POINTERS FOR THE BEGINNER 31 



Always study conditions around you, what people want, what 

 there is a demand for, or what you might create a demand for such 

 as exists in other locahties. Be ever on the outlook for novelties or 

 something out of the ordinary for the show house. There are a lot 

 of plants and flowers so old and long forgotten, that they are new to 

 most of your customers. 



Keep posted on what is going on in other parts of the country; 

 read the trade papers; read the garden magazines; read good horti- 

 cultural books; join the local florist club if there is one, or the nearest 

 one to you. Join the S. A. F. and the F. T. D. A., and look to the 

 large city retailer for the newest ideas in floral art. 



Visit, whenever you can, the large stores and the big greenhouse 

 estabUshments of your neighborhood, and profit by their experience. 

 If you notice in the ads of the large growers just what varieties 

 of Carnations or Roses or Chrysanthemums they offer, you can 

 quickly tell which are the best for your commercial purposes. 



Go slowly. "Stop, Look and Listen." Don't overreach. Watch 

 your step. Borrowed money never sleeps. Work as many hours 

 as necessary, but keep on thinking at the same time. A weak mind 

 and a strong back make a good ditch digger, but never a florist. 

 Too many men start and get dizzy from doing too well at the be- 

 ginning. The man who never experienced any bumps as he went 

 along, most hkely will have them coming to him later on. In other 

 words, if you don't get them before you are thirty, you'll probably 

 get them later. 



If there is any underselling to be done, let the other fellow do it. 

 If your competitor won't work with you along cooperative lines, 

 don't try to get even with him ; let him alone. Figure on a fair margin 

 of profit and keep on making new friends, but keep the old ones, too. 

 There is no better time to start to collect what is due you than right 

 at the beginning. "Pay and collect as you go," has never yet been 

 the cause of a business failure. 



THE VALUE OF ADVERTISING 



Nowadays, unless you advertise, even if you have a superior 

 article to offer, people will not find it out, hunt you up, or make a 

 path to your door. You would have to have a wonderful lot of 

 patience if you were to wait for them to come, for they want to be 

 invited; they want a well-paved roadway to drive their machines 

 on; they want an attractive entrance to your place of business; they 

 want to be greeted with a welcoming smile, treated with courtesy 

 and to purchase on a "one-price-to-all, money-cheerfuUy-refunded-if- 

 goods-are-not-as-represented" basis. To have the goods is not 

 enough; you must have the rest. In order to succeed you have to 

 advertise, whether you wholesale or retail, whether you are big or 

 small. Make people think and talk about your goods and you will 



