The First Step in Making Money
迈出挣钱的第一步
It is easier to make money in some localities than in others. There is, for example, the Ogden hardware merchant who became rich selling shovels during the California gold rush. He was quick to see that with people pouring into the West digging everywhere for gold, they would need lot of shovels. So he wrote back east and bought all the shovels he could get. It was no trick to sell them. All he had to do was to advertise that he had shovels to sell, and the prospectors took them away from him at fancy prices. That kind of merchandising does not require any skill. Neither does it require any knowledge of business principles. But the gold rush is over. The West has been settled. To be successful in business today you need more than a stock of merchandise. You have to know how to sell goods at a profit. Nine out of every ten men who start in business today fail because they cannot measure up to those requirements-especial the last part of the formula.
有些地方就是比其他地方更容易赚到钱。例如，五金商奥格登在加州淘金热期间靠卖铁锹发了财。随着人们涌入西部到处挖金子，奥格登很快发现这些人需要很多铁锹。所以他写信给东部的供应商，倾尽全力买了很多铁锹。但是卖掉这些铁锹可不是什么把戏，他所做的就是登广告说他有铁锹卖，然后淘金者以高价把铁锹从他手里买走。这种推销不需要任何技巧，也不需要任何商业原则的知识。但淘金热结束了，西部地区已经安定下来了。要想在今天取得成功，你需要的不仅仅是商品。你必须知道如何以盈利的方式卖掉这些商品。今天每十个创业者中就有九个失败，因为他们无法达到一些要求，特别是公式的最后一部分，也是把产品卖掉这部分。
So the first step in starting a business of your own is to know something about it. You need not know all about it. But you must know something about it. Fortunately, much of the knowledge you need may be found in books and trade periodicals. The manufacturers of the equipment which you will need to get started are usually able to furnish you with essential information. The federal and state governments have publications of value to you. This is all experience which you can buy very inexpensively, yet it is experience that has cost others much time and money. So read everything published about the business you intend to start, to get the combined experience of others, and begin your plans where they left off.
所以，创业的第一步就是要了解这个业务。你不必全部知道，但你必须要知道一些基本的情况。幸运的是，你所需要的大部分知识都可以在书籍和商业期刊上找到。如果你准备销售设备，这些设备的制造商通常能向你提供必要的信息。此外，联邦和州政府也有相应的出版物，也都很有参考价值。你只需要支付很低的价格就可以买到这些宝贵的经验，虽然这些经验对别人来说已花费了很多的时间和金钱。因此，如果你打算开始新的业务，最好先阅读所有关于这个业务的出版物，以全面获得其他人的经验，并从他们跌倒的地方开始你的计划。
You will find many people who will laugh at the idea of learning how to make money in books. They will tell you that business success dep ends upon inherent trading ability and action. They will cite men who never read a book in their lives and still made lots of money in business. Do not be influenced by these views. No man ever started in business for himself, who did not short-cut the time it took him to become established, by reading about what others had done. When you read a book about business it is just as though you were invited into the home of the author and sat down with him and talked over your problems. only those who think they know all there is to be known-and more besides-consider such an exchange of ideas foolish. Why spend hundreds of dollars to find out that a business idea or plan will not work, when another who has tried the plan tells you in a book or magazine article exactly why it is not a good idea At the end of this volume you will find references to books, pamphlets and magazines which may be consulted for further information on some business problem. Consult those references. They may save you much grief and loss.
你会发现很多人会嘲笑通过书本来学习如何赚钱的想法。他们会告诉你，商业成功取决于天生的商业嗅觉和行为。他们会引用那些一生从未读过书，但在商场上大获成功的商人的例子。不要受这些观点的影响。对于一个只身创业的人来说，如果从来没有看过别人是如何创业而成功的经历，就不可能缩短自己创业成功所花费的时间。当你读一本关于商业的书时，就好像你被邀请到作者家里，和他坐下来讨论你的问题一样。只有那些认为自己无所不知的人才会说这样的思想交流是愚蠢的。有的人要花上几百美元才发现一个商业想法或计划行不通，但另一个尝试过这个计划的人却在一本书或杂志的文章中告诉你为什么这不是一个好主意。在本书的末尾，您将找到有关书籍、小册子和杂志的参考资料，这些资料可供您进一步了解一些商业问题。做生意前查阅一些参考资料也许能帮你避免很多痛苦和损失。
But understand this: Reading alone won't enable you to succeed in business. The best idea ever conceived for making money is utterly worth- less until somebody puts it to work. You no doubt, know many brilliant men, fellows with more ideas for making money than a dog has fleas, yet who never get enough money together to buy a second-hand automobile. What is wrong with them They are probably like the inventor who never stops inventing long enough to make and sell his invention. One good idea, at work making money, is worth thousand ideas just buzzing around in the head of the smartest man in America.
但是你要明白：光是阅读并不能使你在商业上获得成功。最好的赚钱点子是完全没有价值的，除非有人把它付诸实践。毫无疑问，你身边肯定有许多聪明人，他们的赚钱点子比狗还多，但却从来没有凑够钱买一辆二手车。为什么呢？他们很可能就像一个发明者，一直在搞研发，但是却没有去制造和销售他的发明。一个赚钱的好点子，就像美国最聪明的人的脑袋里嗡嗡作响的一千个主意一样有价值。
山哥点评：
1、前人经验真的很重要。前人失败是自己成功之母，站在巨人的肩膀上能看的更远。
2、经验不是真理，也是不能一味套用。换句话说别人成功的经验你复制不一定成功，别人失败的经验你复制也不一定会失败。决定创业成败的因素很多，一定要全面考虑。既要尊敬经验，也要敢于超越经验。
3、创业阶段注意聚焦，抓住自己擅长的领域，围绕自己的核心技能展开，不要东一下西一下，今天这个方向明天那个方向，到头来还是一无是处。
