John Groth is a career coach. Find valuable Career Development Ideas,in-depth articles and a free seven day career planning guide at his web site. Discover up to date recruitment and Job Hunting strategies; all to assist you in developing and advancing your career.
Career Life Lessons: From an 11 year old paperboy
You remember the neighborhood paperboy. Almost everyone took the daily paper. The kings of the paperboys in my mid-western city delivered to almost every house in an eight block area and sometimes had a helper.
They could make $15 or more a week and the local newspaper set aside some money every week so when the paperboy retired at age 17 or 18 they might have up to $1000 or more to help get them started toward college. If you think this wasn’t much money-it would pay one year’s tuition and some of the expenses at a pretty good school. Like I said this was a long time ago but the lessons learned are just as applicable today.
You had to know somebody to get one of the big paper routes or be at least 13 or 14, but I uncovered a kid about my age (11) whose parents told him to quit because he was spending too much time and getting almost no return. This was a Sunday paper route with about 60 customers delivering the big fat Sunday paper from the big city. The paper reached our town on a train at about 3am Sunday morning. I paid $2.65 for the whole route. I calculated by the 5 cents a week commission from each customer that I’d have the money back in one week. My first lesson: A one week return on your investment you say had to be illegal or fattening but it was legal. Not a bad return on my investment.
The first Sunday was a disaster. My predecessor’s books were not up to date or in order. Lesson number 2: do your homework and don’t assume the other guy knows what he’s doing. It took me about four hours to deliver the papers and to try and collect my money. When I was all done I’d made about 35 cents. Lesson number 3: in a cash business don’t count your earnings until the money is in your pocket.
My father took a dim view of me spending most of my Sunday in my paper route business and he told me to fix it or quit. Lesson number 4: If you’re responsible do what your can to fix the problem. Everyone has a boss, it’s always the customers, and sometimes it’s your father.
I straightened out the books, drew a map and then put each customer on the map in order of delivery. Some customers were several blocks out of the way and very time consuming to service so I gave them to paperboys in adjacent areas. Lesson number 5: Not all customers are equal. Some you earn money on and some cost you money.
Now I had the receivables to consider. During the week I went knocking on doors. I introduced myself and explained my problem. I told the customer I wanted them to get the big city Sunday paper as early as possible, but I didn’t want to wake them to collect. Some offered to pay by the month, in advance. Others would put their money under a bottle or rock on their front porch. And a few didn’t have a solution; for example, they lived in an apartment so there was nowhere to put the money out. Lesson number 6: Ask the customer for a solution and most times they’ll come up with a good answer to your problem.
Several customers told of the disorganization of my predecessor, where he tried to collect twice, or didn’t come by for weeks and then neither really knew the correct amount to be collected. I apologized for him and asked what I could do to make it right? Lesson number 7: Customer service issues are difficult to overcome, but by being honest with the customer many times you’ll be given a second chance.
After about four weeks I have the route running as good as it could be. I make the deliveries before 7am each Sunday and after church stopped and collected from the few that owed me money. Then another challenge cropped up.
The newspaper manger announced a contest on who could get the most new subscriptions. After some thought, I went back to my customers and asked for referrals. I offered to give them a free Sunday paper if they gave me a referral that signed up. A number of new customers were outside my area but I increased my subscriptions by 25% and came in third in the contest. Lesson number 8: Know the value and cost of acquiring each new customer. For each free paper I gave out, I got the money back in five weeks, again an exceptional return on my marketing costs.
So here they are: eight career business lessons; (1) Know your return on investment; (2) Don’t assume: do your homework; (3) In a cash business don’t count your earnings until the cash is in the till; (4) If you’re responsible do what you can to fix the problem; (5) Not all customers are equal-some cost and some pay; (6) Ask the customer for a solution; (7) Customer service issues can be overcome with honesty; and (8) Know the value and cost of acquiring each new customer. Overall a good set of guidelines for any career or business.
I’m sure if you think about it you have some life lessons that you learned early on. Maybe it was a job that was horrible and you learned early you didn’t want to get into that career or line of work. Or maybe it was a good boss where you learned how to lead or a bad boss where you learned what not to do.
Overall the secret is to take something positive away from each of our life lessons and you’re never too early to start. So as you grow in your career you can stand on your previous experiences and reach higher and higher goals.
- Related Videos
- Related Articles
- Ask / Related Q&A
- Customer Services Representative - How To Write A Resume That Does All The Talking!
- Customer Service Life Lessons From an 11 Year Old Businessman
- Customer Services Resume - Let Your Resume Speak For You!
- Airline Customer Service Careers
- Good Customer Service - Would You Like Fries with That?
