"It's no disgrace to want to borrow money, Mr. Black," said he, "if you have your business in such shape that it will justify a loan."
I thought I read the suspicion in his voice that I was running the business to the wall. However, I told him fully just how things stood, showed my sales slips, amount of stock on hand, amounts owing, and all that, which I had brought with me at Larsen's suggestion. He looked over the figures very carefully. Then he said:
"How much do you want?"
"Fifteen hundred dollars," I replied, rather timidly.
"You owe those jobbers only $1,079.00 that is actually overdue," he replied, "and that's really the only pressing debt you have. Let's see—you have now $328.00 balance to your credit in the bank. A thousand dollars is all you need. Now, I'll let you have that much. You can then pay off those jobbers, and still have a balance of about $250.00 on your account. You should not let it get below that figure. Your stock is far too heavy for your turn-over, and I think the best thing you can do is to find some way of turning your surplus stock into cash, and you must absolutely cease giving wild credit."
"I've done that already," I said, and told him in detail what I had done.
"That's excellent," he replied, "and I'm glad to know that you have put that into force. You must, however, reduce your stock. Much better for you to lose a little business for the next few months, and get yourself on a sound financial basis, than to be skating, as you are, on thin ice."
He looked over my list of accounts that were owing to me, and, putting a mark against a number of them, he said:
"Those people are tricksters. You'll only waste your time trying to get anything from them."
Great Scott! And I had thought, when I was working for Barlow, that I could run his business as well as he could! Mr. Barlow, I then and there went on record as saying that you were a bigger man than I was, and that I took my hat off to you! I wonder if all employees have the same all-fired conceit in regard to their abilities that I had had? If they have, I advise them to try running a store for a little while! It isn't enough just to be a business man—you have got to be an expert on mechanics, a diplomat, a financier, a master salesman, an accountant, a lawyer, an advertising man—whew! if I had known of the difficulties of running a store I think I would have hesitated a long while before assuming the burden!