Individualism in the Retail Lumber Business

By E. D. Tennant, Secretary, Los Angeles District Lumbermen's Club

The annual birthday number of California's own lumber trade paper finds association activities in the Los Angeles and surrounding territory progressing favorably. The majority of dealers are earnestly striving to stabilize trade conditions by building up on a co-operative basis of mutual confidence and understanding which, with a normal amount of business, will assure at least some return on their investments.

Their efforts are handicapped, however, by reason of the time worn methods of some dealers who still believe that price is the only selling argument and that it is each man for himself without ever a thought as to the destructive effect their worn out business policies are having on their own budihess and the retail business trade in general. The go-it-alone dealer has not yet realized that "The individual in business no longer fights a gorilla warfare," as Merle Thorpe says in a recent issue in the "Nation's Business"-" Washington.

The above quotation very aptly sums up the principal idea behind present day successful business methods. The leaders in all lines of merchandising realize as Mr. Thorpe further states "The great new force is group endeavor; the individu.al is pooling his resources with others in mass activity."

The majority of dealers in the Los Angeles district and in fact all of Southern California fully agree with the idea expressed by Mr. Thorpe and are making steady progress toward putting them into effect. ft is true', conditions are not as ybt whag they ought to be from a profit making view point, but had- it not been for steady co-operative efforts of "cii'tre association members, there would be complete chaos in the retail lumber business throughout Southern California with tremendous losses incurred by the dealers and with the only result that distrust and animosity between competitois would have been intensified and the work of ovbrcoming the many difficulties connected with the retail lumber business in Southern California made irnpossible of accomplishment, beyond the doubtful possibility of eliminating a few financially weak firms amongst the surplus yards.

Anv measure of success that some individual firms who ate nbt working in harmony with their competitors may have had in recent years has begn due entirely to the fact that the majority of dealers were protecting them by striving to keep the retail lumber business at a stabilized'level and but for the destructive price cutting sales methods of individual firms, mahy thousands of dollars legitimate profit would have been saved for every one in the business.

There are dealers who have not as yet realized that old established business firms using old methods of doing business, are, under present conditions, rapidly lossing trade; that the idea any one firm in the retail lumber business can buy cheaper, sell cheaper and do business cheaper than the average experience of his competitors is simply a de- lusion; that the man engaged in business today must be alert as never before; that a business policy depending on price as a sole sales argument is as dead as a "dodo" as far as building up a profitable, permanent business is concerned.

Why is it that in spite of repeated disappointments and repeated failures to build up a profitable, permanent business by means of indiviriual cut price methods, some still persist in thinking they can be successful by going it alone without trying in any way to co-operate for the common good?

The main reason for above futile ideas lies within the individual dealer himself. He is either laboring under the delusion that he is smarter than all his competitors and cah make money selling below their cost; is too set in his opinions to adopt new methods and admit he is wrong; or is in nine cases out of ten excusing himself by blaming the other fellow for his unwillingness to co-operate.

Who is the other fellow? How many dealers stop to think that to his competitor, he is the other fellow? The most needed thing is some real honest self-analysis on the part of every dealer of both himself and his own organization as to whether or not he himself or his firm is free of the faults he blames the other fellow for. Does he make sure his own firm is not so full of worn out habits and dry rot that it is driving customers away? Can his firm really sell lumber on an even break? Has he spoiled his trade by being willing to give concessions in price? Is volume his principal object in selling? Has he got too much money invested for the volume of business he can secure on an even break to carry his overhead? How many stop to think before blowing up over some real or fancied wrong?

Rumors never built up any business. Do they get the facts and make sure they are right themselves before blaming the other fellow ?

The lack of individual analysis of both self and organization on the part of a number of Southern California lumber dealers is monthly causing the loss of thousands of dollars legitimate profit and is holding the retail lumber business, especially in the Los Angeles district, down to a basis r,vhich does not net a fair return oh the investment. There are, of course, several other important factors such as over expansion of yards and equipment, manufacturers and wholesalers using San Pedro harbor as a dumping ground, etc., but if each dealer will adopt a policy of running his b'usiness so that he can and does respect the rights of others; learns as every successful business man is learning that he must be a good competitor himself before he can expect the other fellow to be one-then, and then only, will we be able to tackle the other problems and overcome them.' ? , 'r

The good will and friendship of a dealer's competitors is (Continued on Page 88)