Download The making of a merchant 1906 Free PDF book by Harlow Niles Higinbotham

COMMENT of any practical value on the subject of the mistakes most frequent among boys and young men entering on a business life is certain to meet with one criticism which may be epitomized in the single word "commonplace!" And why? Because these faults are so common that they are impressed on the attention of every large employer of labor, particularly in commercial lines, and he is compelled to reiterate them with emphasis and tiresome persistence. If they were less common, less universally recognized and uniformly disapproved by employers, their enumeration would not appeal to their victim as commonplace, stereotyped and uninteresting.Occasionally, however, a boy or young man of sufficient character and receptivity is found who is willing and eager to profit by advice from those of long experience, even though it may be given in painfully familiar terms and may sound sage, tedious and "preachy." It is for the aspiring young men who are animated by this spirit of tractabilityone whose views are the result of thirty-eight years of experience in unbroken connection with an enterprise that has had many changes in the personnel of proprietorship and now has more than seven thousand employees. In the course of that service, he has filled various positions from the very humblest to that of part proprietor and manager. With the exception of his earliest years, all this period of labor has brought him into direct personal contact with the young employees, and the responsibilities of his position have compelled a daily and unremitting watchfulness of their conduct with the view to determining faults and mistakes which most beset the young adventurer into the mazes of commercial activity.I. Laying the Foundation 9II. Advancement in Business 19III. The Qualities That Make a Merchant 32IV. Details That Spell Success 48V. Buying Merchandise 79VI. The Treatment of Employees 86VII. Department Store 96VIII. Management of Department Stores 108THE EXTENSION OF CREDITIX. The Qualifications of a Good Credit Man. 139X. Difficulties and Dangers of Credit 159XI. Rewards and Humor of the Credit Desk. 190XII. The Storekeeper's Credits and Collections. 205