Читать книгу Mega-Selling - Andrew Haynes - Страница 13

Living in a country where wealth was achievable, was a step in the right direction. But I knew that in order to become wealthy I would have to work for myself. So, my long-term plan was to start my own business. However, I literally had only $40 dollars in my pocket. So my short-term plan was to use my experience to find work in the interior decorating business in order to make ends meet.

In the small living room of the apartment I rented above a laundromat, I began looking up local interior decorating companies in the phone book. The first few numbers I called were no longer in service, but finally I reached somebody at Stan and Associates, Exteriors & Interiors. Unfortunately, the woman who answered the phone told me they were now strictly in the exteriors business and planned to change their name to avoid phone calls like mine.

“The department stores are doing it all,” she said, “Everybody has closed down but them. They’ve got a monarchy.”

“Monopoly, you mean,” I corrected her.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

I thanked her for the wonderful news and riffled through the phone book, looking for the numbers of all the department stores. That proved to be a dead end. They were all sufficiently staffed and had a rather large pile of resumés. I was welcome to add mine to the bottom if I wished. But unless they planned on starting at the bottom and had a job for me in the morning, there wasn’t much point.

There weren’t any opportunities in the interior decorating business, but I still thought that my short-term plan to leverage my experience made sense. I knew about color, finishes, and paints, so I made a list of jobs requiring that knowledge. I came up with painting, working in the office of a paint company, and selling paint. Because my long-term plan was to eventually work for myself, my choice was obvious. Selling paint would give me some control over how much I earned – the more I could sell, the more I would make.

I started looking the next day, and it only took a few calls to find out that a company called McInley & McDougall wanted to expand their sales force. My interview with the tall and thin Mr. McDougall went well, but he turned out to be your stereotypical Scot – tighter than two coats of paint. He offered me a meager base and slim commissions, but I needed the job and it fit into my short-term plan, so I accepted.

Selling paint for McInley & McDougall would be a great opportunity for me – I would be able to cut my teeth in sales – but it would only be a way station on the road to executing my long-term plan —to work for myself.