Cranbrook Rotary

CRANBROOK ROTARY

            Cranbrook Rotarians put through a carload of important business at their regular weekly meeting Tuesday, when the chairman of all committees reported on the activities assigned that particular body.  Bill Attridge reported on behalf of the committee entrusted with the Better Business Meeting, which will be held in two weeks time.  Charlie Ward, chairman of the educational committee, promises something snappy from his workers next meeting.  Frank MacPherson, upon whose shoulders falls the work of organizing the Rotary Minstrel Show, has all the songs, choruses and after pieces from headquarters and will call for the first rehearsal next week.  There is every promise of seeing a whale of a show as the members are going right after the theatrical end of the business.  Just who will be assigned the leading roles is left with Mac, who is quietly lining up his talent.

            Charlie Little was the headline attraction and delivered a fifteen minute vocational talk, which proved an inspiration to many members.  Charlie’s talk is printed below:

Pres. Frank and Fellow Rotarians:

            When Fred Everett visited us some few months ago he laid emphasis on one point in particular that appealed very strongly to me.  The point I refer to is what Fred said in connection with a speaker in commencing his talk.  His suggestion was to get to the point as quickly as possible and avoid making excuses about anything.

            Now, in speaking on successful retailing, we will simply plunge right in to the subject and, to my mind the first point to be considered in making a success of a retail business is sufficient capital to commence.  In looking over a little data I have found that 75 per cent of the retail failures have come about through lack of sufficient capital.  Without this a merchant might exist for a few months or possibly longer, but he eventually goes to the wall.  A merchant should have sufficient capital or credit to see him through at least the first few months or possibly longer, dependent very largely on the kind of business he is conducting and the amount of credit he proposes to extend.

            The next point to consider is buying right.  This, I believe, is the most essential part of merchandising, as a merchant can very easily become stocked up with goods that are not nor will ever be popular sellers even tho they each and all might have merit.  This is very greatly influenced by advertising, for instance, a merchant in the grocery business would be very foolish to buy a quantity of Lanka tea when his customers were asking for and being satisfied with another brand.  The advantage gained in buying Lanka at a few cents difference would soon be offset by carrying it in stock and having it go stale on his shelves, besides entering into his overhead expense in keeping it there.  My contention is that a merchant is well advised to buy popular goods and to buy from people who are reliable.

            One very important feature about a store or place of business, particularly a retail grocery or place where food stuffs are sold is cleanliness.  This doesn’t cost very much and is part of the overhead and the extra expense in keeping a place bright and clean is more than offset by the good feeling created not only in the people who come in but in the staff as well.  The difference between a clean, tidy kept place and a carelessly kept, dirty place is so great that it is impossible to estimate the value of the one or the loss on the other in dollars and cents.  A place may be old, but that is no reason why it should not be kept clean.  Courtesy is another thing that enters very largely into the success of doing business.  Courtesy is something that costs nothing, need not be considered in the overhead expense, and its effect in obtaining and retaining customers is very far reaching, much more so than the average merchant realizes and as Portia said in “The Merchant of Venice”: “it blesses him that gives as well as him that receives.”  In other words it assists very materially in creating and maintaining a happy feeling between the merchant and his customers.

            Service is next and in this connection I might say that our motto in Rotary “He Profits Most Who Serves Best” is very applicable in business, and is exemplified every day.  Now in service I don’t exactly mean how quickly goods can be delivered; that is only a very small part of the service.  Service commences right at the entry to the place or even before that.  When a customer enters a place of business they should be welcomed, not by so many words but by the general surroundings and the actions and appearance of the staff.  I would say also, although it might appear to be a little far-fetched, that you render service in the quality of the goods you sell and the profits obtained through the sale.  A merchant is not rendering service to a customer when he takes advantage of the customer’s ignorance by selling something that he knows that person could fully as well get along without.  Personally, I have always maintained the principle in business that you are not gaining anything by selling a customer something that you knew to be inferior or that he or she really didn’t want.  There is always a reaction from this method of doing business.

            Another very important feature and one that augers well for the success of any business is in having the confidence of the public.  The public are always willing to pay a fair profit if they know they are being treated fairly.  When you find a merchant selling goods at or below cost, unless he has some very intelligent reason for so doing, be just a little leary of that merchant.  He has to get his profit somewhere or he cannot continue doing business, so that if he sells all articles at cost, he must get his profit by unfair means, or some other article.  The public know this and they soon lose confidence in the merchant who persists in doing business in this way.

            The last point I wish to make is this: There is nothing gained in ridiculing your competitor.  If you cannot find something good to say about him, don’t say anything bad; it is not good business.  I believe in the old axiom that every knock is a boost.  “There is so much bad in the best of us, and so much good in the worst of us; that it doesn’t behoove any of us, to speak ill of the rest of us.”

[Photo caption – CHARLIE LITTLE who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting on the all-important subject of “Successful Retailing.”]