Do Someone A Favour
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Do someone a favour!
I like to read about succes stories of all kinds, whether about blogging or business in general. One I looked at again this week was the Marks & Spencer story. M&S run large, very successful stores in the UK and other countries. They have been around for years and years.
The thing that interested me was how they actually started.
First there was Michael Marks. His mother died of childbirth and he suffered because he was a Jew in his native, what was then, Russian Poland. To escape he came to England to settle in Leeds where there was a large Jewish community.
He was without money and had no trade. He heard, however, that there was a business in Leeds that might be able to help him. He set off to find this ‘golden’ opportunity.
A warehouse owner called Isaac Dewhirst found Michael standing outside his establishment. He couldn’t understand the young man, asÂMichael only spoke Yiddish, but somehow, with the help of an interpreter, he got to hear his story.
Isaac Dewhirst offered to lend Michael £5. From this the beginnings of the Marks & Spencer empire was created.
The year was 1884 and with the money goods were bought from Mr.Dewhirst’s warehouse. These he started to peddle around local villages. It is interesting that 100+ years later Dewhirsts still supply Marks and Spencer.
It’s a long story but briefly: after selling door to door, a market stall was started out of the profits and later he met Tom Spencer – and the rest is history.
I suppose what I’m saying is: I wonder how many of us would have bothered to help a penniless person as did Isaac Dewhirst?
Sometimes a small favour or kindness can change lives.
Good blogging,
Mike
Mike’s Money Making Mission
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Ed the Editor said:
Interesting post, Mike. As a cynic, i did a study of M&S a few years ago and concluded, they were light years ahead of the competition with their stock control and logistics, but on the downside, I would say, never do business with M&S unless you have plenty of other customers.
They perfected the classic bait and trap – building up orders till suppliers had to invest to keep up, and then M&S turned round and dropped their prices to the supplier. Of course the suppliers were naive or greedy or both, but M&S did very well at the expense of many firms.
March 6th, 2007 at 10:56 am