THE HABIT OF SAVING 307financial independence. A few years ago a young inventor invented
a household article which was unique and practical. But he was at a
disadvantage, as inventors so often are, because he did not have the
money to market his invention. Moreover, not having formed the Habit
of Saving, he found it impossible to borrow money through banking
sources.
His roommate was a young machinist who had saved $200. He
came to the inventor's aid with this small sum of money, and that
allowed them to have enough of these articles manufactured to give
them a start. They went out and sold the first supply from house to
house, then came back and had another supply made up, and so on, until
they had accumulated (thanks to the thrift and savings ability of the
roommate) a capital of $ I ,000. With this, plus some credit they secured,
they bought the tools for manufacturing their own product.
The young machinist sold his half interest in the business six years
later, for $250,000. He never would have handled this much money
during his entire life had he not formed the Habit of Saving, which
enabled him to come to the rescue of his inventor friend.
This case might be multiplied a thousand times, with only slight
variation in details, as it is fairly descriptive of the beginning of many
great fortunes that have been made, and are now in the making, in the
United States.
COMMENTARY
There may be times when you find that, even having saved money, it is difficult
to persuade others to back you, simply because your vision is greater than theirs.
Women entrepreneurs, unfortunately, have often had this experience. But a small
savings account of no more than a few thousand dollars can often be enough to get
you started. Mary Kay Ash started her cosmetics company with $5, 000 of her
own money. Lillian Vernon began with $2, 000 she had saved. They created their
opportunities with their habit of saving.