One Thousand Ways to Make Money by Page Fox

267. SPECIAL DEPARTMENT.--Make yourself familiar with a particular

department of the work of shop or store. Suppose you take a pound of tea. It will surprise you to find out how many things you can learn about so insignificant a thing as a pound of tea. Ascertain the different brands; what markets they come from; where they are raised; how they are manufactured; in what quantities they are shipped; what are the fluctuations in price; who are the largest dealers; in what section of the country the trade is chiefly carried on. A study of these things will suggest other branches. A year given to a study of this kind, and you will know more about tea than the most trusted employee, whose knowledge is commonly of a superficial kind. Then, if you have an opportunity, you can surprise the merchant with a knowledge of his business, and he will be sure to give you a place as soon as he has an opening. One merchant says: “I always have a place for a person who can tell me anything about my business I don’t know myself.”