Next he interviewed a number of contractors, builders, architects, supply houses, manufacturers, men prominent socially and politically, and many others and arranged to furnish them with all the news items of interest within a radius of 200 miles, for $3.00 a month and up, depending upon the character and number of subjects clipped.
Then he rented a small office in a quiet street, hired a girl for $35 a month to do the reading, clipping, pasting and classifying. He solicited the business. His receipts for the first month were $100, the second month $150, the third month $200, and on up until it reached $300 a month, with no additional expense. He also read, marking the articles to be clipped and mailed by the girl assistant.
His bureau is still running and is making him a good living.
HOW A WIFE HELPED HER HUSBAND
The wife of a young man who had been incapacitated for heavy work by injuries received in an automobile accident assumed the duties of bread-winner for the family by carrying out a number of plans which she had always regarded as “life-savers” in case of emergencies. Each of these in itself would prove a means of earning a livelihood by any one other woman similarly situated.
PLAN No. 140. STARTED A HOME STORE
This couple lived in a small western city of about 25,000 inhabitants, some of whom were well-to-do, and it occurred to her that by utilizing her large front room and opening a little store in which all the articles offered for sale were made at home, she could keep it stocked with many articles which she could make herself, and soon build up a profitable business.
Possessing extraordinary taste and skill, by odd jobs she earned some money to be used as working capital for the store. First, she bought a ham, sliced it thin, laid some sprigs of parsley around it on a number of plates, and set this in her front window. She also made some artificial honey from a recipe she found in an old cook book, and arranged this display so tastefully that her supply was soon sold. Then she displayed a variety of vegetables, fresh from her garden, and these also sold readily, at good prices. To this display she added plants of many kinds, then delicious pastry of her own cooking, preserves, sweetmeats, fresh laid eggs from her own hens, and finally branched out into a complete line of home-made goods, for which she found a steady demand the year round.
With the little help her husband could give, she was soon earning more money than the family ever had before.