THINGS TO BEWARE OF 143 
do anything unless you do get somewhere 
with it? There's no use being in any kind 
of a business unless it repeats—it's too ex¬ 
pensive always developing new customers. 
Profit can come only from the constant re¬ 
peat business of old customers—that is, 
speaking of profit in its bigger, broader 
sense. Little profits aren’t worth the bother 
of picking. Why, then, should a trainer of 
bird dogs think it smart to carry more dogs 
to the prairies or anywhere else than it is 
possible actually to train? What does it 
profit him, if he can never resell the same 
sucker twice? There’s really no profit in 
trying to trade on the old exploded theory 
that “there’s a new sucker born every min¬ 
ute.” It is vastly cheaper—and in the end 
much more profitable—to take less dogs to 
train and give each more attention, thus giv¬ 
ing value received, the same as is done in 
any legitimate business, and so please the 
people who own the dogs that they will send 
others to you year after year, and by word 
of mouth boost you until you are so busy 
you will have to boost your rates, just as 
other professional people must do, and yet 
