The Brinkley argus., 1913-07-25
BIG BUSINESSES
 NOT "MARvEL0US'
Opportunities Today Are Better Than When Wanamaker Be-
 gan His Career.

This article tells how your small or medium sized business can be doubled or trebled or quadrupled-
 It tells how and why Wanamaker became a Merchant Prince"
 Doubling your business will not in volve as much risk as letting 1t stand still
 It will not involve more work for you personally.
 | It should not take up as much of your time as your present business de mands.
 Big business are not marvellous.
 It is simply this way:
 You take no special notice of a business until 1t becomes very large. Then, as you look at 1t superfcially and as a whole, 1t appears extremely complex Fundamentally it may be almost identical with your own small business. The difference is just a matter of multiplication. You say that John Wanamaker is a truly wonderful man. He Is. But you let yourself get such an exagger- ated idea of MT Wanamahers men tal processes that you greatly under rate your own capacity and the limit less opportunities for profitably util- izing that capacity.
 Don't Make Wrong Comparison. If you happen to be merchant with small store on Columbus avenue, do not compare with the John Wana- maker of today; compare with the John Wanamaker of the day when he, too, had but small store.
 You say: But times were differ ent then"
 We admit that.
 But, fortunately for you, the differ ence is in your favor. There are more people to patronize you. There are better and quicker and cheaper methods of securing patronage in any line of business.
 While, times" in some ways, were different when MT Wanamaker start ed, human nature was the same. Phil adelphia. even then, was an old and large city. There were plenty of stores without Mr. Wanamaker's. Nearly every merchant in every line felt that he had about all the com petition he could stand and a great deal more than he really ought to have. Hundreds of merchants had failed in the old city because they couldn't stand the competition.
 MT. Wanamaker started in ay small way and developed from day to day and week to week. Any merchant can do precisely the same thing now.
 How MT. Wanamaker Did It.
 If New York city had ten million inhabitants, instead of five million, there would be about twice as many stores and the pressure of compe- tition would be just about the same as 1t k today-just about the same as 1t was in MT Wanamaker's early days. when there were fewer people and fewer stores.
 Mir. Wanamaker didn't do anything magical He didn't put money into newspaper advertisements and expect the advertisements to bring magical results.
 Here is just what he did: Bought carefully. displayed his goods advan- tageously, trimmed his show windows attractiyely, instructed his clerks to adhere to his own square-deaI policy, and then he started with a moderate amount of newspaper advertising, which brought him moderate returns Ia Tn returns. He was just plain, pfacti- cal business man. But he was per sistent. He grew with his business When a months advertising showed fair margin of profit he increased his appropriation the following month. The fact is that the Wanamaker bust ness grew just about the same as thousands of other businesses, except that i1r Wanamaker kept up the steam pressure-the newspaper ad- vertising-every business day, while the multitude of merchants competins with him advertised infrequenfIy and indifferently.
 You Can Do the Same Today. It would not be logical to say that I all businesses in any one line could be doubled. But pick half dozen stores at random--or half dozen wholesale houses or manufacturers-- and the business of each probably can be quickly increased one hun dred per cent to one thousand per | cent
 No matter who or where you are we now pick you. at random, and say :: If you have small or moderate sized business there are about ten chances to one that you are not making any where nearly as much net profit out of 1t as could easily be made by prop erly revising your methods.
 We are dwelling upon these points. says . writer in Facts, to emphasize the fact that big businesses are not marvelous-to show you that there may be an exceedingly slight differ ence between you and that competitor of yours who does a million dollars worth of business while you are doing twenty-five thousand dollars worth. And that slight difference may consist l of faulty methods in yO,,r ofY1ca uhich