21 Rules of Money-Getting, by P.T. Barnum - Abridgment Series
Gregg Zegarelli Esq.
Managing Shareholder at Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC
The following 21 Rules are excerpts from The Art of Money-Getting or Golden Rules for Making Money (1880), by the great entrepreneur, Phineas Taylor (P.T.) Barnum (1810-1891).
It is widely thought that P.T. Barnum—claimed as the "Greatest Showman on Earth"—said, "There is a sucker born every minute" with some condescension of tone. However, better sources indicate this statement was naturally said by a competitor about Barnum's customers. As a result of this resonating quip, P.T. Barnum is often thought less philosophically and philanthropically substantial than he was, in true fact.
P.T. Barnum loved "the game"; that is, the game of making money. Loving the game is something different than loving the money. Loving the game and virtue can sit in the same space, best shown in the use of the proceeds; that is, in sharing the resultant knowledge, and in sharing the resultant money.
Loving the game is the virtue of the entrepreneur, loving the money is the vice of the entrepreneur. Loving the game creates something, loving the money consumes something.
P.T. Barnum was educated in the liberal arts and well-read in the classical works of literature, and this fact is clearly evident in the depth, breadth, lucidity and elocution of his writings.
Notwithstanding his love of the game, P.T. Barnum was well-grounded in how money is a means, but not an end. He often quotes various maxims, Aesop, the Old and New Testament, Benjamin Franklin, Shakespeare, and others, to help us understand how to get money, as well as the virtuous human characteristics we need to do so. P.T. Barnum's well-known charitable gifts—money and otherwise—continue to be enjoyed in meaningful ways, even today.
I hope you enjoy this summary of his perspective and practical wisdom. The Art of Money-Getting or Golden Rules for Making Money (1880), and P.T. Barnum's autobiography are two of my personal favorites from a quintessential entrepreneur.
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P.T. Barnum says...
Those who really desire to attain an independence, have only to set their minds upon it, and adopt the proper means, as they do in regard to any other object which they wish to accomplish, and the thing is easily done. The road to wealth is, as Dr. [Benjamin] Franklin truly says, "as plain as the road to the mill."
1. Stay True to Ourselves; Don't Mistake Vocation.
If a man was to take such a boy as I was, and attempt to make a watchmaker of him, the boy might, after an apprenticeship of five or seven years, be able to take apart and put together a watch; but all through life he would be working up hill and seizing every excuse for leaving his work and idling away his time. Watchmaking is repulsive to him.
Unless we enter upon the vocation intended for us by our respective natures, and best suited to each our peculiar genius, we will not succeed to our potential.
Unless a man enters upon the vocation intended for him by nature, and best suited to his peculiar genius, he cannot succeed.
2. Location, Location, Location.
We should not commence business where there are already enough providers to meet all demands in the same occupation.
I said, "My friend, you are an excellent showman, but you have selected a bad location." He replied, "This is true, sir; I feel that all my talents are thrown away; but what can I do?" "You can go to America," I replied. "You can give full play to your faculties over there; you will find plenty of elbowroom in America; I will engage you for two years; after that you will be able to go on your own account." He accepted my offer and remained two years in my New York Museum. Today he is worth sixty thousand dollars, simply because he selected the right vocation and also secured the proper location. The old proverb says, "Three removes [life changes] are as bad as a fire," but when a man is in the fire, it matters but little how soon or how often he removes.
It is important that you do not commence business where there are already enough to meet all demands in the same occupation.
3. Avoid Debt.
Do not "work for a dead horse."
This is not related to those who buy on credit in order to turn the purchase to a profit. The old Quaker said to his farmer son, "John, never get trusted; but if thee gets trusted for anything, let it be for 'manure,' because that will help thee pay it back again." Money is like fire; it is a very excellent servant but a terrible master.
Money is like fire; it is a very excellent servant but a terrible master.
