1 1 8 T H E M IN D O F THE BUY E R
t o c reat e p ublic c onfiden ce i n “^57 vari e ties.
Th e l a rge m oney val ue s which a re so me time s
e sti m ated to i nh ere i n confidenc e ( som etime s
call e d th e goo d will of a c onc ern ) a re furth er
evi denc e s o f it s l a rge pl a ce in b usine ss. I n
a rriving a t suc h a n eval ua tion, o ne a cc ounta n t
w ri te s : “ G o o d will i s a l egi tim a te a sse t in
a n in dustrial ent e rprise, a nd th e m ost a c
cepted m eth o d o f comp u tin g th e amoun t o f
goo d will i s to ta ke th e t otal p rofits fo r th e
l as t five yea rs a n d deduc t from th em fi ve
yea rs’ int erest o n th e capit aliza ti on a t 7 p e r
c ent p e r a nnum ; th e balanc e i s go od will .”
Confidence and go o d will are hab its. I n b usi
ness i nvent orie s c onfidence, o r goo d will, i s
usual ly sp oken o f a s o ne of th e “ in ta ngibl e”
a ss e ts o f a firm, an d is th ereby classe d a s
s om ethi ng th a t i s only th eo re tically ex
istent. I t i s o ur p urp ose i n thi s ch ap te r to
sh ow tha t th ough i t i s in ta n gibl e i t i s n ever
thel ess real. Th a t i n th e p roc e ss of th e sale
i t occ upie s a pl ac e sec on d to n on e o f th e oth e r
p roc esse s w e are desc ribing. If any o ne were
to a sk u s wh e re l urks thi s invi sibl e a sse t,
wh e re i t m ake s i t h abita t, w e sh oul d answe r,
In th e min d of th e b uye r. I t exist s th ere a s
a system o f h abi ts which th e sell e r ha s builtup by dint of much lab or a n d c o st. These