Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-02-21
CUTTING THE COST
OF DOING BUSINESS
Merchants Attending Institute
Hear Another Talk from Expert
James w. Fisk.

Cutting the Cost of Doing Business" I"
was the su hjcct OF last nights talk by
James w. Fisk, the business expert, who
is conducting merchants institute at
the Hotel du Pont, under the auspices of
the Chamt er of Commerce.
'Stop the leaks" was MIR. Fisk s
slogan for the talk. He contended that
each business should carry its own wei ght
and that there was an appreciahle MOI e
tary loss involved in the loss OF time of
employers due to the lack of convenient
arrangement of stocks and their not
being SO placed as to minimize the time
and energy required for clerks to secure
and display or sell them. lie pointed ont
that the merchant purchased the time
energy and intelligence and loyalty of
his clerks and other employees, and that
If the merchant were party to the
wasting of that time and energy through
faulty or made lrIate arrangement of the
goods the salespeople were required TO
handle, he could not have any legitimate
protest if the time for which he paid them
were wasted with a corresponding increase
of selling costs. He discussed the ef-
feet of frequent and nfrequent turn
over of stock upon the expense nc
count and pointed out many ways in
expedited. with corresponding diminution
of expense, and equally corresponding
increase 81 sales and service to the public.
Mr.. Fisk told the assembled mer-
chants of many small leaks, which, in
the aggregate, made material impression
on the expense accounts, land showed
them many new, but simple plans where
hv, without any increase oF salary or
other accounts, better results could he
secured through the more efficient utli7a-
ton OF the service OF employees and de-
partment heada He showed them
whore the adoption Of such plans would
mean the reduction Of the percentage Of
onerating costs without detriment to
anyone concerned, employc, puplic or
merchant. and invited their attention to
the fact that operating expenses included
the cost Of missed opportunities,
THE INACTIVE DOLLAR
Hc also told them Of the expense Of the
inactive dollar, rendered inactive by over
stocking. goods being he'd too long,
and through similar causes. He urged
his hearers to mark their goods with
time limit, and to consider the carry
ing expense carefully, because il was
really remarkable how ii multiplied unless
careful supervision was continuous in
connection with buying. marketing. time,
and selling expense. In this connection he
cited another bad feature of keeping capi-
tai tied up too long or to extensively
IN large stocks and that was the less of its
earning capacity with reference to trade
discounts for the prompt payment Of
bills These discounts. he said, while
| small in themselves individually. mace
an apprcciable total in the course of a
year IN the average business.
Quoting from statistics compiled from
1000 stores of various lines. he said that
the net cost of operating expenses amount
cd to 27l per cent, based on the following
| figures: Rent. per cent; advertising,
per cent, salaries. II per cent; Of which )
per cent was productive and per cent
non-prcductive beat and light, y of l
! per cent. delivery, per cent; insurance
and taxes, per cent; general expense,
419 per cent, and In this connection he
warned them to be careful OF their super
vision OF this item, because if il were not
closely guarded, it would cover. like
charity multitude of sins; depreciation
and slrinkage. Il per cent; bad debts,
: Of ] per cent; and supplies such as
twine. wrapping paper, and similar
articles, Of per cent In other words,
that the invested dollar of the merchant
really represented by fraction over 73
cents.
lie urged economy in the use Of light
and fuel, especially the use of light in
stock-rooms and similar place where it was
unnecessary or careless'y used; or greater
FIRE protection in order to reduce the
FIRE risk and insurance rates; he urged
careful cons: deration Of the cost of carry
ing and handling long charge accounts,
the cost Of which increased In direct
proportion to he length Of time they were
carried Hidden leaks Of various char
acters were discussed thoroughly, includ-
ing odd lots and sizes Of goods, which,
often. were shunted into out-of-way corn
ers simply because the boxes may have
been soiled, or the packages broken,
while the goods remained as good as
ever; the lack of care Of merchandise,
forgotten charges, overstocking and simi-
lar sources of additions to the expense
account. Wrong methods Of selling and
wrong arrangement Of stocks, with that
greatest Of errors in retailing, lost Gus
TONERS, also came in for their share Of the
discussion, and their causes we carefully
diagnosed and remedies uggested.