THINK, WORK AND SUBSNITUTE! Bv

JACK DIONNE

lellow whose business philosophies crre too rigid to do the bending thct business stomrs demcsrd, In short-with due allowcnces lor such exceptions cs usuclly serve but to prove the rule-I believe thct todcry, qs never belore, it is up to the deqler lo scrve himsell.

How? Friends, no living mcn or group of men could lcy down c rule thcrt would suit every cqse, except in the ghape oI generclities. But this much can be scrid: He must plcce the mcanilying glcrss oI intelligent scrutiny over his business in cll its detcils, must figure cr ccrmpcign ol selling bosed on thcrt scrutiny, must usL his imcginction qs well as his iudgrment in deciding whct he ccrn do<nd then stcrrt working cbout lilty per cent hcrrder ihqn he ever worked belore to make his plcrns opercte. Generqlities? Sure. But not entirely.

Here qre some more substcrnticl suggestions. Remember thct cll men in crll crges hcve cgreed thcrt "Self preservction is the first lcw oI ncture." It gives the law oI grcvity c close rcrce lor being sound crnd provcble. So whcrt you cre dter is to keep your business going lor the durcrtion You wcnt to serve your trcde. Yes. But thcrt's secondcry. Whcrt you crre reclly seeking is your own business sqlvation, which you ccn only cttcin by selling things to your local trcde. First, you decide whcrt you HAVE that vou ccn sell; second, what vou ccrn GET thoi vou ccrnsel: third, you you you thcrt you whct you ccn you ccrn sell; third, how you ccn substitute things you CAN get lor things you CAN'T get, thct will tb the grecrtest possible extent supply possible some of_ the- building nee4s oI your trtrde. And THERE, I sincerely believe, is your greciest opportunity to build your scrles lar <rbove the level they would cttcdn without such specific ellort: YeJ Sir, the lcct is ttrcrt the sclvction ol the crvercge lumber dealer through this emergency is enccsed in three words: THINK! WORK! cnd SUBSTITUIE! while you cre wciting for cn increcsed supply of bocnds, plcnks, etc.

Substitute whct? Substitute mqteriqls thct you CAN get lor those you ccrn't, and use your brcins to decide how lo do it, qnd your energy to cccomplish the selling. The most conspicuous excmples thct hcrve come to my cttention of lumber deqlers who_cre gelting by in good shcrpe, cre thosewhocretcrkirigcrdvcrntcrgeoltheircbiiityatskilUul suFlilution Regcrdless oI the fcct thcrt lumber is very sccrce, the lact still remcdns that there qre tr whole lot of building things the decler CAN get in plentilul qucrntities thcrt his trcde CAN use il the mctter is intelligently pre- sented to them. Don't scy it ccrn't be done uniil y-u try. You'd be qmazed ct the number of dealers who-haoe found thct their trcrde sncrpped up subsdtuted items and mqterials thcrt in the beginning it seemed ridiculous even to offer._ This is no price dcy. A deqler I Imow held cr big bin oI cr certain high grcrde lum-ber item for months, while his hade clqmored lor the sqme item in No. 2 gta.de. It occurred to hirn- on! doy to olIer it to one ol his low grcde buyers, cnd the stuff was_ sncpped up s-o quick it startled him. Plenty ol ci'ear linish hcrs replcced shiplcp in the lcrst six months. A mqn who needs cr wcll isn't despercrlely interested in the per thouscnd price of thct ium- ber. It is shelter he wqnts. -If you_ccn't get the wall bocrrd your tcde wcnts, tell them cbout the wcil bocrd y-" --. still get.It mcy suit them {ne. II you lcrnlt gei the rooling q mqn wcmts, offer him the roofing you ccn get.' It mcy be q rool he wqnts to keep the weqther out, cnd not iust a iertcin mcrtericl.

I know q smcrll iown lumber deqler who hcrs bought and wrecked more thcn twenty old, disused buildings in his territory,-Iound plenty oI good lumber in them, cnd-sold every loot betore the stuff hiithe ground to custor;ers who were- delighted to get it. Every district or lerritory mcry not hcie the scme supply of old buiidings thai could be used in this wcy, but mcny locclitie! do. One decler iold me: "For heaven's scrke,- ion't publirsh -v ii"-" oi cll my com- petitors will get busy belore I ccn corrcrl cll the old structures cvcrilcrble in my tektory."

Whct ccn cr decrler sell right now? Well, first there's pcint. No need to crowd this spcce ielling you thct you ccn gel-crll the pcrint you wcrnt, thct it is reasonable in price, thct crnyone ccn cpply it, cnd thct it is triri:fty tr.ri"J errerywhere; or necrly everywhere. This yecn is the pcinter,s pcrc-dise. Rna wat pcper. Not necrlv -"o -or"r, errerywhere; pcinter's pcrcdise. wcll pcrper. necrly so mcny decrlers sell.wcrll n<r_per gs iell paiq! St;k it. Sell it. Tens oj thouscmds of houses-eierywhere, deterise nousini cnrd othenpise, need wcll pcpei. There is <r nice profit in wcll pcper, Mr. Decrler. [t is'crcsity mercircrndised, re- guir-es smcll investment, tcrkes up little room. Are you overlookini the profit thcrt wcrll pcper -ight bring, Mr, Dealer who seeks for business security?

How cbout ironing bocrds? There cne probcrbly c million delense or other quickly built slncll houees in rhis counlry-todcry in which the ironing rq {one on ihe kiichln tcrble. A decl crnd dumb bt itt-n oo couta seU crn ii-ning Lo-l1d, thct .hcngs,.on the wcll to lolks who live in such houses. ind ironing boqrds trre to be h;a il plenry. Eni there is g -mce profit, cmd nice, cleqn sales, no wcste, no lrouble. How qboui medicine ccrbinels? Ybu ccrn get plenty of them. The scm-e thing ccrn be scid cloui them cs crout ironing bocrrds. All you've loi-to ao is offer them, cnd you don't tcrke c-ny loss when you sell one. n""lr 6;; nrqntels "-*r br hcrd in crbout the same lcshion. There crre plenty ol them. There_ is grecrt need lor them. About cr a"r." other built-in things mtrde "i;;;d ""a gf""" th"t youl-d. rrcke mcrny cr hcbitcrtion more livcble, cqn be hcJ. such <rs chinq closetJ, kitchen ""Ui".t", Uo-ok ccses, brecHcst nooks, etc. Folks don't know cbout theur" -"nJl""'d hcve to sell them, but it would be ri"v to do in c world of ccses. Screen door grilles cre c swell item thct "o,ifJ l. flentilully sold almost ""y pt""". Countless new cnd-old hoJrsing units every*here qre bqrren of built-in things: 'fhey ca'n be hcd.

How cbout windows and doors? For repcrirs, ,"plcr".-"ri*. or smcll cdditions they cre vitcl. You ccn get plenty ol them. How mcrny prospective buyeis ol wiridows crnd doors qre there in youi ""ighuoth""ag- bi-v"o"

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