Jillv 31, ltf20 



HORTICULTURE 



95 



BOSTON FLORAL SUPPLY & SNYDER CO. 



15 Otis— 96 Arch St. 



Wholesale Florists 



BOSTON, MASS. 



In tei4 



Telsphoneii 



J Fort Hill 1 

 i Fort Hill 1 

 (. Fort Hill 1 



1«M 



OM 



OT6 



Largest distributors of flowers in the East. 

 Manufacturers of artificial flowers, baskets, wire frames, etc. 



William F. Hasting Co. 



^A/Hol»sallo F-|. 

 aa8-«70 WASHINGTON STREET 



>rlst:« 

 BUFFALO, N. Y. 



THIS SEASON'S NEW ROSES 



PILGRIM CRUSADER PREMIER RUSSELL HADLEY 



M> iiri' rtM-i'i\lnK diiily hlilpmriilt* of Ihesp now Kohi'H, In larco ciliuntitleH. and 

 cj»n fiinilHli Minir on short notice. 



Wo hiin- a liirKf stock at aU tlmeB of choice CARNATIONS, ORCHIDS, 

 VAI.l.KV nn<l AMKKICAN UKAl TIKS. 



Tel.. Main S267 WPI CVX VKM C\^ CC\ 262 DEVONSHIRE STREET 

 6048 »» liL'V^n DI\.WO. \^\J. BOSTON. MASS. 



PROFIT SHARING FOR FLORISTS 



R. C. Kerr Tells How the Plan is Operated in His Establishment 



Everybody knows that R. C. Kerr of 

 Houston, Texas, is making a great 

 success of his business. He is presi- 

 dent of the concern known as Kerr 

 the Florist, of the Robert C. Kerr Co., 

 of the Kerr Nursery & Plant Co., and 

 of the Glendale Nursery Co. He is a 

 man of big affairs and a broad-vision. 

 .•Vt the Convention of the Texas State 

 Florists' Association last week, Mr. 

 Kerr, presented a paper in which he 

 reveals some of the most important 

 reasons of his success. This paper 

 should be read carefully by every 

 florist. It follows: 



Profit-sharing is another step for- 

 ward. It is money in our pockets. If 

 we adopt the profit-sharing plan each 

 employee realizes when he wa.stes 

 stock he is participating in that loss, 

 it he fails to give good service and the 

 store loses a customer, he is partic- 

 ipating in the loss,, in making up a 

 design or bouquet and he is wasteful 

 in the material that he uses, he is 

 participating in another loss, or, if he 

 is making up a design or bouquet and 

 is economical in the construction of 

 the work and also is very careful to 

 see that it will come up to the expec- 

 tations of the customer, he is partic- 



ipating in the profits. It is human 

 nature for employees to be more in- 

 terested in the work of a concern if 

 they know that they are interested in 

 the profits, whether they be large or 

 small. Nine cases out of ten where a 

 concern has labor troubles, it i.s their 

 fault and not the fault of the em- 

 ployees. 



I was asked to accept a place on the 

 program, and the reason why I 

 selected this subject was because this 

 plan is uppermost in my mind, and is 

 producing wonderful results in our 

 own organization. I have had the 

 profit-sharing plan since the first of 

 January applying it to the heads of 

 each department, and from July 1 of 

 this year, it will effect every employee 

 in our retail store. 



There are several things that are 

 essential: First, you must have an 

 organization. By that I mean em- 

 ployees who are satisfactory, and who 

 have a desire to build up a big organ- 

 ization. If you have unsatisfactory 

 employees, it makes no difference 

 what yon offer them, they are dead to 

 the world, and you will lose time and 

 energy to try to place them. So it is 

 my experience that if you decide to 

 enter upon a profit-sharing business, 

 you should weed out and get only the 

 best. 



To my way of thinking there is only 

 one true profit-sharing basis. A plan 

 to get results must be of such a 

 jiature that every employee partic- 

 ipates in the actual profits of the com- 

 pany, and then it is up to them to de- 

 liver the goods. Lay your cards on 

 the table if you are proud of your 

 business, and let the other fellow 

 know how you succeeded. When the 

 Commercial Agency asks for a report 

 (if your business, if It is a good one 

 you are proud to render it; if it is 

 a bad one you sometimes hesitate and 

 may fail to render it and are there- 

 fore put In the wrong class. 



Do not try to make a secret of the 

 actual profits of your store. Render 

 a monthly profit and loss statement. 

 Have your monthly efficiency meeting. 

 Talk about the statement. If one 

 particular line showed an unusual 

 profit, find out how you did it. Ap- 

 ply the same methods to the other de- 

 partments that are not so profitable. 

 Talk with the head of the delivery de- 

 partment, and if the maintenance of 

 this department is unusually high, in- 

 vestigate it thoroughly and find out 

 why. The bookkeeper should submit a 

 list of customers who are slow payers 

 and discuss ways and means with all 

 of the employees and the best way of 

 getting the money. 



The sales manager should discuss 

 ways and means of increasing the 

 sales of the store. These monthly effi- 

 ciency meetings are one of the most 

 wonderful things that we have insti- 

 tuted. Let your business be an open 

 book with your employees. It will in- 

 still confidence and make -them deeper 

 interested in your welfare. 



I am going to give youi our working 

 plan for what it is worth. I am not 

 giving this to you as a model plan, I 

 think there is much room for improve- 

 ment, but I believe we have taken a 

 step in the right direction. Our retail 

 store is operated by what we call the 

 central organization, composed of my- 

 self, as proprietor, sales manager, 

 superintendent of service and credit 

 manager. Four in all. The heads of 

 each department are held responsible 

 for their respective work, and are ex- 

 pected to show results at the end of 

 the year. This plan has been in opera- 



