Be Ready. Always

When I was eleven, our school band needed new equipment—and that meant selling candy bars door-to-door.

In a neighborhood like mine, I knew everyone, and everyone knew me, so it wasn’t hard. But I saved Mr. Hermes house for last.

Mr. Hermes was a neighbor several homes down from my own. He had a meticulous lawn and manicured shrubs, and he wore what seemed to be permanent scowl.

I knocked. The door opened slowly.

Mr. Hermes looked down at me with the same authoritarian expression he probably used at his job as the principal of the nearby penitentiary.

“Yes?” he said, in a tone that suggested he didn’t have time for nonsense.

With a pit in my stomach, and I managed to squeak, “I have candy bars for sale.”

“That’s not how you sell,” he replied. “And that’s not how you run a business.”

He went on to explain that if I wanted someone to spend $1.00 on an overpriced candy bar, I needed a better sales pitch. As I turned to leave, cheeks burning, he added, “And every door-to-door salesman should provide a receipt.”

“Come back when you’re ready.”

As I shuffled away,  I thought maybe I was through with door-to-door sales, but my desire to reach the band’s fundraising goal nudged me forward.

So I went home, practiced a real sales pitch, grabbed a note pad to use as a receipt book, and marched back to Mr. Hermes’ door.

This time, I delivered my pitch—shaky but determined. When I finished, he said nothing. He left the door cracked and walked away. I stood there, scared, until he returned…with his wallet.

“How many bars do you have left?”

“Ten.”

“I’ll take them all. And remember: always be ready for your next sale.”

I walked home stunned, having just made my first big sale. But more than the money, I’d gained an unforgettable lesson in business and sales: be ready.

With that, I celebrate all the small businesses across America. Many of them began with hard lessons—and perhaps a tough teacher like Mr. Hermes.

#SmallBusinessSaturday