Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-04-23
"A WOMAN WHO MADE GOOD
WITH ONE MULTTGRAPH.
NotC She Has Several Grit and the Ablty to
Weather TtUo Years OF Not Breaking Euen Made
This Worker Vim Where Others Haze Failed

THERE is an ole adage which tells
4 women not to so into business, but
TO hold on to their money If they are
fortunate enough to have It. There is
a splendid middle-aged woman i'm one
of our large cities VINO tells them the
opposite.
IF you have a normal amount of
common sense" she says, plenty Of
grit and the ability to live through
your first two years OF not breaking or
just breaking even. strike out. I'lay
TO win" That Is what she did and
won.
All of this is apropos OF an answer
j am about to make to tao following
letter which came to the Womaa's
Page recently:
In July Of this year ! expect TO re-
ceive sum OF money that has been
left TO me and would like TO start
some kind of n business. Could you
suggest something? How about the
addressing and multigraphi1s bLsi-
ness? have a slight knowledge or
this and know I could secure q posi-
tion, thereby gaining any useful in
formation. About how much would il
take 10 start. and is It profitable? Lf
you could give me sorle inf rmation
on anything else would be exceeding
ly grateful, or on the one mentioned,
as that is the only one / can suggest,
millinery. manicuring, etc. being en-
tirely out Of my line L. c. &.
T FIRST thought II is well to go
"A back to the old adage. A great
many little fortunes piled up penny
by penny through the strivngs Of
some man have gone the voyage whea
a woman tried 10 invest his money in
business. 1t Is well to think about
this. But II is more inspiring to think
about the splendid middle aged woman
She will be particularly interesting to
70. c. b. because she struck out in a
small way and finally made a success
In a bigger way of the multigraphrg
and addressing business.
When this woman, whom We shall
call NJ. f.. went into this business
seven years ago her outlay was as
follows: One multigraphing machine,
including typesetter and printer, $685.;
one secondhand typewriter for ad-
dressing envelopes, $50: one second
hand roll.top desk, $15; table for
folding letters, $40, and a case of draw
ers. SO.
She rented an Office in a business
district for $50 a month. This in
cluded desk room and little printing
room. In the multigraphing and ad.
dressing business most firms furnish
AilCl ONll IdDtI uIilil gbll are IN DuSl-
ness in a larger way. so there was
virtually no outlay in paper stock. In
all, you can count up this outlay as
representing approximately $500. Since
that time, seven years ago, NJ. T.. has
added 10 her equipment five other
multigraphing machines. put in motor
equipment (S150), extra drums, an i'm
mense machine for sealing and stamp
ing ENVELOPES and several more type
writer's. In the meantime Of course.
the Office room was extended And
she has operators This speaks for itself
as TO whether or not the business has
been profitable.
A ND now comes the important part
IA of women in business, the point
which makes or unmakes n woman
very often-computng charges and
profits NJ. f. computes hers as fol-
lows: Twenty per cent for overhead
charges, such as telephone, rent. wear
on office equipment. etc, and 10 per
cent for contingencies, such as car
fares that might have TO be paid for
deliveries. This is based on the net
cost of materials, whether furnished
by M. f. or not. Then she allows her.
self over this 20 per cent profit.
You will be interested TO know that
the first two years NJ T.. was in bust.
ness she did not break even. This is
why she says a woman must have
grit and far-sightedness to win out.
Looking back, M. Il. thinks she