John Randolph, the eccentric Virginian, once exclaimed in Congress, "Mr. Speaker, I have discovered the philosopher's stone: pay as you go." This is, indeed, nearer to the philosopher's stone than any alchemist has ever yet arrived.
4. Persevere.
As Shakespeare said, "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." If we hesitate, some bolder hand will stretch out before us and get the prize. Remember the proverb of Solomon: "He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand; but the hand of the diligent maketh rich."
Perseverance is sometimes but another word for self-reliance. Many persons naturally look on the dark side of life, and borrow trouble. They are born so. Then they ask for advice, and they will be governed by one wind and blown by another, and cannot rely upon themselves.
Until we can get so that we can rely upon ourselves, we cannot expect to achieve our potential.
Take two generals; both understand military tactics, both educated at West Point, if you please, both equally gifted; yet one, having this principle of perseverance, and the other lacking it, the former will succeed in his profession, while the latter will fail. One may hear the cry, "the enemy are coming, and they have got cannon." "Got cannon?" says the hesitating general. "Yes." "Then halt every man." He wants time to reflect; his hesitation is his ruin; the enemy passes unmolested, or overwhelms him; while on the other hand, the general of pluck, perseverance and self-reliance, goes into battle with a will, and, amid the clash of arms, the booming of cannon, the shrieks of the wounded, and the moans of the dying, you will see this man persevering, going on, cutting and slashing his way through with unwavering determination, inspiring his soldiers to deeds of fortitude, valor, and triumph.
5. Whatever We Do, Do It with All Our Might.
Work at it, if necessary, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well now. The old proverb is full of truth and meaning, "Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well." Many a person acquires a fortune by doing business thoroughly, while the neighbor remains poor for life, because the neighbor only half does it.
Ambition, energy, industry, perseverance, are indispensable requisites for success in business. Fortune always favors the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself.
People have got to do as Cromwell said: "not only trust in Providence, but keep the powder dry." Do your part of the work, or you cannot succeed. Mahomet, one night, while encamping in the desert, overheard one of his fatigued followers remark: "I will loose my camel, and trust it to God!" "No, no, not so," said the prophet, "tie thy camel, and trust it to God!"
Do all you can for yourselves, and then trust to Providence, or luck, or whatever you please to call it, for the rest.
Ambition, energy, industry, perseverance, are indispensable requisites for success in business. Fortune always favors the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself.
6. Stay Meaningfully Involved in Operations.
The eye of the employer is often worth more than the hands of a dozen employees.
We must exercise caution in laying our plans, but be bold in carrying them out.
Among the maxims of the elder Rothschild was one, all apparent paradox: "Be cautious and bold." This seems to be a contradiction in terms, but it is not, and there is great wisdom in the maxim. It is, in fact, a condensed statement of what I have already said. It is to say; "you must exercise your caution in laying your plans, but be bold in carrying them out."
A man who is all caution, will never dare to take hold and be successful; and a man who is all boldness, is merely reckless, and must eventually fail. A man may go on "change" and make fifty, or one hundred thousand dollars in speculating in stocks, at a single operation. But if he has simple boldness without caution, it is mere chance, and what he gains today he will lose tomorrow. You must have both the caution and the boldness, to insure success.
The Rothschilds have another maxim: "Never have anything to do with an unlucky man or place." That is to say, never have anything to do with a man or place which never succeeds, because, although a man may appear to be honest and intelligent, yet if he tries this or that thing and always fails, it is on account of some fault or infirmity that you may not be able to discover but nevertheless which must exist.
There is no such thing in the world as luck. There never was a man who could go out in the morning and find a purse full of gold in the street today, and another tomorrow, and so on, day after day: He may do so once in his life; but so far as mere luck is concerned, he is as liable to lose it as to find it. "Like causes produce like effects." If a man adopts the proper methods to be successful, "luck" will not prevent him. If he does not succeed, there are reasons for it, although, perhaps, he may not be able to see them.
7. Use the Best Tools.
Persons hiring employees should be careful to get the best.
