Let us consider a specific instance. During the depression a salesman in a grocerystore found himself without a position. Having hadsome bookkeeping experience， he took a specialcourse in accounting， familiarized himself with allthe latest bookkeeping and office equipment， andwent into business for himself. Starting with thegrocer for whom he had formerly worked， he madecontracts with more than 100 small merchants tokeep their books， at a very nominal monthly fee. Hisidea was so practical that he soon found it necessaryto set up a portable office in a light delivery truck，which he equipped with modern bookkeepingmachinery. He now has a fleet of these bookkeepingoffices “on wheels” and employs a large staff ofas-sistants， thus providing small merchants withaccounting service equal to the best that money canbuy， at very nominal cost.
Specialized knowledge， plus imagination， were theingredients that went into this unique and successfulbusiness. Last year the owner of that business paidan income tax of almost ten times as much as waspaid by the merchant for whom he worked when thedepression forced upon him a temporary adversitywhich proved to be a blessing in disguise.
The beginning of this successful business was anIDEA！
Inasmuch as I had the privilege of supplying theunemployed salesman with that idea， I now assumethe further privilege of suggesting another idea whichhas within it the possibility of even greater income.
Also the possibility of rendering useful service tothousands of people who badly need that service.
The idea was suggested by the salesman who gave up selling and went into the business ofkeeping books on a wholesale basis. When the planwas suggested as a solution of his unemploymentproblem， he quickly exclaimed， “I like the idea，but I would not know how to turn it into cash.” Inother words， he complained he would not knowhow to market his bookkeeping knowledge after heacquired it.
So， that brought up another problem which hadto be solved. With the aid of a young woman typist，clever at hand lettering， and who could put thestory together， a very attractive book was prepared，describing the advantages of the new system ofbookkeeping. The pages were neatly typed andpasted in an ordinary scrapbook， which was used asa silent salesman with which the story of this newbusiness was so effectively told that its owner soonhad more accounts than he could handle.
There are thousands of people， all over the country，who need the services of a merchandising specialistcapable of preparing an attractive brief for use inmarketing personal services. The aggregate annualincome from such a service might easily exceed thatreceived by the largest employment agency， and thebenefits of the service might be made far greaterto the purchaser than any to be obtained from anemployment agency.
The IDEA here described was born of necessity，to bridge an emergency which had to be covered，but it did not stop by merely serving one person.
The woman who created the idea has a keen IMAGINATION. She saw in her newly born brainchildthe making of a new profession， one that isdestined to render valuable service to thousands ofpeople who need practical guidance in marketingpersonal services.
Spurred to action by the instantaneous success ofher first “PREPARED PLAN TO MARKET PERSONALSERVICES，” this energetic woman turned next to thesolution of a similar problem for her son who hadjust finished college， but had been totally unableto find a market for his services. The plan sheoriginated for his use was the finest specimen ofmerchandising of personal services I have ever seen.
When the plan book had been completed， it contained nearly fifty pages of beautifully typed，properly organized information， telling the storyof her son’s native ability， schooling， personalexperiences， and a great variety of other informationtoo extensive for deion. The plan book alsocontained a complete deion of the position herson desired， together with a marvelous word pictureof the exact plan he would use in filling the position.
The preparation of the plan book required severalweek’s labor， during which time its creator sent herson to the public library almost daily， to procuredata needed in selling his services to best advantage.
She sent him， also to all the competitors of his prospectiveemployer， and gathered from them vitalinformation concerning their business methodswhich was of great value in the formation of the planhe intended to use in filling the position he sought.
When the plan had been finished， it contained morethan half a dozen very fine suggestions for theuse and benefit of the prospective employer. （Thesuggestions were put into use by the company）.
One may be inclined to ask， “Why go to all thistrouble to secure a job？” The answer is straight tothe point， also it is dramatic， because it deals with asubject which assumes the proportion of a tragedywith millions of men and women whose sole sourceof income is personal services.
The answer is， “DOING A THING WELL NEVER ISTROUBLE！ THE PLAN PREPARED BY THIS WOMAN FOR THE BENEFIT OF HER SON， HELPED HIM GET THE JOB FOR WHICH HE APPLIED， AT THE FIRST INTERVIEW， AT A SALARY FIXED BY HIMSELF.” Moreover—and this， too， is important—THE POSITION DID NOT REQUIRE THE YOUNG MAN TO START AT THE BOTTOM. HE BEGAN AS A JUNIOR EXECUTIVE， AT AN EXECUTIVE’S SALARY.“Why go to all this trouble？” do you ask？
Well， for one thing， the PLANNED PRESENTATIONof this young man’s application for a positionclipped off no less than ten years of time he wouldhave required to get to where he began， had he“started at the bottom and worked his way up.”