures, the foregoing of which would be better for us
physically, financially and mentally. Too many join them because they
cannot say No.

It is rarely a man goes off deliberately and gets drunk. The lone drunk
is usually the result of sorrow, sudden financial blow or a hard jolt
of some sort.

The man who gets drunk generally does so because he cannot say No when
bibulous friends press him to take a drink.

The ability to say No, to refrain from going with the crowd, to decline
to go down stream is, more than any other one thing in this life, the
mark of a strong character.

The one who can say No is going to succeed. Temporarily he may feel
ashamed; he may find it hard to withstand the jibes and jeers and
criticism of his friends for refusing to join them in things he should
not do.

Our old friend--the law of compensation--comes in here, for in
proportion as a man has the ability to say No, who has the courage of
his convictions, whose duty is to his body and his family before the
temptations that surround him, so in proportion as there are few such
individuals these individuals stand out as marked successes.

The manager of one of the biggest breweries in the United States has
not tasted liquor of any kind in the last twenty years. Surely this man
shows his courage, for his action in face of his occupation is a
supreme test of backbone and ability to say No.

The embezzler does not start out to do wrong. Some friends want to
borrow money or someone needs financial aid temporarily, and, either at
the request of friends or because the individual has something he
wishes to purchase and has not the patience to wait, he borrows from
the firm by means of "the ticket in the drawer" plan. He repeats the
operation frequently until his conscience is dulled, and he gets the
habit. Some day he wakes up to find he has several tickets in the
drawer, and resorts to extreme measures, trying to beat the races, or
to win money by gambling on stocks or grain.

One day he finds he is in a dickens of a fix. He sees no way out of it.
He takes more money and skips out, only to be caught later on and made
to suffer, and all this because he could not say No to temptation.

Learn to say No. Set your jaws firmly and say No. The friends who go
back on you and criticize you for saying No to the things that are
hurtful to you are unworthy of the name of friends, and you can very
well get along without them.

Friends who ask you to do the things you should not do are the very
ones who are of no service to you in time of need.

The individual who says No regardless of the flings and taunts that are
cast at him is the one who eventually makes a success.

Character counts above all things in the business world. The banker
extends credit on character oftener than we imagine. The banker knows
how to say No.

A man's credit and character are most important factors in business,
and many a man without security has attained magnificent success
through untiring energy, ability, character and courage enough to say
No.

In proportion as you grow strong and unhesitating in saying No, the
temptations and opportunities to say Yes will lessen in number.

Exercise your back bone and your jaw bone, so you can say No and stick
to it.




Credit


No factor is so necessary in building up business as credit, and no
factor is so necessary in building up credit as truth.

It is comparatively easy to start credit, but the art is to keep
credit.

The young business man who says "I want no credit, I buy and sell for
cash" makes a mistake. It is all right to pay promptly, but do not
establish a spot cash payment basis, for later on, when you ask credit,
your creditors will think something is wrong.

Establish a credit whether you need it or not. It is a good
advertisement and a frequent help.

Be reasonably slow in paying your bills, but positively sure that you
do pay them.

When you get a sharp or blunt letter asking for a settlement, go to
your creditor face to face, set a date when you will make a payment and
keep your agreement.

Don't be specific as to amount unless you are decidedly sure you can do
it. Be specific as to date, however, and be there or have your check
there on the date.

Suppose a man owes you $100 and you ask him for it and he says "Here
are ten dollars on account, and on next Thursday I will make another
payment, and as often as I can I will pay something until you are fully
paid up." You don't get angry at that man when you see his intentions
are good and he is doing his best.

So long as your creditor gets something every time he writes it keeps
him good natured.

It is the man who breaks promises who gets hard usage from the
creditors.

If you owe more than your present cash balance can liquidate, make a
pro rata payment all around among your creditors. Write a good square
letter saying nothing would please you more than to send a check in
full, and that this payment is made as evidence of your willingness and
intention to keep good faith.

Keep in touch personally with your creditors as far as possible. Talk
to them of your plans and prospects. Always tell the truth. Have your
account as a moral risk rather than as a Dun or Bradstreet risk.

There is sentiment in business. Creditors have hearts and they have
good impulses. They appreciate friendship and especially gratitude.
Don't believe a word of that great untruth "There is no sentiment in
business."

Don't get angry when asked for money. Admit your slowness and tell your
creditor that as an offset for your present slowness you have a good
memory and a heart that appreciates, and some day your purchases will
be much larger, and those who are your friends now will certainly get
the benefit when the time comes that you do not require favors.

An honest, frank, heart to heart talk is most valuable. The credit man
keeps the truthful man in mind and his account under his protecting
wing. The credit man glories with you, and has a distinct interest in
your success when it comes.

It often happens that the small bank or small manufacturer is the best
place for the beginner to go for credit. You can get closer to the
small growing creditor than you can to the big fellow who is
independent.

The big bank is cold blooded. It insists upon security and collateral.
Your account in a big bank is only an incidental detail, and the
cashier is cold and distant and blunt.

The small bank, however, gives you more time and attention, is more
interested in you and can remember you much better than the big bank.

Avoid bad associates. You can't play the races and give wine dinners
and maintain strong confidence with your creditors.

You must be worthy of the confidence reposed in you. It is your duty
and part of the contract to be reliable and truthful.

Every time a creditor gets out of sorts go to him and pay him
something, and he will quiet down.

Be grateful. Don't be afraid to express yourself freely and frequently
on this point.

When you are caught up and financially strong stick to those who stuck
by you.