Persons hiring employees should be careful to get the best. Understand, we cannot have too good tools to work with, and there is no tool we should be so particular about as living tools. If we get a good employee, it is better to keep them, than to keep changing.
A good employee learns something every day; and we are benefited by the experience our employees acquire.
If an employee gets more valuable, and if he demands an exorbitant increase of salary on the supposition that you can't do without him, then let him go. Whenever I have such an employee, I always discharge him; first, to convince him that his place may be supplied, and second, because he is good for nothing if he thinks he is invaluable and cannot be spared. But I would keep him, if possible, in order to profit from the result of his experience.
An important element in an employee is the brain. You can see bills up, "Hands Wanted," but "hands" are not worth a great deal without "heads." Those men who have brains and experience are therefore the most valuable and not to be readily parted with; it is better for them, as well as yourself, to keep them, at reasonable advances in their salaries from time to time.
8. We Cannot Get Above Our Business.
There is no greater mistake than when a young person believes he or she will succeed with borrowed money.
There is no greater mistake than when a young person believes he will succeed with borrowed money.
Why? Because every person's experience coincides with that of Mr. Astor, who said, "it was more difficult for him to accumulate his first thousand dollars, than all the succeeding millions that made up his colossal fortune."
Money is good for nothing, unless we know the value of it by experience.
Without self-denial and economy; patience and perseverance, and commencing with capital which you have not earned, you are not sure to succeed in accumulating. Young men, instead of "waiting for dead men's shoes," should be up and doing. Nine out of ten of the rich men of our country today, started out in life as poor boys, with determined wills, industry, perseverance, economy and good habits. They went on gradually, made their own money and saved it; and this is the best way to acquire a fortune.
So in regard to wealth. Go on in confidence, study the rules, and above all things, study human nature; for "the proper study of mankind is man."
The college-student who was about graduating, said to an old lawyer: "I have not yet decided which profession I will follow. Is your profession full?" "The basement is much crowded, but there is plenty of room up-stairs," was the witty and truthful reply. No profession, trade, or calling, is overcrowded in the upper story. Wherever you find the most honest and intelligent merchant or banker, or the best lawyer, the best doctor, the best clergyman, the best shoemaker, carpenter, or anything else, that man is most sought for, and has always enough to do.
As a nation, Americans are too superficial—they are striving to get rich quickly, and do not generally do their business as substantially and thoroughly as they should, but whoever excels all others in his own line, if his habits are good and his integrity undoubted, cannot fail to secure abundant patronage, and the wealth that naturally follows. Let your motto then always be "Excelsior," for by living up to it there is no such word as fail.
9. Learn a Useful Trade.
Every parent should make his or her son or daughter learn some useful trade or profession.
Every parent should make his or her son or daughter learn some useful trade or profession, so that in these days of changing fortunes of rich today and poor tomorrow they may have something tangible to fall back upon. This provision might save many persons from misery, who by some unexpected turn of fortune have lost all their means.
10. Hope is Good, But We Cannot Rely Upon It.
Many persons are always kept poor, because they are too visionary.
Many persons are always kept poor, because they are too visionary. Every project looks to them like certain success, and therefore they keep changing from one business to another, always in hot water, always "under the harrow."
The plan of "counting the chickens before they are hatched" is an error of ancient date, but it does not seem to improve by age.
11. Stay Focused and Don't Scatter Our Powers.
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Engage in one kind of business only, and stick to it faithfully until you succeed, or until our experience shows that we should abandon it.
A constant hammering on one nail will generally drive it home at last, so that it can be clinched. When our undivided attention is centered on one object, our mind will constantly be suggesting improvements of value, which would escape us if our brain was occupied by a dozen different subjects at once.
Many a fortune has slipped through our fingers because we were engaged in too many occupations at a time. There is good sense in the old caution against having too many irons in the fire at once.
12. Be Systematic.
A person who does business by rule will accomplish twice as much and with half the trouble.
Men should be systematic in their business. A person who does business by rule, having a time and place for everything, doing his work promptly, will accomplish twice as much and with half the trouble of him who does it carelessly and slipshod.
