Comments on Sun Tzu’s The
Art of War, edited by Dick Cooledge, Comptche Press, 1927.
Sun Tzu: “The
seasons range from cold to hot, short days to long, wet to dry.”
Raven: “In the
spring the fields are full of seed and all the birds can eat well. In the
winter there is competition around the bird feeder and only the aggressive big
birds or the nimble and quick little eaters can survive. If you are neither, learn to
migrate to warmer climates where there is still seed in the fields.”
Poor Richard: “There
are cycles to business and because there are cycles there are times auspicious
for business and times that are not. You can sell the farmer seed in the late
winter when the scent of spring is finally in the air. It is much harder to sell
seed when the snow is deep. When there is a drought, people store water in jugs.
Because they are saving water, they do not buy much soap. When the drought ends, they take baths. That the is the time to put a soap display in
your store window. The smart merchant watches the seasons and the weather and selects the
appropriate items from his inventory to advertise. Then he puts some slower
moving items near the soap so he can benefit from impulse buying.”
© Phyl Speser,
December 31, 2013