Remember, credit is based on confidence in the individual rather than
in his bank account.

Don't get into nasty arguments or disputes. Give and take. Be fair. Be
square. Keep your temper. Stoop to conquer. Cut out all thoughts of
revenge.

When a house does not treat you right, curb your temper, and, as soon
as you can, get in touch with some other good house. Tell the new house
frankly why you changed.

Credit is a subsidy, and it stands the hustling business man in good
stead.

Many men have started in business with a capital only of ability, hard
work, honesty and good reputation.

The use or abuse of credit determines whether a man will rise or fall.

Keep your record clean, and if later you get on the shoals your past
will stand you in good stead.

If you have been given to sharp practice or dishonesty, woe be unto you
when you fall.

Remember these things carefully. Keep in personal touch with your
creditors, keep your promises, pay on account when you cannot pay in
full, hustle, be honest, keep good company, don't gamble, don't be a
sport. If you practice these virtues, offers of aid will come to you
rather than flee from you.




Never Quit Work


The average young man makes up his mind that at fifty or sixty years of
age he will retire and take things easy for the rest of his days. The
average young man makes a great mistake. It is far better to wear out
than to rust out.

To the young man work is a drudge, a necessity to keep him alive. In
middle age work is an accepted thing and we are used to it, and feel
rather the better for having occupation.

In old age work is a necessity to keep the mind and body young.

There is scarcely a more miserable spectacle than the man of fifty or
sixty who has retired with ample fortune. He loafs around the house.
Goes from one club to another. Gets lonely. Feels blue.

He tries to kill time in the day looking forward to the meeting of his
cronies in the evening. The cronies are busy in the day time and they
have engagements and pleasures in the evening, so that our retired
friend seems to be in the way.

He finds that the anticipation of retirement was a pleasure, and that
the realization is a keen disappointment.

"There is nothing," says Carnegie, "absolutely nothing in money beyond
a competence."

When one has enough money to buy things for the home, for his family
comfort and enjoyment, when he has sufficient income to take care of
himself and his family, surplus dollars do not mean much.

The business man should prepare for his future so that if ill health
overtakes him he may have the where-with to surround himself with
comforts, travel and the best of care.

The man who enjoys pleasures of the home and friends, who trains up
young blood to take hold of the business, who travels and enjoys
himself as he goes along has the right idea.

We must learn to enjoy life now instead of waiting for tomorrow, for
tomorrow may never come.

The man who cashes in, puts his money in bonds and retires from all
work goes down hill quickly, and feels he is of no use in the world.

The farmer who moves in town to live on his income is a sorry
individual unless he has a garden and chickens, or buys and sells
farms, or occupies his time with work of some kind.

The retired, non-working farmer who has moved to town gets up in the
morning, goes to see the train come in, whittles a stick, loafs at the
hotel or store, goes to the next train, talks of his rheumatism, goes
to bed at eight o'clock, and the next day goes through the same
rigmarole.

We have all seen these old codgers who have retired. They are not happy
because they have quit their life's habit of work, and are rusting out.

Occupation is the plan of nature to keep man happy, so when you have
all the money you need, have some occupation or hobby to occupy your
time.

The man who retires from any active work is merely counting the days
until he dies.

When old age comes and your body or brain won't let you do or care for
as much as you could in your younger days, then get lighter work or
lighter cares.

Keep busy if it is only raising chickens or gardening, or studying
astronomy or botany.

Keep at it as long as you can. Die in the harness instead of fading
slowly away.

Cultivate the reading habit in your younger days that it may be a
pleasant occupation when your legs and hands grow feeble with age.

When you quit work or occupation of some sort then life has no beauty
for you.




Stand When Selling


You can make your point clearer, you can talk with more force, you can
impress and convince your customer better if you stand while he is
seated.

Have you ever noticed that when you are seated and the other fellow is
standing it puts you at a disadvantage? Try it some time.

Have you not noticed that if you are seated and your adversary is
standing, when you get enthusiastic and wish to combat his argument, it
is impossible for you to get in your best licks while you are seated?
You involuntarily rise when you make your strong points and are full of
your subject.

How far would a life insurance man or an advertising man get if he sat
down and leaned back and relaxed while talking to you?

You will observe that the good solicitor declines with thanks your
proffered chair. He stands up, he knows the value of standing.

By the relation between his standing and you sitting it makes him a
positive and you a negative force. He forces--you receive.

How much would an orator impress his audience if he delivered his
lecture in a sitting posture?

You cannot combat argument very well if you are sitting, nor can you

convince others as well sitting as standing.

When you call on a customer carry a busy air with you. Stand up. Talk
straight from the shoulder. Make your point and claims clear. Place
your position or proposition definitely, forcefully and quickly before
your customer. Make a good get-away when you have accomplished your
purpose.

If you don't land him the first time, get away anyway. Let him see that
your time is money, and that you appreciate that his time is money,
too.

Don't visit. Gracefully and politely decline the chair that is offered;
say that your limit of time and disinclination to trespass require your
stay to be brief.

Stand. Keep busy and active. Get away quickly, and you will be welcome
next time.

The short stayer is a welcome guest. He may not land his customers as
quickly, but in the end he will land more customers, and hold them
closer and retain them longer than the tedious, visiting, social bore
who sits and sits and sits.




The Best Vantage Ground


In closing a contract or settling a dispute it makes considerable
difference whether you are in the other fellow's office or in your own.

The man in whose office the transaction takes place has the decided
advantage.