- Customer Service -- Customer Loyalty Wins Sales
- Should You Beware Of Free Sample Cover Letters For Customer Service Jobs?
- Customer Service Makes or Breaks your Business




Trade Show Promotional Items the Best Is Here
By: Chris Shetler | 25/11/2009The most “in demand” trade show promotional items are those that are designed well and can be put to more than one use, trade show promotional items often promote the image of the company and help them draw in interested prospects
The Need For Promotional Gifts Giveaways
By: Chris Shetler | 25/11/2009Promotional gifts giveaways are gifts from a corporate house or a business establishment to promote their products and services, these items have been seen to leave a positive impact on the recipient, people who receive these gifts carry a favourable impression for the company in question.
HTC S1 Triband Smart Mobile Phone ---popular in the brazil
By: Andy | 25/11/2009The Touch takes S1 -which is already pretty usable-and integrates what everyone's fawning over the iPhone and the Prada for: finger touching.the following is its picture
Customer Relationship Management: a Vital Investment for Every Company
By: Jonathan Wallace | 24/11/2009Customer relationship management is among the most valuable type of investments any company can make.
Get real, and use the recession as a positive agent of change
By: Janice Southway | 24/11/2009Nik Davis, Director of Consultancy Services at Retail Assist, believes that retailers cannot afford to wait for the recession to end in their quest to improve sales and profitability. She advocates taking a robust approach to look at their operations that will help them both to thrive in today’s climate and to build stronger businesses, capable of adapting to tomorrow’s challenges.
How to Make the Most of a Business Mailing List?
By: Jack | 24/11/2009A business mailing list is made for either a mass mailing campaign or a targeted direct marketing campaign. Choose and make the most use of a b2b mailing list as per your campaign requirements.
Call Answering Service
By: Olly Fallon | 24/11/2009We all know how important answering phone calls can be for a business. Anyone who cannot get through on the telephone phone in good time will most likely move onto the next company and never return to yours. This can be extremely damaging.
Data Process Outsourcing generates desired information
By: Jack Morkel | 24/11/2009Data process outsourcing means collection, compilation and submission of data as per client’s need. This activity is associated with highly accurate and unique processing services.
Advanced Career Training: is it for You?
By: John Groth | 03/12/2007 | Career ManagementGenerally, there are both plus and minus reasons to be considered before planning advanced career training. While there are many positive reasons the negative reasons should also be considered in your decision.
Quality Real Estate Listings=quicker Sales
By: John Groth | 25/11/2007 | Real EstateIntroducing your real estate for sale in a well thought out listing is the first introduction your prospective buyer will have for the property. The real estate listing should be complete and the facts contained in the listing should be accurate.
Customer Service Life Lessons From an 11 Year Old Businessman
By: John Groth | 18/11/2007 | Customer ServiceLearn 8 life lessons learned by an 11 year old businessman. Basic customer service and business ideas that will translate over to your career. Get back to the basics to build and develop your career.
Career Management: Break the Rules for Career Success
By: John Groth | 18/11/2007 | Career ManagementYour future career success lies in your ability to break some rules. Do you know your competition within the organization? How about your company’s competition? Do you follow them or do you look for ways to move outside the box? Find out more.
Hidden Job Market: Keys to Discovering the Right Job
By: John Groth | 19/10/2007 | CareersDo you know that up to 75% of job vacancies are never shown in the media. If you want to find the right job with the right employer an important consideration is using good old fashioned detective work to uncover the unpublished job vacancies. Here are six areas that you should work to get the best results.
Career Assessment: to Stay or Go?
By: John Groth | 19/10/2007 | CareersInstead of waiting until the New Year to perform a thorough career check up, when the holidays and everything else is in the way, it now appears to be an excellent time for you to take a careful look at your career. Here are four key factors to take a careful look at when you assess where your career is and where it's going.
Job Hunting Basics: Do you Really Want a Job There?
By: John Groth | 17/10/2007 | CareersThis job hunting approach is like going to a gun fight with a shotgun in a dark room. So before we blast holes in the walls and hit nothing important, let’s see if we can bring some illumination to your strategy of finding the right job.
Improve your Reading Skills: the Secret to Career Success
By: John Groth | 17/10/2007 | CareersYour long term career development will be the sum of your reading over the next five years, and the five years after that. Who knows after ten years someone may develop an implanted chip that will substitute for reading. But for now, reading is the name of the game. After five years don’t be the person who is known as the one who ate 2114 Krispy Kreme donuts and read two books, and one had a lot of pictures. Learn more how this skill will improve your career and beyond.