Forging Ahead in Business Part 6

Note on the following pages what subscribers for the Modern Business Course and Service have to say in that connection.

Better understanding

A man cannot go far in business unless he _thinks_. And he must not only think, but think straight. His conclusions must be based on sound principles.

Unless a man is thinking along right lines, he will have little initiative, and his judgment will be poor.

The necessity for every live business man to understand the principles upon which modern business is based cannot be overstated. The Modern Business Course and Service gives that understanding. It illuminates points that were obscure and it answers many puzzling questions. It lights up the road ahead, so that the business man can see more clearly the path that he should take.

Mr. Wm. H. Ingersoll, Marketing Manager for the famous Ingersoll watch, says that the Modern Business Course and Service

"gives the first coherent presentation of the entire subject of business. It gives one a perspective and an appreciation of essentials, as well as much knowledge regarding right and wrong methods of procedure."

As a fair example of the manner in which the Modern Business Course and Service stimulates thought and leads to progressive action, even in companies that already were well organized and highly successful, take the following note from Mr. Norman W. Wilson, Vice-President of the Hammermill Paper Company:

"Every moment's time I have devoted to it has been well rewarded. I want you to know what a high regard I have for the work you are doing and to know that I make it a point to encourage our people here to study your Course."

Mr. J. H. Hansen, President of the J. H. Hansen Cadillac Company of Omaha, emphasizes the practical information that the Modern Business Course and Service has brought to him:

"When I located in Nebraska as a salesman for the Cadillac automobile, a representative of the Inst.i.tute persuaded me that I might just as well try for the big prizes in business as for one of the mediocre ones. The decision to enrol in the Modern Business Course and Service was a turning-point in my life.

"I knew something about selling already. But now I began to see business as a whole, and the relation of each department to it.

Advertising and costs; accounting and office organization; the control of men, and corporation finance--all these elements, which are necessary if a man is to succeed in business for himself, came to me with the Inst.i.tute's help.

"When the opportunity arrived I was ready for it. We organized our company and the first year did more than a million dollar business.

"In my judgment, the reason why so many men never get into business for themselves or fail after they do get in, is because they are not prepared for their opportunity when it comes."

Mr. H. C. Smith, President, Allith-Prouty Manufacturing Company, Chicago, states why the Modern Business Course and Service is helpful without being revolutionary:

"All men who have been successful must be credited with having good business principles. Your Course does not require changing these principles, but it will broaden one's own ideas and enable him to get greater results."

Increased confidence

A great many men accomplish less than their abilities and energy ent.i.tle them to accomplish, simply because they do not feel sure of themselves.

The boldest man alive becomes uncertain and timid in the face of unfamiliar difficulties. The man who follows the Modern Business Course and Service becomes acquainted at close range with business difficulties as well as with tried methods of overcoming them; he learns how to tackle such difficulties and goes forward without fear or misgivings.

The series of Modern Business Problems which const.i.tute an important feature of the Modern Business Course and Service is especially intended to cultivate familiarity with difficult business situations and thereby to create self-confidence. They are problems of the kind which executives are constantly meeting. The man who can solve them successfully should have no difficulty when he meets similar problems that arise in his own work.

A better and broader grasp of the principles and practices that underlie all business also suggests ways of widening the scope of one's business activity and gives the necessary confidence to go ahead and do it. Mr.

John McBride, of McBride's Theatre Ticket Office, New York, wrote us after completing the Modern Business Course:

"The average man can double his faith in himself in a few months if he will master the fundamentals of business through your training."

Mr. W. H. Schmelzel, President of the W. H. Schmelzel Company, of St.

Paul, Minnesota, wrote after he had followed the Course:

"It is my personal opinion that every young business man of today depends a great deal on consultation or advice from a successful and experienced adviser or friend on all matters of a business nature.

"In the early days of my business experience I was confronted with the task of making decisions preparing myself for the problems I was to solve in the years to follow. Having been born and raised in a small town in a Western State, I was content with advice and consultation of my acquaintances in matters pertaining to the thoughts I wished to carry out.