If you have a disputed bill, or if you wish to make a contract for
material or merchandise use every effort to get the other man in your
office. When you go to another office you are on the aggressive, when
another man comes to your office you are on the defensive.

It is great diplomacy to get the man you deal with to come to you
instead of going to him. In proportion as you are diplomatic you will
be able to benefit.

If you meet the other man in a club, hotel or a place outside of your
office or the other man's office, then the vantage ground is even and
neither has the best of it so far as location is concerned.

Starting from an even vantage ground the advantage shifts greatly one
way or the other according to whether you go or the other man comes.

Railroad officials, bankers and great merchants realize the importance
of having the vantage ground in their favor.

The merchant, for instance, has private rooms and regular office hours
for his buyers, and he lets the manufacturers come to him.

Stop a moment and look over your own experience, and you will recall
numerous instances where it has been to your advantage to close a deal
in your own office.

There is nothing in what we have written in this series of talks that
has less theory in it than this particular chapter.

There is no point we have made more surely proven by experience.

The army that attacks the enemy in the enemy's country has the odds
against it, as all wars have proven. Men fight best at home on their
own vantage ground.

Whether you are buying or selling try to close the deal in your own
place of business.

If you have travelers on the road let it be part of their business and
duty to invite and persuade customers to call at your place of business
when they are in town.




Ambition


A man without ambition had better content himself with learning a
trade. A good mechanic is fairly sure of three dollars a day, and
fifty-two weeks' employment in the year.

The mechanic does not have many worries. He does not have notes to meet
at the bank. He does not have to face the ingratitude of employes and
petty jealousies, for he has no employes working for him.

He lays down his tools when the bell rings and goes home to his family.
His ambition is to have a good place to sleep, plenty to eat, money
enough to buy clothing for his family and to send his children to
school, and extra spending money enough over his fixed charges to allow
him to take his family to the circus when it comes to town.

Ambition makes men strive to get ahead. Ambition cultivates taking
chances.

Nearly every man is a gambler. Some of you will be shocked at this
statement, yet upon careful analysis nearly every move a successful
business man makes is a gamble. He is betting that he will take in more
money than he lays out on a new plan. The man with ambition is a
gambler. The man who learns a trade and does not strive to increase his
earnings is not a gambler.

We pride ourselves on our ability to buy cheaply, because the cheaper
we can buy the greater our earnings will be and the less our gamble.

Any man with two hands and ordinary health can earn a livelihood, but
the ambitious man wants to make a name for himself and to make a
success in business, so he works harder than he would do if his problem
were only the obtaining of money enough to buy the things necessary for
his existence.

The moment a man loses ambition, his progress, so far as business
advancement is concerned, ceases.

Nearly every successful business today is successful because the
proprietors, in the infancy of the business, were filled with ambition
which made them work hard.

We are all familiar with the successful business man who loses his
ambition. It is an absolute certainty that as soon as a man loses
ambition his business falls off, unless he makes it an object to take
care of the ambitious young men in his employ, so that they may keep up
the pace of progress he established.




Lawyers


Keep in touch with a lawyer, but don't take his advice on business
matters.

A lawyer should be like a dictionary--a place of reference.

Lawyers by the very nature of their vocation have much to do with
concerns who are in trouble, and with firms who are poorly managed.

Lawyers know law first and business second; the business man knows
business first and law second.

The advice of one successful business man is worth the advice of
twenty-three lawyers on a matter of business.

Use the lawyer to keep you out of trouble. Let him see your contracts
and the papers and agreements pertaining to leases, sales, purchases,
royalties, and all documents which may from their nature be brought
into court as evidence. These things are the ones on which to take the
lawyer's advice.

When you are pushed into a corner and must fight, then get the best
lawyer, for in a fight in court, like a fight in the prize ring, the
best trained and equipped man usually wins.

It's more often the best lawyer wins than the best side of the case.

Legal struggles seldom pay. Law suits take up time and money, and the
result, even if in your favor, seldom offsets the time, money and worry
you have expended.

The good lawyer keeps you from fighting. Many lawyers, however, are
grafters, and they advise fight, for they win whether you do or not.

Settle disputes even if you are imposed on. There is little
satisfaction in getting a judgment for one hundred dollars, when your
lawyers fees are fifty dollars and you have expended two hundred
dollars' worth of time and worry over the case.

Ask your lawyer's advice on the legal status of your operations, and
not on business propositions.

If you are a success in business that is an evidence, generally
speaking, that your judgment is good.

You can get all the advice you want for nothing. If you state a case
and lay out a proposed plan, and then ask your friends' advice on the
subject, you can safely count that nine out of ten will say that your
proposition is all right as outlined by you.

These friends figure that you have given the plan much thought and
study, and it is much simpler for them to coincide with your opinion
than to take an opposite view.

Honestly between ourselves we must admit that when we seek advice we
generally do it only for the purpose of having our own opinions
confirmed, and, if our friends do not agree with us, we say they are
prejudiced.

Lawyers don't see the smooth, systematic, well balanced side of
business, and their knowledge is all negative instead of positive on
business matters.

If you have an important move in mind, map out the plan carefully, lay
the plan out in detail, be conservative in your estimate of prospective
profits, and always make a liberal allowance for cost over the figures
you have prepared, and deduct a liberal percentage from the receipts
you anticipate. Be very conservative in matters of figures, and then
some.

The building you propose to put up will cost far more than your
architect tells you. You know this in advance, and you make an
allowance for extras, but when the bills all come in you will find that
in addition to the estimated cost and the extras which you have figured
on, there will be something else to pay.

