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WHAT MY BUSINESS 



^ i HAS TAUGHT ME 



Here, word for word as he wrote it down, is a successful retail florist's 

 philosophy of business. His ideas are not new for those who look at the 

 broader aspect of retailing, but they are sound, and System, the magazine 

 of big business, found he gives them, a new twist. 



!PL0WER store is just 

 like any other business, 

 and a man who runs a 

 flower store businesslike, 

 has to suit his methods to 

 his surroundings and to 

 the classes from which he 

 draws his patrons. When 

 a man opens a store he 

 should try to open it 

 where he comes among an element with 

 which his education or his knowledge 

 is most in keeping. 



If a man selects for opening a flower 

 store, a place where his natural wit and 

 knowledge quickly attach people to 

 him, where the people look at him as 

 one whose ideas are similar to their 

 own, and whose knowledge suits their 

 taste, he will make quicker progress in 

 business, collect a lot of friends. And 

 a lot of friends to business men under 

 most conditions 

 means success. 



But it is not 

 this alone which 

 should be consid- 

 ered when one 

 wants success in 

 business. There 

 are many details 

 which should not 

 be overlooked: the 

 quality of stock; 

 the quality of the 

 service; the gain- 

 ing of confidence 

 not only for one- 

 self, personally, 

 but also gaining 

 confidence for 

 one 's work ; care- 

 ful buying; hon- 

 esty with custom- 

 ers to the ex- 

 treme; and, most 

 of all, untiring 

 ambition. 



Iiove tlie Work. 



The quality of 

 stock one buys 

 signifies one's 

 knowledge of 

 flowers and plants. 

 Most florists buy 

 and sell what they 

 can make most 

 money on. 



Is this correct? 

 I hardly believe 

 so. 



When one is a 

 florist he has to 

 be not 'only a flo- 



By MAX SCHLING. 



Reprinted from System. 



rist for the sake of dollars and cents, 

 to have success, but he has to be a 

 florist because the business awakens 

 sufficient interest in him so that he 

 loves his work; he has to have an in- 

 terest in the people whom he sells 

 to and interest in the people he 

 buys of. 



,. Cbeap Stock or Good? } 



Cheap stuflf does not mean a poor 

 quality of stock. Cheap stuff means a 

 flower or plant of good stock at a cheap 

 price; and if a florist buys cheap stock 

 of the kind I think of, he will never 

 take advantage to sell it otherwise 

 than in accordance with the standard 

 of honest business men — to sell it at a 

 fair profit, regardless of petty ex- 



Max Schling, Preacher of Business Philosophy. 



penses like packing, care and such. 

 If one buys dahlias for $2 a hundred 

 he should not try to get $1 a dozen 

 because they look too much for 50 

 cents; and he should not try to buy 

 poor dahlias below the regular whole- 

 sale price when he can get good ones 

 for a little more, even though he does 

 not charge his customers more for the 

 good ones than he would have charged 

 for the poor ones. This is a comparison 

 between cheap and good stock. There 

 are stores which take advantage of just 

 this kind of business. They buy poor 

 stock at a low price instead of buying 

 good stock at a little higher price, and 

 when general business conditions are 

 depressing they are the first to figure 

 only on transient customers. People go 

 there once, twice, and never again. 



This bnsiness man does not see that 

 insufficient service keeps the steady 



buyer away from 

 his door. The 

 man who buys 

 good flowers and 

 pays a little high- 

 er price and sells 

 at reasonable 

 prices, follows hia 

 customers w h e r- 

 ever they move 

 with his flowers. 

 They come back 

 to him or tele- 

 phone for his 

 flowers or plants 

 from wherever 

 they are. 



A Winning Way. 



It is what we 

 call a family 

 trade. No matter 

 what the general 

 conditions are, his 

 business always 

 keeps up, because 

 through his good 

 service and 

 through the good 

 stock he carries, 

 he gains new busi- 

 ness without 

 spending too much 

 money on adver- 

 tising, because hia 

 patrons are his 

 best advertisers 

 and they spread 

 his fame to all 

 their friends. 



To gain the 

 confidence of peo- 

 ple one not only 



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