"I was, therefore, eager to obtain a.s.sistance from a corps of experts in their particular line, and after giving your Modern Business Course considerable scrutiny, and being informed on the cla.s.s of men, that I felt confident of their success, and I realized that such a Course had merit, and one which I could afford to consult, advise with and build my future with ideas and methods you had so ably worked out."

Quicker decisions

Is the ability to decide things quickly an inborn faculty? No, it is largely a habit of mind which anyone may cultivate in himself. However, we must bear in mind that it is necessary not only to decide quickly; there must be very few mistakes. This requires a mind that is trained to grasp a situation and to think accurately as well as rapidly.

_The secret of quick and accurate decision is knowledge of principles._ If a man knows what principle applies in handling a given case, he has no difficulty in making up his mind and deciding what to do. If the balance sheet of a given concern were laid before you and you were asked to decide at once (a.s.suming that the figures were correct) whether to ship a $10,000 order of goods to that company, possibly you would not know what to say.

But if you were familiar with the definite principles of accounting and finance which would enable you to a.n.a.lyze that balance sheet and make it yield a vivid picture of the financial condition of the concern, you would not hesitate a moment. You would reply instantly.

What decision meant to this man

A young man, whose name we are not at liberty to give, told us of a dramatic incident which ill.u.s.trates the value that keen business men attach to preparedness and quick decisions. Up to about a year ago this young man was head accountant for his company. The Board of Directors had been in session about an hour one afternoon when a messenger came to his desk and told him that he was wanted in the board room.

As he entered the room the president snapped at him, "Would you advise us to issue a block of collateral trust bonds to finance a new addition to our factory which will cost about $60,000?"

"No," said the accountant, "the company's credit is good enough for an issue of $60,000 one to three-year notes without security. If necessary, the new building could be mortgaged after construction, and, at the present rate, the business could pay off the whole loan in five years."

A rapid-fire series of questions followed, covering the financial, advertising and sales policy of the firm, to each of which the accountant gave concentrated thought, quick decision and convincing reply.

The president's final question was, "How would you like to become treasurer of this company at $6,000 a year?"

In the letter that told of this incident this subscriber said:

"I don't know whether I owe most to you or to my friend in the Carnegie Steel Company who urged me to enrol for your Course and Service. I could have answered few if any of the questions asked me without the knowledge I gained from it. I found out later that the president knew all the time I was following your Course, and wanted to prove to the rest of the directors that I could intelligently consider and discuss business problems."

Mr. Charles C. Chase, in the Advertising Department of Brown Company, of Portland, Maine, brings out another method of securing help in deciding questions that are outside the scope of his previous experience. He says:

"To the fellows who have asked me about the Course and what I believe it will do for them, I have said:

"Through a subscription to the Course of the Alexander Hamilton Inst.i.tute you not only ally yourself with a "Board of Directors"

whose combined business experience probably amounts to at least five hundred successful years--a Board the members of which have had specialized experience in every important phase of business--but who have been a.s.sembled for the very definite purpose of helping men."

This method is equally valuable to the executive, according to Mr. Lynn P.

Talley, Deputy Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas:

"Whenever I am confronted with a problem relating to fundamental economic conditions of business practice or business policy, I find great comfort and satisfaction in taking down the volume relating to the subject and always find elucidation of the problems that confront me."

Mr. James P. Robertson, of Smith, Robertson and Company, Seattle, says:

"As a general reading Course on business I can truthfully say it is high grade, and can recommend it to anyone interested in the study of business."

Mr. A. E. Winger, President, American Lithographic Company, writes:

"I think your Course is an excellent one and am particularly impressed with the underlying thought that I find throughout the entire Course--application of principles. It has been my experience that sound judgment is the most essential requisite of any executive, and that the judgment required in business today can best be formed by a thorough knowledge of business principles."