The sales of a business you propose to embark in will be less than you
or your manager figure they will be.

Always allow for enthusiasm and imagination in the matter of
prospective receipts.

When your plans are all in shape show the documents, contracts and
agreements to your lawyer, and get his legal, but not his personal,
advice.

You must be the doctor of your own business.

Remember, a lawyer knows law, and a business man knows business.




Be a Producer


Employes are divided into two classes--the kind that makes profits and
the kind that is on the expense side of the ledger.

The young man who has the foresight and ability to get on the selling
side, the side that brings profit to the house, has the decided
advantage over the young man who is on the expense side.

Book-keepers, stock-keepers, clerks and all other expense employes are
paid far lower salaries than the salesmen and buyers, those who produce
results.

In the newspaper business the editor with his college education has
practically attained his limit of progress when he is 40 years old. He
may get from $20.00 to $80.00 or even $100.00 a week as editor.

The young man in the advertising department may get from $50.00 to
$200.00 a week. He is a producer of tangible results; the editor
produces theoretical results.

In every business the man who sells things, who brings in the profits,
is the man who gets the best pay.

The boss will grudgingly give a dollar a week increase to the
book-keeper. He only thinks what it would cost him to replace the
book-keeper.

The producer gets his increases in $5.00 and $10.00 a week jumps.

The expense employe is in competition with the great army of the
unemployed, and there are multitudes who will work for less money than
the man who is holding his job on the expense side.

The producer, on the other hand, knows how much profit he is bringing
into his house, and if those profits are steadily increasing he may be
sure his salary will increase proportionately. If it does not he can
always get another position by laying the facts and figures before some
more enterprising house.

The producer is seldom out of a situation. If for any reason he is out
of employment temporarily he can go to a good house and work on
commission, or get a small drawing account, and at three or six months
talk salary on actual showing made.

The shrewd business man won't let profits slip away if he can help it,
so the real producer sits in a pretty good seat. He has only to show
what he can do and he will be paid accordingly.

The expense man's only stock in trade is faithfulness, neatness and
amount of detail he can handle. He has little lee-way in the matter of
salary, for thousands are faithful, thousands are neat and thousands
can perform great amounts of detail.

The young man just out of school should have for his ideal that he
shall be a producer first and a proprietor later on. To this end he
should equip himself by spending four or five years acquainting himself
thoroughly with all the phases and departments of the business and
learning the facts about the manufacture of the goods he expects to
sell eventually. All this understanding and preparation will be of
great service when he is a salesman, and greater service when he is a
proprietor.

The writer started wholly dependent upon his own exertions for a
livelihood at fourteen years of age. At fifteen he learned shorthand by
evening study. At sixteen he attended to the correspondence and mail
order department for his employer. At eighteen he was getting $8.00 a
week in cash for his services, and many times that amount in valued
experience.

"One day he got a blank application for a $75.00 clerkship in the Post
Office. At that time appointments were made by political pull and not
through the civil service. The writer took the blank to a relative, who
was the leading politician of the State. He asked for the endorsement
of this senator and received this advice: "Young man, my signature to
this sheet would get you the job, but if you were my son I would not
let you take the place. I will give you some advice, which is
this--never take a political, railroad or bank job. In all these
callings you are in competition with thousands of others. The
compensation is small, the chance to better your position is remote,
and you are a machine. If you want to make a success of life be a
producer, learn to sell things."

This advice was acted on, and the writer remembers it as the turning
point in his career.

It is a sad thing to see the old man working for $40.00 or $50.00 a
month who in the past drew $3,000 or $4,000 a year. Such men were
expense men and not producers.

Moves on the checker board of business are made quickly. The man with
silver hair may be an accountant or confidential man drawing a good
salary. Something happens, his firm goes out of business or sells out,
and our old friend is left without a position. He has been used to the
comforts and associations a good salary allows, and now he finds
himself out of a place and faces the necessity of starting over again,
and his competitors are young and active men ready for the battle of
life.

The old man out of a job goes around amongst his friends. The friend
can do nothing but gives him a letter of recommendation. He is passed
along from one to another until he is foot-sore and heart sick and
weary of it all.

He winds up as a sleeping car conductor, or gets a position as floor
walker or clerk at the inquiry desk.

The producer, be he ever so old or ever so often out of a job, can
catch on again. He gets his job on results and not sympathy.

Business men are on the lookout for producers.

Young man, learn to be a producer.




The Man--Not the Plan


We are prone to give credit to the plan as being the thing that makes a
successful business. It is not the plan, it is the man behind the plan
that is responsible for the success.

The man who has a well-defined ideal, who hews to the line, who
eliminates all deterrent influences, who concentrates his energy on his
ideal, who bends his efforts towards the one thing is pretty sure to
accomplish his purpose.

We often see a man make a marked success in a field that others have
considered barren.

Take a small town, for instance, where there are many retail stores.
The people of the town will tell the prospective merchant that the town
is already overcrowded with stores, that none of the stores seem to be
making more than a bare living, and that it would be impossible for
another store to make a success, on account of the already overcrowded
conditions, yet the right man comes along and starts a store in that
town and makes a marked success.

If the plan were the making of success, all an enterprising business
man would have to do would be to pick out some plan which was
successful and then imitate it.

The great ocean of business has many derelicts on it as a result of
copying plans. It is a part of the law of compensation that the man who
originates a plan and carries it to successful conclusion has a patent
on his business. This patent is his individuality and good business
equipment. The man who steals his plan physically is unable to steal
the mental end.

