The Sears Catalog
An Inspirational Tale For Your Life
An Inspirational Tale For Your Life
Richard Warren Sears, the founder of Sears, Roebuck and Company is given credit and praise for being the pioneer of the mail order business.
Interestingly enough I received an Amazon and Target holiday catalog in the mail in the same week.
Richard had a vision, to deliver quality products to customers in the mail at good prices. Sounds very much like Amazon today right?! Richard was a watch salesman back in 1886 and he did that on the side while working at a railroad station. Since he was a salesman he needed to find someone who could repair watches and so he met a kid named Alvah Roebuck. Who would become his partner and in 1891 they created their first catalog. Along the way they noticed they can do much more than sell and fix watches.
From a 32 page catalog to over thousands of pages. In 1931 the company founded Allstate Insurance, named after a tire they created that sold out. And in 1985 Sears created Discover credit card. These examples and hundreds more are ways that Sears, Roebuck and Company diversified their business and kept creating.
So what is the point of this anecdote?
As we approach the busiest time for retailers and shopping, remember what seems like it won’t work today, just might tomorrow. Richard Sears never thought he would start a business (and later sell it and walk away) and succeed. He kept working at it and met a partner that helped where he could not. You don’t have to know it all, just know what you know and connect with someone who knows what you don’t.
Richard Sears, Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey and Sarah Blakley (creator of Spanx) kept working. The vision was the goal and all the work they did to get there was the way they kept the vision alive. Success is built by a pile of daily choices. Their names will forever be remembered because they lived a life of action. It was built day by day, choice by choice and effort on top of effort.
Failure was part of their success.
Winston Churchill said, “Success Is Going from Failure to Failure Without Losing Your Enthusiasm.”
Dan Roman is a Husband, Father, and writer that releases a daily blog. A quick read on money, marriage, parenting, self-improvement, development and his thoughts. Dan is also Founder/Creator of Roman Solutions, a Personal Finance Firm that currently provides coaching and education.
To connect with Dan visit: https://linktr.ee/bydanroman
Or by email : financialdifference@danromansolutions.com