By introducing systems into all your transactions, doing one thing at a time, always meeting appointments with punctuality, you find leisure for pastime and recreation; whereas the man who only half does one thing, and then turns to something else, and half does that, will have his business at loose ends, and will never know when his day's work is done, for it never will be done.
Like the Irish pilot, on one occasion when the captain, thinking he was considerably out of his course, asked, "Are you certain you understand what you are doing?" Pat replied, "Sure, and I knows every rock in the channel." That moment, "bang" thumped the vessel against a rock. "Ah! be-jabers, and that is one of 'em," continued the pilot.
13. Read the News.
Keep thoroughly posted in regard to the transactions of the world.
Always take a trustworthy media source, and thus keep thoroughly posted in regard to the transactions of the world. If we are without a media source, we are cut off from our species.
Many important inventions and improvements in every branch of trade are being made, and he who doesn't consult the news will soon find himself and his business left out in the cold.
14. Beware of "Outside Operations."
We sometimes see people who have obtained fortunes, suddenly become poor. In many cases, this arises from intemperance, and other bad habits. Frequently it occurs because a person has been engaged in "outside operations," of some sort.
When we get rich in a legitimate business, we are then told of a grand speculation where we can make a score of thousands. We are constantly flattered by friends, who tell us that we are born lucky, that everything we touch turns into gold. Now, if we forget that our economical habits, our rectitude of conduct and a personal attention to a business which we understand, caused by success in life, we will listen to the siren voices to the demise of our fortune.
If we forget a personal attention to a business which we understand, we will listen to the siren voices to the demise of our fortune.
15. Trust is Best When Served When There is Skin in the Game.
No person ought ever to endorse a note or become security, for another, be it his father or brother, to a greater extent than the person can afford to lose and care nothing about, without taking good security.
The trouble for the borrower is that getting the money is too easy without providing security, and its loss is not appreciated.
Getting the money is too easy without providing security, and its loss is not appreciated.
Solomon truly said "he that hateth suretiship is sure." So with the young man starting in business; let him understand the value of money by earning it. When he does understand its value, then grease the wheels a little in helping him to start business, but remember, men who get money with too great facility cannot usually succeed.
You must get the first dollars by hard knocks, and at some sacrifice, in order to appreciate the value of those dollars.
16. Advertise.
Be careful to advertise it in some shape or other because it is evident that we have ever so good an article for sale, and nobody knows it, it will bring us no return.
A man said, "I put it in a weekly newspaper three times, and paid a dollar and a half for it." I replied: "Sir, advertising is like learning—'a little is a dangerous thing!'"
A French writer says that, "The reader of a newspaper does not see the first mention of an ordinary advertisement; the second insertion he sees, but does not read; the third insertion he reads; the fourth insertion, he looks at the price; the fifth insertion, he speaks of it to his wife; the sixth insertion, he is ready to purchase, and the seventh insertion, he purchases." Our object in advertising is to make the public understand what we have got to sell, and if we have not the pluck to keep advertising, until we have imparted that information, all the money we have spent is lost.
Our object is to make the public understand what we have got to sell, and if we have not the pluck to keep advertising, all the money we have spent is lost.
17. "Don't Read the Other Side!"
Of course I did, and so did everybody else, and I learned that the man had made all independence by first attracting the public to his business in that way and then using his customers well afterwards. But I say if a man has got goods for sale, and he doesn't advertise them in some way, the chances are that some day the sheriff will do it for him.
18. Be Polite and Kind to Customers.
Politeness and civility are the best capital ever invested in business.
Politeness and civility are the best capital ever invested in business.
One of the ushers in my Museum once told me he intended to whip a man who was in the lecture-room as soon as he came out. "What for?" I inquired. "Because he said I, as usher, was no gentleman," replied the usher. "Never mind," I replied, "he pays for that, and you will not convince him you are a gentleman by whipping him. I cannot afford to lose a customer. If you whip him, he will never visit the Museum again, and he will induce friends to go with him to other places of amusement instead of this, and thus you see, I should be a serious loser."