Since men have recorded facts in the shape of history, we find that men
have made successes of plans and businesses that have been discarded by
their predecessors as played-out plans.

When a plan is presented to you do not calculate the outcome by the
plan, but by the man.

Two banks may start side by side with exactly the same office furniture
and exactly the same business operations. They use the same kind of
money; they make loans on lands or on securities. The operations of
these two banks may be as closely identical as possible, yet within ten
years one bank will have considerable surplus and the other may be out
of business.

If the plan were the measure of success these two banks should fare
equally well, but the fact that they differed so materially is in
itself evidence that the success is determined by the individuals and
not the plan.

The illustration of a bank may be carried into other lines,
merchandising, manufacturing or railroading.




Compensation


The law of Compensation is--you pay for what you get, or you get what
you pay for.

This law says if a horse can run fast it can't pull a good load and
vice versa.

This law says a horse cannot go fast far.

It says that for every sorrow there is a joy, for every positive there
is a negative.

Where evil exists there is some good to offset it, says compensation.

The law of compensation is the measure optimists use, and in nearly
every chapter we have written in this series, compensation will be
found as a ground-work.

You can't get away from nor violate this rule of compensation.

It is not new, it is as old as creation itself.

Centuries ago it was expressed this way: "Whatsoever a man soweth that
shall he also reap."

Too many try to ignore this great rule, they try to get something for
nothing.

You may eat first and pay afterwards, or you may pay first and eat
afterwards.

You may play the butterfly; sip life's sweets and sow your wild oats
now, but pay day will come and may be you will be unable to pay.

You may spend your income now and suffer want later on.

You may work hard now and play as you go along. You may have happiness
each day you live; you can make life worth living if you work.

Happiness is compensation for work; no work, no happiness.

You may have what you want, but, you must pay for it.

Millions cost happiness and often cost health too.

The dinner is properly balanced when it has sweets as well as
substantials. The sensible person finds the dinner is better if the
sweets come after the substantials.

To violate the law of compensation is to eat the sweets first and then
the substantials, and by this law the substantials do not taste good
when they are eaten after the sweets.

The man who procrastinates is violating the law of compensation. When
you see your duty attend to it at once.




The Boss


By the boss we mean the active proprietor, the executive head, the
owner of the business. He is sometimes called the "old man."

The success of an institution depends largely upon the example set by
the boss.

If the boss is careless in little things, if he is sharp in his
practice, if he does mean acts, he may rely upon it his employes will
copy him, and later on, when some blow strikes the business, he will
find it has happened through the practices of the employes who got
their cues from the boss.

Kindness wins kindness; love wins love. If the boss is generous and
charitable, if he sets a good example, he will have an esprit de corps
among his employes that is of incalculable value.

There is not one chance in a thousand for the boss to make a success
unless he has risen to the position of boss, and climbed and earned his
position through steady progress.

The boss must know how to do the things he hires others to do.

The boss who can show an employe his error in a kindly manner and point
out a better method, leaves a good feeling in the heart of that
employe.

The boss who shows his heart to the employe and is concerned in the
things not necessarily business will be repaid a thousand-fold in
loyalty and willingness on the part of the employe.

Employes deeply appreciate consideration, and especially the little
kindnesses which are not what might be called business practice.

The boss should not be too far aloof; he should be just head and
shoulders above those working under him; he should be just far enough
above that he stands out as a commander.

He should be willing to grant an audience to an employe and should work
with him.

The boss should say we rather than I. He should talk with the employes
and not down to them. He should make each individual under him feel
that he is part of the institution and an element in its success.

Remember this--employes watch the boss and they copy him. Where you
find hard working employes you will find a hard working boss.

The boss cannot run the whole business himself; he is dependent upon
willing hands, and, in order to get willing hands, he must have willing
hands himself.

If the boss is alert and discovers wastes and leaks in his business,
the employes will discover them too, and the business will receive
double benefit.




Sizing Up Things


One of the most necessary as well as beneficial practices a man can
have is to take fifteen minutes to an hour each day and devote the time
to sizing up things, to planning the day's work for the morrow, to
threshing the wheat from the chaff, to reviewing the accomplishments of
the day.

Sizing up things can only be well done in solitude.

The benefits of sizing up things in solitude are so great it is a
wonder more has not been written on the subject.

Plants grow in darkness, yet the common understanding is they grow in

sunshine. The sunshine is absolutely necessary for the growth of the
plant, but the real growth is done in the quiet darkness.

A man's brain develops in solitude, yet bustle and crowds and business
activity are as necessary to the man as sunshine is to the plant.

The real brain and moral growth takes place in solitude.

Here again we must remember the law of compensation, for if a plant had
all sunshine and no shadow, and if a man had all hustle and bustle and
no solitude, it would be like a machine without a governor; the man and
the plant would run so fast something would have to give way.

On the other hand compensation says that if a man is too much in
solitude, or the plant too much in darkness, they will wither and die.

Man has always had strong admiration for the strong individual, whether
bird, beast, fish, plant or human.

There are two kinds of birds, the kind that lives in flocks, like the
blackbird and the wild duck, and the kind that lives by itself, like
the eagle. Amongst birds the eagle is chosen as an emblem for the flag,
and never the duck or blackbird.

Amongst beasts there are two classes, the herd kind like sheep, and the
strong individual, like the lion. The lion is the symbol of strength
and courage, the sheep the symbol of innocence and simplicity. The lion
appears on coat of arms but not the sheep.

In the fish family there are two classes, the kind that lives in
schools, like the mackerel, and the kind that lives by itself, like the
whale.

