Dawson Black: Retail Merchant Part 48

"Suppose we need extra help?" I said.

"If ye hae tae have extra help, the expense o' it'll hae to come oot o'

the $1,100.00 bonus, or whatsoever the amount might be. Unless ye did this, ye'd be exceeding your original allowance for wages. If your people know that, the less people there are wor-rkin', the more money each o' them makes, they'll all o' them work as har-rd as they can to accomplish the results wi'oot adding extra people tae tha payroll. There is one ither thing I must warn ye of, and that is, tell all your people that this is only a plan tae be tried for a year, and that each year ye'll decide upon the sales quota according tae the growth o' the beesiness.

"I think I follow you," I said thoughtfully. "The more business we do with less help, and therefore less payroll, the bigger will be the bonus to divide. But where do I come out in all this?" I asked. "Eleven hundred dollars seems a lot to give to those fellows."

"Here's where you benefit," said Jock. "Ye give yourself a salary at present of $25.00 a week, don't you? That's $1,300.00 a year. Now, then, if ye sell $40,000.00 worth of goods next year, ye will make a net profit of five per cent. on $40,000.00, which is $2,000."

"That's so," I commented.

"In addition to that," he continued, "ye make an extra eight per cent.

on $10,000.00, the excess sales over quota, on which ye hae no expense ither than salaries; eight per cent. of that $10,000.00 is $800.00.

Then, again, remember that ye share in the bonus, for eleven per cent.

for salaries includes your ain, so ye receive a bonus of $403.00 oot o'

that $1,100.00. In other wor-rds, if ye hae $40,000.00 worth o'

beesiness the next fiscal year, and keep your expenses doon tae twenty per cent. on a sales quota o' $30,000.00, your income would be $4,503.00."

"Can you beat it!" I said, under my breath. "Four thousand five hundred and three dollars," I continued slowly, "Ninety dollars a week. Great Scott, that's making money!"

"It's aw' a question o' being able to get your people to speed up your sales to increase the turn-over o' your capital so as tae make extra profit wi-oot extra salespeople," said Jock.

"That's salesmanship," I commented, for I remembered that my friend Robert Sirle--if I could call such a big man my friend--had said that "salesmanship is the creation of additional business without additional cost." "What we must exercise this next year is salesmanship. Why, I can afford to make small increases in salaries and still make a good thing for myself," I added.

"Aye," said Jock, "o' course ye can make increases in salaries, but recollect ye can only give people the money in one way or the ither. If ye increase salaries ye must reduce bonuses in proportion."

I decided to try the plan, and at our next Monday evening meeting I announced it to the fellows. Jock was there, fortunately, to explain it all to them, and finally they all understood it. La.r.s.en, however, said dubiously, "It's complicated to me, Boss."

"All ye've got tae think aboot," said Jock, in answer to him, "is that ye get no bonus until the store has sold $30,000.00 worth o' goods.

After that eleven cents on every dollar is divided amongst ye according to your salaries."

"When you start it, Boss?" then asked La.r.s.en.

"We will start this on June 1," I said. I noticed La.r.s.en's face fell, as also did Jones'. "But," I continued, and here they brightened up, "if we do exceed our $30,000.00 this year, I shall give a bonus, though only half of what it will be next year."

"Why only half?" asked La.r.s.en.

"Because," said I, "our expenses have been $750.00 too high as it is. If we do exceed our $30,000.00 for the year ending May 31, we will split up six cents on every dollar over that amount, in proportion to your salaries. How does that strike you?" I said, for every one was silent.

La.r.s.en rose to his feet, coughed impressively, and said: "Mr. Black, on behalf of us fellows I say we appreciate it. I don't quite follow this per cent. stuff. You are bigger business man than we,"--I could not help looking at Charlie Martin, when he said this, for Charlie, with his thorough business training in the college of business administration, I knew to be a better business man, on the theory of business, at any rate, than all the rest of us--"and, if you say so, we know it's O. K.

