Page 9 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

Good luck to you in the most fascinating game in all the world—the great
game of business.
chapter one
HOW TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS
W

HEN Gustavus Swift, a youngster in knee breeches, dressed and sold his first
calf to the fisher folk of Cape Cod, he laid the foundation of the largest meat
packing business in the world. The desire to make money—to have a
business of his own—was a driving force in the make-up of young Swift. In
Barnstable he was known as a chap with a lot of “get up and go” to him. So it
was not surprising that when he felt the desire to make money, he didn’t
waste his time wishing, but took his courage in his two hands and started in
the dressed beef business in his dad’s back yard.

No doubt there were other young men in Barnstable who wanted to make
money too. But while they were wondering how they could make it, Gus
Swift cut the Gordian knot. It meant work for him. It was not a pleasant way
to make money. There was the possibility of his not being able to sell his calf
after he had dressed it. He had to walk miles in order to market his veal, for
Cape Cod in those days was a “spread out” sort of place. But Swift didn’t
care. He wanted the money. The work, the walking and the adventure were
fun. And because he regarded making money as fun instead of work, he later
was able to come to Chicago and start the great Swift packing business. How
different from the average young men of today! They are usually more
interested in having a good time than they are establishing themselves in a
business of their own. Being in business is so confining! So they concentrate
on enjoying themselves, serene in their philosophy that tomorrow is another
day. If these people, and they are not all young people either, worked half as
hard at making money as they do at having a good time, they would be rich.

Then there are people who are willing to work and do work hard at making
money, but they are not successful because they lack a target. They are like
the chap who hunts big game with a shotgun. They do a lot of shooting, but
they bag very little game. Next to being willing to pay the price of success in
hard work, the most important thing is to have a definite, clear-cut objective.