When first the savage drew a rude picture of a fish on his hut it was a
whale, and not a mackerel.

We do not find the mackerel's picture excepting at the fish dealers and
on the menu, and then only because the mackerel is good to eat.

Among trees the one that attains great proportions and beautiful
symmetry is yonder giant oak or elm that grows in the open. It needs
room to breathe and grow. It grows better if it is segregated from the
crowded forest. The giant tree is not the one that grows in the dense
forest.

There are two kinds of men, the kind that lives in the herd and the
kind that has strong individuality that needs room to grow. The herd
man exists in infinitely greater numbers than the individual man.

We cannot imagine Lincoln, Bismarck, Webster, Clay, Edison or Burbank
living in the herd, or spending their time in the boulevard cafes.

The man who lives in a herd, who is ever present where the lights are
bright, where gaiety abounds, where excitement reigns, where feasting
is present, soon gets himself into the habit of cultivating this
excitement. He is never happy when alone.

The brain never sleeps and something must occupy it. The herd man fills
his brain with frivolous things, he seeks constant excitement. He is
like the plant always in the sun, he burns himself out.

The great man with the individuality is great because he has always
spent plenty of tune by himself, sizing up things in solitude. Sizing
up things makes the brain grow and makes it stronger.

The universities of this country tend in a great measure to produce the
herd man. The students dress alike. All have the same mannerisms, all
have the same tilt to their hats, and all the same turned up trousers.
They feed at certain restaurants and crowd in flocks. Very few college
men learn the benefits of sizing up things in solitude until in after
years.

On the other hand the student in the school of practical experience
does not copy his fellow students. That is why in this great practical
experience school we find Lincolns, Edisons, Jim Hills and Carnegies.
Those men have to wrestle with the problems for themselves. They had to
size up things in solitude instead of reading the sizing up from text
books, as is done in the regular university.

Every man before retiring at night, or even during the day, should take
a few minutes to himself and carefully analyze the doings of the day.

He should weigh the positive and negative acts, the good and the bad,
the wise and the foolish, the right and the wrong impulses, the gain
and loss in achievement. He should strike a balance, and if he sees
that the bad, deterrent and backward things in the lead he should
resolve to get a move on himself.

The man who goes along without this sizing up things in solitude is
like the merchant who keeps no record, who pays his bills from the cash
drawer and takes what is left for profit. He will still be running a
little shop in twenty years, while his competitor who sized things up
each day will be in the wholesale business or will have retired with a
competency.

Try this sizing up things for two weeks, and the benefits you will
receive will be so manifest it will need no further suggestion to make
you keep up the practice.




Competition


The saying is "competition is the life of trade," and this saying is
true, or it would not have endured so long.

If it were not for competition we should be living in the woods in a
state of savagery.

Ages ago all men and women led the simple life. Their chief vocation
was idleness. When the weather was hot the man sat in the shade; as the
sunshine crept to him he moved into the shade again. In winter he
reversed the process.

When our savage ancestor felt a pain in his stomach, his simple
instinct showed him that if he put things in his mouth and swallowed
them the pain in the stomach would leave.

This low browed man's whole object in life was to keep from having
those hunger pains, and the only energy he expended was in hustling for
food and in protecting his food from the other savages.

One day a man observed that the beasts lived on each other, so he
conceived the idea that it would be good for him to live on other
animals. That it would be easier than digging roots and gathering
herbs, so this man caught and ate slow-moving animals. He used a club
to do the killing.

Along about here competition began, for another man learned to throw a
club and kill his game. Then another competitor discovered that a round
stone was a more effective weapon than a club.

These hairy forbears of ours lived in caves until competition led up to
the building of huts.

One day a savage discovered that while the skins of animals were hard
to eat, they nevertheless made a good body covering. Another discovered
that if the skins were tied about him it left his arms free to act.
This man was the first tailor. He punched holes in the skin and tied
the rude garment together with strips of skin. This first tailor was
quite an important man among his fellows on account of his great
discovery.

Some of these wild men were fleet of foot and had well developed
cunning. They became expert hunters. On the other hand some of the less
active, by the law of compensation, became more expert tailors, so
trade was formed. The hunter killed enough for himself and the tailor,
while the tailor made clothes for both of them.

In these days the woodsman lived on animals and the plainsman on
vegetables mostly. So the woodsman traded skin clothing with the
plainsman for grains and herbs, and this marked the birth of commerce.

Then dugouts and canoes were built, and thus our ancestors crossed
lakes and seas and developed maritime commerce.

From away back in those dark ages up to the present time competition
has stimulated mankind and spurred him on towards better conditions.
The whole human race has benefited by each improvement which
competition has brought about.

We have in mind a certain mail order house that up to 1894 had things
its own way. Then it sold two to three million dollars worth of
merchandise annually. A competitor came into the field, stirred things
up, and now the old mail order house is doing eight to ten times as
much business per annum as they did before they had the competition.

In the matter of competition we must early learn not to worry over
competition, but to derive as much good from it as possible.

If a competitor does something better than you do, do not kick or
protest, but jump into the band wagon and do the thing as well or
better than he does it.

Price cutting is the simplest and most common phase of competition, but
a better way to get advantage over your competitor is to improve your
business by cutting off wastes and leaks, and reducing fixed and fancy
charges so you can give your customers more quality and more quantity
for the money.

In proportion as you increase the value you give for a dollar, just so
you will find it easier to get the dollar.

Do not regard competition as hurtful to your business, but rather look
upon it as a pace-maker for you.

