MEN AND METHODS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 130, 26 February 1929, Page 15

MEN AND METHODS

BUSINESS PLANS AND IDEAS (Conducted by “Observer.”) The successful “head” is always at War with his “overhead.” » * * Courtesy of the Road. A largo store-owner recently brought all his delivery car drivers together and said to them: “Last night I was greatly annoyed when a delivery van cut across in front of me as I was driving home. Much to my chagrin, I noticed, a moment later, that it was one of our own trucks. It made me feel unfriendly toward our delivery system. I couldn’t help but believe that customers and prospective customers of ours would feel the same way. So I am going to ask all of you delivery men to be especially watchful to see that you practise every possible consideration toward anybody and everybody, Either on foot or in cars. We don’t want anyone to get an unfriendly feeling towards our store because a truck driver has been in too much of a hurry.” Those Who Succeed.

“Formerly men sought jobs; now jobs seek men, and the most difficult task of every executive is to find men of character and ability, trained to a high state of efficiency . . ~” said a leading member in the business world, recently.“Of all the great business houses in big cities to-day comparatively few are conducted by the sons of the men who founded them. Most of them are officered and controlled by men who were clerks in the employ of the founders.

“The young man whose inheritance has been hardships and poverty, brains, energy, and' character, and who is willing to pay the price in unceasing toil and effort, is the man who is succeeding today, and the man who is willing to pay this price is almost certain to succeed. Ethics of Business. Business should be conducted upon sound principles of honour and integrity, according to policies established by its owners or directors, under methods applied by its managers. Principles, policies and methods are the foundations of business, which may be described as organised society working to produce and distribute the things it needs, for profit. The greater the size of the business the more vital is the importance and dependence of society, upon it, and big business thus becomes the biggest asset of the nation. Success in business might be defined as: (1) Keeping faith with the public. (2) Reasonable and fair treatment of employees. (3) linking profits for the owners of the business. Management which attains these goals will be generally regarded as successful management. Encourage'Suggestions. Ideas of workers, which have been accepted and proved valuable, are being well paid for in some business houses. Your employees are very often more closely in touch with the inner workings of your company than you are, and their ideas regarding apparatus, quality costs, design, and so on, may prove beneficial. To stimulate original thought, to encourage workers to a closer observation of what is being done, how and why it is done, is the idea behind the suggestion system now in operation in many establishments. Employees, exclusive of engineers, heads of departments, and superintendents, are asked to submit without hesitation any original ideas that may occur to them. Originality, once it is stimulated, is not easily exhausted, and as the number of accepted suggestions grows from time to time, the ultimate results of the plan become a matter of interesting conjecture. Seven Master Maxims. One of the most remarkable men in America was Mr. G. F. Swift, the wellknown meat packer, whose methods for creating, holding, and expanding a market were responsible for his extraordinary rise in the business world. His seven master maxims are told as follows by his son: “You never made money on business you didn’t do.” This was my father’s whole selling policy. If you sold plenty of goods, you had a chance to make a profit—you made a profit, assuming your business was competently managed. “You don’t make a profit on shortages,” was another of his maxims. Every morning he received a list of the orders which had not been filled completely the day before, because the goods' ordered were not in our stocks ready to ship. Faced with the task of breaking into a market. Mr. Swift was always a plunger. He would quickly take a chance to lose a great deal of money if that was the key to making sales. “If you’re going to lose money, lose it. But don’t let ’em nose you out',” was his standard advice. White he had hard situations to meet in some places, in many others he was able to get the most, desirable agents for the aski.qg. His reputation as a businessman and as a meat man was enviable throughout parts of the United States. His word that his product was good and marketable was enough for many of his friends. He always went to the best possible distributor. “There is no use handling poor stuff or dealing with the wrong sort of people,” he used to explain. This .was his guiding principle in picking customers or agents, and in deciding on the class of merchandise to deal in. “Never, try to sell a customer more of any thing .than he can get rid of quickly,” he kept "telling his people. “Try and sell him what he needs, and then he’ll come back. He’ll be a better customer in the end.” “Sell the parts first 1” Was another of his maxims after he had discovered that if vou cut them up you sell more cattle in a day. “Cut it up and scatter it out.” This was one of the principles which made sales for G. F. Swift, and which worked quite as well for him iu other lines of activity. .