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THE
MUJIC THADE
V O L . LVII. N o . 2 5 Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman BUI at 373 Fourth Ave., New York, Dec. 20,1913
SING
»!o?PE I !YEAR: ENTS
NetlProfits Tell The Story.
T
HERE is no doubt but that all of us are conscious of various problems which are not easy
to solve, and it is always easier to locate problems than to work out correct answers to them.
If selling problems could be eliminated from business we would be approaching some-
where near the millennium; but as a matter of fact we cannot solve our problems by
ignoring them. We must face them; nor can each of us working alone solve the big, common
problems of our industry as quickly or as well as all co-operating together can solve them, for it is
by discussion and the exchange of experiences, and by co-operation along broad lines, that we can
all make progress most rapidly.
Our selling problems may be fittingly divided into two classes: first, those the solution of which
can be best accomplished by the manufacturers as a whole working together; second, those in the
solution of which each company must go its own way and find its own best method.
But selling—that is, real selling—is the disposal of merchandise at a profit.
Anyone can give goods away, but selling at a profit is a job for good business men and good
salesmen.
Business exists for a net profit.
It is all very fine to build up a great volume of gross business, but the final test of success is
the net figures.
The prime object for which most of us are engaged in commercial pursuits is to make money,
and the question of making money—of net profits—is always a live one for every manufacturer and
every merchant in every department of human endeavor.
Most manufacturers do business through dealers, and will doubtless continue to do business
in that way for a long time to come.
The dealer, then, and some of his problems represent the first big problem. Hence it is of
vital importance to see that the dealer makes money and that his business will show a net profit
at the end of the year.
Business is changing—trade methods are changing. New competition and different kinds of
competition are developing which makes all the more necessary the closest scrutiny of business
enterprises, with the idea in view of ascertaining how the net profits stand at close of the year.
Bulk sales are very fine, but net profits, after all, are the prime essentials.
Dealers should not fool themselves with the idea that they are going to clean up handsome net
profits when they dispose of pianos to people whose financial responsibilities are such that they
are unable to make payments with the regularity which good business systems require.
Quality sales are worth infinitely more than quantity sales in the year's round up, and if a
dealer is conducting his enterprise with a careless eye as to his instalment payments, it is pretty
certain that his net profits will not come up to the figures which a casual glance at his affairs
might lead one to believe.
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The problem which is growing all the while with the advent of the player-piano is the prob-
lem of trade-ins, and that is going to affect more and more the net profits of a business.
What amount should be allowed on the straight piano which has been out for a limited time,
the owner of which desires a player-piano?
(Continued on page 5.)