If you had ten experts working for you studying how to improve your
business you would certainly get benefit from it, but probably not
enough benefit to offset the great cost of hiring these ten experts.

On the other hand, if you have ten competitors who are sitting up
nights studying how to improve their businesses, you can get the
benefit of their experience without it costing you anything.

The world is big and there is room for all, but old compensation says
the prizes are given to the fittest.

If you are a laggard, if you are on the defensive instead of on the
aggressive, get busy, wake up, do it now.




Advertising


Good advertising is good publicity. Advertising is the thing that makes
your trade increase.

Everything you do in connection with your business and every act of
yours outside of your business is an advertisement.

Reputation is an advertisement, so is honesty, politeness,
correspondence, methods, catalogues, circulars and salesmen. Neatness
is an advertisement, and so is promptness, thoroughness. And then there
is another kind of advertising which is your statement in the
newspaper. This is the printed kind of advertising, and this kind of
advertising is the most common, in fact, when we suggest that you
should advertise, it immediately comes to your mind that advertising is
space in the newspaper.

Keep in mind, however, when we speak of advertising we refer to
everything in connection with your business that makes an impression
upon the public or the prospective buyer.

Some of the old timers refrain from printed advertising in newspapers,
saying that the best advertisement is merit. Merit is a good
advertisement, but it is mighty slow in its action.

If the inventor of the typewriter planned and built the machine in his
barn without letting anyone know about it, if he kept absolutely quiet
about his doings, relying on the fact that the typewriter had merit, it
would never be known to the public unless he told about it. If the
inventor of the typewriter waited for merit alone as the vehicle for
acquainting the world with the merits of the typewriter, the world
would never know of it, unless, perhaps, a fire inspector or an health
officer accidently stumbled across the machine while inspecting the
premises.

If the inventor waited for intrinsic merit to sell his goods, he would
find that months and years would elapse before he could develop his
business into profitable proportions.

If you have a good thing you must tell about it. Telling makes selling.
Telling is advertising.

Professional men hold up their hands in horror when you suggest
advertising to them. They tell you they don't believe in advertising,
that it is not ethical, that it is not dignified. Doctors and lawyers
are most notable in this respect. One of the first things of their code
of ethics is "Thou shalt not advertise." They mean paid newspaper
advertising. The man who originated this idea evidently did not have
the money to pay for any, and it was a case of sour grapes.

Let us look into this matter of ethics and see whether the doctor and
the lawyer really believe what they say about this matter of
advertising.

It is a rare spectacle to find a lawyer who will not gladly give an
interview to a newspaper reporter during some important trial.

The doctor gladly avails himself of the opportunity to read a paper
before a medical society, and he sees to it that this paper is
published in a medical journal later on.

Professional men belong to clubs, take part in public affairs, speak
before people, work on committees, and actively take part in anything
that will bring them in the limelight of publicity. They do this
advertising themselves, yet they say they do not believe in
advertising.

Uncle Sam builds war ships, equips his soldiers splendidly, conducts
his business affairs with high grade talent, all this that the United
States may be well advertised among our sister nations.

Advertising is absolutely essential to successful business. Not printed
advertising alone but all kinds of advertising. The quality, the price,
your aggressiveness, everything in your business is an advertisement,
either a good advertisement or a bad one. It behooves you to see the
advertising you do, whatever kind it may be, is of the good kind.

If you expect to remain in business a long time your advertisements
must be good. Keep in mind that methods are advertisements.

One bad move, which is a bad advertisement for you, calls for two or
more good moves or good advertisements.

Have everything, every detail of your business carry a good
advertisement, that is, have it help your business.

Have every employe pulling on the same center tugs and have them all
face forward, and your vehicle will move forward.




Buying


The buyer derives much information and much shrewdness by carefully
watching the seller's methods.

Some buyers seem to think that bull-dozing tactics, cute lies and
irritable manners make the seller humble, weak-kneed and non-combative.
This is a great mistake.

The best buyer is first a gentleman. He keeps his word, he is patient
and he knows his business thoroughly.

The buyer gains much by being open and above board with the seller. Let
the seller know that your success consists in getting as much value as
you can for the money, and that your continuous trade will result only
through fair treatment.

Let the seller understand that the better he treats you in the matter
of price and quality the better you will be able to treat your
customers, and the longer you will be able to deal with the seller.

The moment a buyer shows bull-dozing methods, the seller is
antagonized, and his object then is to soak the buyer.

The buyer who keeps his temper and goes at the matter philosophically
is the one who wins out.

The buyer should explain to the seller that the seller can get the best
of him once and may be twice, but not more than that.

The main thing for the buyer to possess is a most thorough knowledge of
the goods he buys. Learn who makes the goods and where they are made,
and get at the factory cost.

Then learn whose factories have the best reputation, and whose are the
best fitted and established to make the goods you buy.

Remember you can afford to investigate. When you find a factory
over-sold you will find that factory more independent. When you find a
factory short of orders you will find them eager for your trade, and
the chances are you can do much better with this factory than with the
one that is behind on its orders.

Don't get excited, don't hurry. Speak gently. Know your ground.
Cultivate a reputation for fairness rather than smoothness. Laxity and
indifference in buying means that you are allowing wastes and leaks to
creep in your business, and that you are placing a handicap on your
traveling salesman, for goods well bought are half sold.




Expenses


If you get confidential with Mr. Bradstreet or Mr. Dun so that they
will give you access to the inside history of the commercial concerns
which have failed in business, you will quickly discover that in the
majority of cases the cause of the failure was "too much expense."

