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Page 12
If a man has plenty of money, he ought to invest something in everything
that appears to promise success, and that will probably benefit mankind;
but let the sums thus invested be moderate in amount, and never let a
man foolishly jeopardize a fortune that he has earned in a legitimate
way, by investing it in things in which he has had no experience.
DON'T INDORSE WITHOUT SECURITY
I hold that no man ought ever to indorse a note or become security, for
any man, be it his father or brother, to a greater extent than he can
afford to lose and care nothing about, without taking good security.
Here is a man that is worth twenty thousand dollars; he is doing a
thriving manufacturing or mercantile trade; you are retired and living
on your money; he comes to you and says:
"You are aware that I am worth twenty thousand dollars, and don't owe a
dollar; if I had five thousand dollars in cash, I could purchase a
particular lot of goods and double my money in a couple of months; will
you indorse my note for that amount?"
You reflect that he is worth twenty thousand dollars, and you incur no
risk by endorsing his note; you like to accommodate him, and you lend
your name without taking the precaution of getting security. Shortly
after, he shows you the note with your endorsement canceled, and tells
you, probably truly, "that he made the profit that he expected by the
operation," you reflect that you have done a good action, and the
thought makes you feel happy. By and by, the same thing occurs again and
you do it again; you have already fixed the impression in your mind that
it is perfectly safe to indorse his notes without security.
But the trouble is, this man is getting money too easily. He has only to
take your note to the bank, get it discounted and take the cash. He gets
money for the time being without effort; without inconvenience to
himself. Now mark the result. He sees a chance for speculation outside
of his business. A temporary investment of only $10,000 is required. It
is sure to come back before a note at the bank would be due. He places a
note for that amount before you. You sign it almost mechanically. Being
firmly convinced that your friend is responsible and trustworthy; you
indorse his notes as a "matter of course."
Unfortunately the speculation does not come to a head quite so soon as
was expected, and another $10,000 note must be discounted to take up the
last one when due. Before this note matures the speculation has proved
an utter failure and all the money is lost. Does the loser tell his
friend, the endorser, that he has lost half of his fortune? Not at all.
He don't even mention that he has speculated at all. But he has got
excited; the spirit of speculation has seized him; he sees others making
large sums in this way (we seldom hear of the losers), and, like other
speculators, he "looks for his money where he loses it." He tries again.
endorsing notes has become chronic with you, and at every loss he gets
your signature for whatever amount he wants. Finally you discover your
friend has lost all of his property and all of yours. You are
overwhelmed with astonishment and grief, and you say "it is a hard
thing; my friend here has ruined me," but, you should add, "I have also
ruined him." If you had said in the first place, "I will accommodate
you, but I never indorse without taking ample security," he could not
have gone beyond the length of his tether, and he would never have been
tempted away from his legitimate business. It is a very dangerous thing,
therefore, at any time, to let people get possession of money too
easily; it tempts them to hazardous speculations, if nothing more.
Solomon truly said "he that hateth suretiship is sure."
So with the young man starting in business; let him understand the value
of money by earning it. When he does understand its value, then grease
the wheels a little in helping him to start business, but remember, men
who get money with too great facility cannot usually succeed. You must
get the first dollars by hard knocks, and at some sacrifice, in order to
appreciate the value of those dollars.
ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS
We all depend, more or less, upon the public for our support. We all
trade with the public--lawyers, doctors, shoemakers, artists,
blacksmiths, showmen, opera stagers, railroad presidents, and college
professors. Those who deal with the public must be careful that their
goods are valuable; that they are genuine, and will give satisfaction.
When you get an article which you know is going to please your
customers, and that when they have tried it, they will feel they have
got their money's worth, then let the fact be known that you have got
it. Be careful to advertise it in some shape or other because it is
evident that if a man has ever so good an article for sale, and nobody
knows it, it will bring him no return. In a country like this, where
nearly everybody reads, and where newspapers are issued and circulated
in editions of five thousand to two hundred thousand, it would be very
unwise if this channel was not taken advantage of to reach the public in
advertising. A newspaper goes into the family, and is read by wife and
children, as well as the head of the home; hence hundreds and thousands
of people may read your advertisement, while you are attending to your
routine business. Many, perhaps, read it while you are asleep. The whole
philosophy of life is, first "sow," then "reap." That is the way the
farmer does; he plants his potatoes and corn, and sows his grain, and
then goes about something else, and the time comes when he reaps. But he
never reaps first and sows afterwards. This principle applies to all
kinds of business, and to nothing more eminently than to advertising. If
a man has a genuine article, there is no way in which he can reap more
advantageously than by "sowing" to the public in this way. He must, of
course, have a really good article, and one which will please his
customers; anything spurious will not succeed permanently because the
public is wiser than many imagine. Men and women are selfish, and we all
prefer purchasing where we can get the most for our money and we try to
find out where we can most surely do so.
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