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A Butcher' s Reasons.

21st November 1912
Page 4
Page 4, 21st November 1912 — A Butcher' s Reasons.
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He Tells Us How He Secured a Long Lead Over His Rivals with the Assistance of Motorvans.

It was the fate of a member of the staff of this journal recently to render assistance to a brokendown motorist., who was stranded a mile or two beyond Henley. A simple adjustment to the magneto was all that was necessary to send the motorist rejoicing on his way. Chance brought the two together again at a London restaurant a week later. The motorist had the appearance of a successful tradesman of the better class. This was proved to be the case later by the remark : " You. see, sir, I happen to be a butcher in what I suppose may be called a fairly large way." He was a cheerful soul.

" Perhaps you are a user of a small motorvan'l '

suggesuggested our representative. sted dear sir," said the butcher, "a small motorvan I I have three." He said it in rather a pompous tone. His vie-h-vis was at once alert, and expressed a desire to know more of the vans.

" I'll tell you all about it if you like." " I should be delighted," announced the journalist.. " Four years ago," he commenced, "I don't mind telling you I was feeling a pretty bad draught as far as business was concerned. Between you and me, I had already begun to make inquiries as to the exact way in which to approach the Official Receiver. Mind, I was a hard worker, and on top of that I knew my job ; but my capital consisted of something in the near region of 2800 when I started business, and, being a new man in the neighbourhood I found out that the older-established firms were just collaring extra little bits of trade.

"A man with a few hundred pounds capital cannot afford to make up his books for two or three years on end, and have to mark down on the wrong side 280, .L.'100 or 2120.

" Well, sir, that was the state I was in four years ago. Then a pal of mine came down to spend the week-end with me, and of course, after business on the Saturday night, we naturally took to discussing business affairs. They say that outsiders see more of the game as a rule, and, although it may seem strange to you, my friend put his finger on the weak point in my business rightaway. And that vulnerable heel, sir, was the delivery system. It heppened that my pal knew a fairish amount about business motors, and he pointed out to me that I was spending time in getting and keeping the shop spick and span, and then sitting down and waiting for the custom which never came. A horse and cart were in waiting outside the door the best part of the day to deliver to customers who did not want any meat, and be said that I ought to be getting into touch with a larger number of customers.

" You see, sir, it does not follow that because your shop is in a particular neighbourhood that all your customers live in streets near you. There are a great many people who just happen to take a fancy to some little interior fitting, or the look of the wife, or some other trivial—no joke, sir, I assure you— thing. If you please such customers the first time you serve them, you stand a cent. per cent. chance of retaining that business if you can give them the service for which they ask. Well, one way or another. before I had been in business three years, I had supplied a very fair number of people. Some of them lived four and five miles out ; others—most of them, lived near. Try as I would to satisfy the customers who lived some way out, it was impossible to do so unless I disappointed my near customers. The long and short of it was, that customers living some little distance away had to he gradually dropped, although they wished to continue trading with me. "I had tapped all the local trade it was possible to get hold of, and, although I worked like a slave, business did not increase. My friend said to me : 'Why not put up enough money to purchase a light delivery van, which would dispense with your horse and trap, increase your delivery area, and which would be an advertisement of your business, and at the same time it could also be used for yanking your supplies quickly from the station to the shop.'" • " My dear Sam,' I said, don't be sillier than nature intended you to be. I have been in this business for three years. I have put over 2800 into it, and, after three years work I estimate that I am worth £520. Where in the name of goodness, then. do you expect that I am going to find the 2300 or 2400 necessary for a motor?'

' That be hanged,' said Sam, 'I will buy you a light van for £80 that will do all the work you want it to do and a bit over.'

"'£80 is as impossible as 2400,' I replied.

" What is the value of the present turn-out? ' asked Sam.

"You may have noticed that butchers are apt to be a little proud of, their horses, and I am not lying when I tell you that that horse of mine was worth 240. The trap was worth another 120, and, having plenty of time on my hands then, I had kept them in fairly good condition. I told Sam that the turn-out was worth every penny of 250.

" ' Sell it for 240,' said Sam, and pay the balance when you get it. You are an established tradesman, and your credit ought to be good for 220 or 230.' "Where am I to keep the thing,' I said ; I don't know a motorcar from a wringing machine.' Where do you keep the trap? ' asked Sam. In the stable at the back,' I replied.

' Well, keep the van there,' he answered.

"The upshot of the whole affair was that I went down to a garage, and there I found a little 9 h.p. single-cylinder motorvan which had been very lightly used, and for which the man was asking 2100 cash. I paid him 250, and arranged to pay £4a month off the balance. It cost me 25 more to alter the stable. " With hints from Sam, I got out leaflets and practically dressed the town with them. I made a point of calling on every one of my customers personally, and drew their attention to the van. Bless you, sir, they liked it in a small town like ours. The neighbours came out to look at the van when it pulled up before a house, and the driver was kept pretty busy answering questions about how long it would take him to go to the shop and back again. Do you know that many orders were sent to me just to test the quickness of the delivery? Three months after I took over the van it was touch and go. I had barely enough money left in hand to pay wages at the end of the week, but I hung on to it. Already the business had taken a favourable turn, and I was doing a matter of 23 a week more than before. A further three months saw the corner turned. I was delivering as far out as 15 miles, and I was collecting orders from the best part of the houses along the road. My local rivals pooh-poohed it at first, and accused me of being American. That didn't matter, I was taking their trade." " Well, I now nib three sans—three new ones, each of 10-12 h.p. I gave 1320 each for them, and I am doing a bigger business than all the rest of the butchers in put together. Each van covers 80-90 miles—that's four round trips each—a day. No other butcher has a look in with my delivery, system, and that is why I get the trade, and every bit of it is due to motorvans."

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