It has become quite a common saying in speaking of failures that "the
expenses ate up the profits."

Our friends Mr. Dun and Mr. Bradstreet tell us that there is about one
concern in fifty which succeeds in business. If you will look at the
successes you will find out that the proprietors were good buyers as
well as good sellers but that the particular point that made them
successful was their ability to make careful analysis in the matter of
expenses.

The business man should have his expenses divided into as many
classifications as possible. His payroll should be separated into
various departments, office, salesmen, workmen, accounting, and so on;
through all the items of expense the division should be made as finely
as possible.

The proprietor should have a statement each week on his desk showing
how every cent was expended. These items should be summarized monthly,
and constant reference made to the items of expense in comparison with
items of expense for the previous month, as well as items of expense
for the same month of the previous year.

One of the pit-falls in nearly every business is "general expense" or
"sundry expense." This department is a catchall for a lot of items, and
it hides a lot of leaks and wastes in business.

You can't divide your expense items too minutely. The finer the
divisions, the easier you can detect a waste of money.

The business man who has a statement of both receipts and expenses is
in the position of the first engineer of an ocean steamer; he does not
seem to be doing much and does not worry unless something goes wrong,
then he shows his training and ability to mend breaks and repair weak
places.

If the business man analyzes his sources of income into several
divisions the same as he does his items of expense, he will find it an
easy matter to correct errors that creep in the business. He does not
have to worry about those items of expense which show minus, nor about
those items of receipts which show plus.

With a finely divided sheet of both expenses and receipts you can
quickly determine where the profit is coming from and where the leaks
appear.

If an expense item shows plus, you can run down that item and see
reasons for it and endeavor to bring down that expense. If a receipt
item shows minus, you can run down that item and endeavor to increase
the receipts.

The writer has a little printed card on his check book and it reads
"Drive the axe into expenses." It is a constant reminder to stop the
wastes.

The only real success that comes to the business man is the profits at
the end of the year, that is, the amount of money he makes net.

It is easier to increase profits by cutting the expenses in many cases
than it is to increase profits by increasing sales. And here let us
remark that on this subject, as well as all the other subjects we are
writing about in this series of articles, we have in mind the matter of
common sense, temperate action. Extremes carry things too far. You must
not cut the expenses beyond the point where it seriously interferes
with the sales.

If you are interested in this matter of expense, and you certainly
should be, take up your items of expense for last month or last year,
go over the cost of help, the cost of raw material and the cost of
manufacturing; go over each branch of your expenses, analyze the items
carefully, look into every point thoroughly, and we will guarantee that
at the end of your analysis you will see where you can save a
respectable sum in the operation of your business. In going into this
matter of expense, do not take all the items at once, but take each
item up separately and go through it thoroughly.

Do not assume that you are paying too much for everything, but use good
sense and good judgment and see that you get your money's worth. Take
the item of wages. Look over the individuals in your employ, and you
will see a place, for instance, where two persons can do the work three
are now doing. Remember, it is generally true that where two persons
are engaged in handling a certain department and they are overworked,
the tendency is to give them additional help. When this is done you
will find thenceforth all three are busy. In other words, each of the
two persons who were formerly overworked ease up and do less work the
moment the third person is given as assistant. You have noticed that
where you put three employes to do the work formerly done by two, it is
almost impossible--if you take the employe's word--to get two employes
to do the work after three have been doing it.

The work should push the employe. The employer should get full capacity
of his employes.

Look over your pay roll and make up your mind that here and there you
are going to employes and ask them to help you save money, and at the
same time you will let them earn more money for themselves. You will
find that this plan works admirably.

For instance, if you have three employes getting $10.00 a week each; go
to the two who do the most work and say to them: "If you can do the
work of this department with one less employe I will give you each
$3.00 a week more." In this way you will pay two employes $13.00 a week
instead of three employes $10.00 a week each. This will save you $4.00
on that particular part of your payroll. If you save proportionately
all through your payroll it will make a decided profit in itself.

Saving can also be made in the payroll by taking one of the heads of
the department into your confidence and letting out the work to him by
contract, offering to give him one-half, or one-third or one-quarter of
the amount he can save in his department.

It is surprising to see how different his argument will be when his
pocket is affected. For instance, in the past he explained to you that
his department is behind in its work because he has not enough help.

He has been asking for more help right along, but never asked that some
of the help be laid off.

If, on the other hand, you say to him you will give him one-third of
what he can save in the matter of wages in his department, you will
instantly notice that his whole argument and attitude change. He
discovers that he has ability to pick out employes who do the most
work, and lets out the four-flushers and idlers.

Remember, that as a rule the best paid employes are the cheapest. You
can well afford to pay the heads of your departments more wages if they
can save you more money.

A manufacturer should divide the number of completed articles done per
day or per week by the amount of wages paid, and find out what the wage
item is in each department per article.

Suppose that under your present system it costs you eighty cents in
article in Department A, sixty cents per article in
Department B, etc. Explain to the foreman of Department A that it is
now costing you eighty cents per article for wages in his department,
and to the foreman wages per
of Department B that wages are costing you sixty
cents per article in his department. Tell these employes you will give
them one-third or one-half of whatever they can save in their
departments. You will find Department A will cost you from seventy to
seventy-five cents per article thereafter, and Department B from fifty
to fifty-five cents per article, and in the meantime the foreman of the
department is making more money for you, and likewise making more money
for himself, than under the old system.

This matter of expense is most important, and should have the most
serious attention of the proprietor.