19. Be Charitable.
We should be charitable, because it is a duty and a pleasure.
Of course we should be charitable, because it is a duty and a pleasure. But, even as a matter of policy, if we possess no higher incentive, we will find that the liberal person will command patronage, while the sordid, uncharitable miser will be avoided.
The best kind of charity is to help those who are willing to help themselves. Promiscuous almsgiving, without inquiring into the worthiness of the applicant, is bad in every sense. But, to search out and quietly assist those who are struggling for themselves, is the kind that "scattereth and yet increaseth."
But, don't fall into the idea that some persons practice, of giving a prayer instead of a potato, and a benediction instead of bread, to the hungry. It is easier to make Christians with full stomachs than empty.
20. Don't Gossip.
Some persons have a foolish habit of telling their business secrets.
Some persons have a foolish habit of telling their business secrets. If we make money, we like to tell our neighbors how it was done. Nothing is gained by this, and oft times much is lost.
Say nothing about our profits, our hopes, our expectations, our intentions. And this should apply to letters as well as to conversation. Goethe makes Mephistopheles say: "Never write a letter, nor destroy one."
Business persons must write letters, but we should be careful what we put into them. If we are losing money, we need to be specially cautious and not tell of it, or we will lose our reputation.
21. Preserve Your Integrity.
It is more precious than diamonds or rubies. The inordinate love of money, no doubt, may be and is "the root of all evil," but money itself, when properly used, is not only a "handy thing to have in the house," but affords the gratification of blessing our race by enabling its possessor to enlarge the scope of human happiness and human influence.
The desire for wealth is nearly universal, and none can say it is not laudable, provided the possessor of it accepts its responsibilities, and uses it as a friend to humanity.
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The history of money-getting, which is commerce, is a history of civilization, and wherever trade has flourished most, there, too, have art and science produced the noblest fruits.
In fact, as a general thing, money-getters are the benefactors of our race. To them, in a great measure, are we indebted for our institutions of learning and of art, our academies, colleges and churches.
It is no argument against the desire for, or the possession of wealth, to say that there are sometimes misers who hoard money only for the sake of hoarding and who have no higher aspiration than to grasp everything which comes within their reach.
As we have sometimes hypocrites in religion, and demagogues in politics, so there are occasionally misers among, money-getters. These, however, are only exceptions to the general rule. But when, in this country, we find such a nuisance and stumbling block as a miser, we remember with gratitude that in America we have no laws of primogeniture, and that in the due course of nature the time will come when the hoarded dust will be scattered for the benefit of mankind.
To all men and women, therefore, do I conscientiously say, make money honestly, and not otherwise, for Shakespeare has truly said, "He that wants money, means, and content, is without three good friends.'"
* Gregg Zegarelli, Esq., earned both his Bachelor of Arts Degree and his Juris Doctorate from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His dual major areas of study were History from the College of Liberal Arts and Accounting from the Business School (qualified to sit for the CPA examination), with dual minors in Philosophy and Political Science. He has enjoyed Adjunct Professorships in the Duquesne University Graduate Leadership Master Degree Program (The Leader as Entrepreneur; Developing Leadership Character Through Adversity) and the University of Pittsburgh Law School (The Anatomy of a Deal). He is admitted to various courts throughout the United States of America.
Gregg Zegarelli, Esq., is Managing Shareholder of Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC. Gregg is nationally rated as "superb" and has more than 35 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes, including startups, INC. 500, and publicly traded companies. He is author of One: The Unified Gospel of Jesus, and The Business of Aesop™ article series, and co-author with his father, Arnold Zegarelli, of The Essential Aesop: For Business, Managers, Writers and Professional Speakers. Gregg is a frequent lecturer, speaker and faculty for a variety of educational and other institutions.
Copyright © 2014 Gregg Zegarelli. Gregg can be contacted through LinkedIn.
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