It looks good to me. I know the wife will be tickled to pieces."

I smiled at the way La.r.s.en drifted from general congratulations to thoughts of his wife.

Well, the meeting broke up pleasantly, and every one left with a firm determination to do his best to increase sales without the need of increasing our force. Jones and La.r.s.en and the boy Jimmie walked down the road together, and I heard Jones say: "We will work day and night.

If we can only do the business without getting any more help--"

CHAPTER x.x.xIX

A BOOMERANG IDEA

I had thought of a great idea to profit by agitation against the high cost of living. The idea had come to me when reading a story in a business paper which had said that it was not high cost of living we were suffering from, but cost of high living, and, instead of buying things in bulk as we used to do, we bought in packages and had to pay a whole lot of money for the package--and the advertising of them. It had said also that the modern housewife was lazy and would not _do_ things for herself if she could get them done by some one else, and that she thought more of tango teas than toting baby carriages. The article had finished up by saying: "How many housewives do _you_ know, Mr. Reader, who will make their own soap, do their own washing, bake their own bread, and such like housewifely accomplishments which our parents and grandparents took pride in performing?"

Now, it hadn't seemed to me that that was quite fair to the housewives.

Betty, for one, was no tango-trotter. Well, my brilliant foozle of an idea had been to make a splurge on bread mixers. I had always carried one or two in stock, but never had done much with them. So I ordered three dozen as a starter, that is, two cases, and I got a really good price on them. Then I ran an ad. in the paper, saying that it had been said the modern housewife preferred to have things done for her rather than to do them herself, but that I felt it was not so, and that, just to show that the modern woman could do as well as the previous generation, I had started a bread-making contest. I used a slogan: "You can make bread better than mother by using the Plintex Bread mixer."

I then asked every one to buy a bread mixer, bake a loaf of bread with its aid, and leave it at the store. I also stated that I would turn all the bread baked over to the hospital, and I offered an electric chafing dish for the best loaf baked. I concluded by saying that three prominent citizens would be the judges.

I had determined to surprise every one by this stunt, but when it came out no one was quite so surprised as I was at its reception. When I took the ad. to the newspaper office the fellow grinned as I handed it to him.

"Good idea, isn't it?" I said.

"Some idea all right, Mr. Black," said he.

Next morning, when I arrived at the store, Charlie Martin was waiting for me with a paper in his hand. Said he, "Mr. Black, did you put this in?"

"Sure," I answered.

"I thought perhaps Stigler was trying to get at you in some way," said Charlie.

I went hot and cold all over, for I felt right then and there that I had made a big mistake.

"Who's your committee of three prominent citizens?" he then asked.

"I have not picked them yet," I said rather sheepishly.

"But," said Charlie, "a citizen may be prominent without knowing much about bread. Incidentally, after those three prominent citizens have tested every loaf of bread, Heaven help the poor babies in the hospital who have to eat what is left! And, say, if my landlady were to bake a loaf of bread in this contest, there would be death at some one's doorstep. She can no more bake bread than I can fly."

"Well," I remonstrated, "those people who can't bake bread won't send in loaves."

"I am inclined to think," said Charlie, "that they are just the people who will. And, incidentally, you insist on every one buying a bread mixer before sending in a loaf. Why don't you try the same thing with ice cream freezers? Insist on them spending a few dollars to buy an ice cream freezer, and submit a dab of ice cream for a contest?"

"I wish I had talked it over with you, now, Charlie," I blurted out.

"So do I," said Charlie.

Just then the telephone bell rang. La.r.s.en answered and said it was for me. Mr. Barlow was at the telephone.

"Say, Dawson," he began, "who worked up that brilliant ad. you have in the paper this morning?"

"I did," I said, feeling pretty cheap, somehow.

"Did you find the women all lined up on the doorstep this morning, ready to buy bread mixers?" he asked.

"What's the matter with the idea?" I said.