This holds true from the bo
ttom up. Assume that a man
wants to start in business for himself. In order to do this,
he must have at least some capital, no matter what the
business may be. In most cases, there are only three
avenues open to him for obtaining that capital. He can
provide it from his own saving
s, get it by taking in a
partner or partners, or borrow it. If the money is his own
from the start, the business, too, will be his own. If,
however, he has to take in partners, he will own only part
of the business and will have to
share his profits. And, if he
borrows money, the loan must be repaid—almost invariably
with interest, which naturally reduces the profits.
Once he has started a busine
ss, an individual who is na-
turally thrifty will have an infinitely greater chance for suc-
cess than another of equal ability who does not possess this
quality. The habitually thrifty person will be able to
immediately recognize opportunities for lowering overhead
and production costs—and in present-day, highly
competitive markets even minor savings can mean a great
deal and even represent the difference between a net profit
and a net loss.
Beyond this, the person who
has formed thrifty habits
will always have a fluid reserve to meet contingencies,
carry him through slack periods
or make it possible for him
to expand or make improvements without resorting to
borrowing.
The astute individual realizes that such habits as
promptness and thrift can greatly help him achieve his
goals. He practices promptness and thrift until they become
second nature to him—and he reaps rewards from the
beneficial force these habits exert on his career.
But these are by no means the only positive habits that
can—and do—provide a powerful propellant to send a man
to the top of the success ladder.
One of the most valuable habits any tyro businessman or
executive can form is that of taking a last-minute pause to
rapidly review his reasoning before he makes a decision.
This final check-out may require only a few minutes or
even a few seconds, but it pays large dividends. It provides
the individual with one final—and priceless—opportunity
to arrange his thoughts in logical order and to refresh his
memory as to why and how he arrived at his decision. This
simple procedure greatly increases the individual’s ability
to instantly and convincingly counter any objections that
may arise. It is, in a way, analogous to the habit formed by
many of the world’s finest actors who, although they may
know their part in a play thoroughly, will nonetheless give
the script or at least their lines a quick skimming over
before the curtain goes up for a performance.
One of the most successful salesmen I have ever
known—he is now a top sales executive in a giant
corporation—maintains that he owes much of his success to
having formed this habit early in his career.
“I even developed a sort of personal gimmick to form the
habit,” he told me. “When calling on an account, I in-
variably stopped off first to have
a cup of coffee, get a shoe-
shine or do something of the sort. This gave me a final
chance to mentally review my presentation before actually
setting foot in the customer’s office. It worked wonders. I
sold much more effectively and was always prepared to
answer any questions or objections that arose.”
There is no doubt about it—at least not in my mind:
whether or not one needs a gimmick to do so, it is an excel
lent idea to form the habit of taking a last-minute mental
breathing spell to organize one’s thoughts before making
decisions.
Another—albeit much less simple—habit that should be
acquired by any man who wants to get ahead rapidly in
business is the habit of being relaxed. The successful
businessman is usually the one who is always relaxed—
even in the face of adversity.
Now, I hardly intend to imply
that he is apathetic, indolent and lethargic. What I mean is
that he keeps his mind receptive and responsive—always
ready to grasp and exploit new opportunities and to
understand and cope with new problems. He is poised, but
never rigid and unyielding,
in the face of changing
situations.
The seasoned businessman is relaxed in the same sense
that a crack football player is relaxed. The football player
who intercepts a pass does not freeze or panic because the
ball has unexpectedly fallen into his hands. The new situa-
tion that has suddenly developed does not leave him im-
mobile. His reactions are flexible enough to grasp and cope
—and he takes a firm grip on the ball and runs with it, still
alert and yet relaxed enough to shift direction and avoid op-
posing tacklers.
A few—a very few—fledgling businessmen have an in-
nate ability to assume this sort of relaxed attitude even
under great stress. But the vast majority of men in
business form the habit through years of experience.
“Always think of yourself as a man who has just fallen
overboard in the middle of a lake,” a veteran oilman ad-
vised me early in my business career. “If you keep your wits
about you, you can always swim to shore or at least dog-
paddle or float until someone fishes you out. But if you lose
your head—if you panic—you’re finished!”
I suppose that a man starting out in the business world
is, in a way, like one who suddenly finds himself in the
middle of a lake. If he remains calm, his chances of survival
are high. If he doesn’t, he’ll most probably drown. The tyro
businessman and young executive should constantly bear
this analogy in mind. It will do
much to help them form the
habit of being relaxed and thus able to handle themselves
in any situation.
Obviously, it would be impossible to list every habit that
is good or bad for every man in business. Far too much de-
pends on the individual, his nature and personality, the
particular field or type of business in which he is engaged
and many other variable factors.
However, any individual—whether he is in business or
not—can determine which habits are beneficial to
him
and
which are harmful. Habits that help an individual live and
work better and achieve his goals are, of course, good ones
—habits that the individual should try to acquire or form.
Those that harm or hinder, interfere or obstruct, serve no
practical purpose or offer no positive results should be
avoided or, if already formed,
should be broken as quickly
as possible.
Executives and businessmen would do well to
periodically make a careful inventory of the things they do
in connection with their work with sufficient regularity for
them to assume the character of
habits. It is a good idea to
list these on a piece of paper. Th
en it is up to the individual
to make his own evaluations of the habits he has listed. If
he is honest with himself, he will readily recognize some of
them as being bad. These he will do his energetic best to
discard with a minimum of delay.
Next, there will be some habits that appear to fall into
the “indifferent” or “undecided” category. These must be
considered objectively to determine if they can be modified
in order to make them positive.
For example, one executive I know had formed the habit
of holding weekly staff meetings with all the employees in
his department. Although the idea was basically sound, the
meetings had been held for several months without
producing any notably useful results.
The executive was almost convinced that he should dis-
continue the practice. Then, making a habit inventory, he
gave considerable thought to the problem of why the
meetings had been failures. Analyzing the matter, he
finally hit upon the answer. He had been holding the staff
meetings at 4:15 every Friday afternoon.
Human nature being what it is, the minds of the
employees at that time each Friday were on going home for
the weekend. They had little interest or enthusiasm for
discussions of office matters 45 minutes before quitting
time. The executive changed the time and the day of the
week—and his habit of holding weekly office-staff meetings
moved up into the good-habit category almost immediately.
The meetings were thereafter productive of many ideas
that improved output and e
fficiency and raised employee
morale to a new high. But an indifferent habit that cannot
be raised to the “good” category should be discarded, for if it
is continued, it can only slide down into the “bad”
classification.
As for those of his business habits that are clearly good,
the astute businessman will strive to make them even more
useful, advantageous and productive. For instance, if he
can lay claim to being habitually thrifty, to being
constantly on the alert for ways to cut costs and effect
savings, he should determine to redouble his efforts—to
find more ways of reducing expenses and thus increasing
the company’s profits.
The individual who wants to reach the top in business
must appreciate the might of the force of habit—and must
understand that practices are what create habits. He must
be quick to break those habi
ts that can break him—and
hasten to adopt those practices that will become the habits
that help him achieve the success he desires.