I’ve never had a job, and always worked for myself, beginning at about age ten, by fixing all the neighborhood kids’ electric trains, free. Since then, I’ve done a lot of things, starting businesses, including Colorado Gold in November of 1977. The reason I mention this, is because I long ago realized, that in order for a business to become a success, there must be a profit motive. Socialism, communism, dictatorship, and for that matter anything but capitalism, have no profit, and always fail. No government makes a profit, and everything it has, has been stolen from us. All governments constantly grow at citizen’s expense, and without their permission. All eventually fail, in the main because there is no freedom and no profit. Our government is huge, and continuously growing. its interest payments alone, are over $7 00,000,000,000 a year. It might be on its last hurrah, which is why Colorado Gold is here, a payment free insurance against inflation.
It’s freedom, which allows the mind to conceive ideas for starting a business. Starting a business and keeping it going, requires ever so much thought, original ideas, credit, reputation, and capital, that few ever try to do it, and I’ll bet that new business success rates are less than 10%. As I have been saying many times, I think that communist China, cannot continue for decades into the future, as there is little freedom, with government dictating everything. Time will tell.
Of all the businesses I have ever started, and all of them have succeeded, and there has always been a profit motive. If you have ever
heard of the word or phrase “Keystone,” as referring to a business, it simply means that the business paid say a dollar for an item, and sold it for two dollars. ‘Keystone,’ simply means a 100% profit. The most efficient businesses I think, are the super market chains, who are extremely lucky if they make an 11% profit. In the restaurant business, and I have had two, in order to make a profit, the food cost should be 30% and the bar cost 25% of the gross. Restaurants probably have the largest failure rates of all businesses, since there are so many hidden expenses and varied costs of ingredients. “Gee, if I can cook, shouldn’t I start a restaurant?” No way! My two did well, but I never want to do one again! If a gas station can make fifteen cents a gallon profit, they can usually do OK, but excessive payroll can kill a business. All things must be considered. The heading of this is one percent. Is it possible to operate any business with a one percent profit? A one percent profit, without faking the figures, cheating, or exaggerating things to make a business appear profitable if it may be for sale. No, we are not for sale.
Colorado Gold, with three people plus me, who does little business, other than with people who want to keep in touch with the old man, or live close by, do fine with a one percent profit, and this drives competition crazy. Consider the facts of us four business people, who operate with a 1% profit. (1) We are debt free and work out of our mortgage free homes. (2) We have no payroll or insurances which go with having employees, like workman’s comp. tax deductions, and needed bookkeepers. (3) We do no advertising of any kind. (4) Our supplier (the largest in the world I think), ship to our customers, and we never even handle the metals. (5) Our web site is directly connected to our supplier, and changes continually as prices change in the marketplace, so there is no ‘price fixing’ with Colorado Gold. You see exactly what we pay for metals on our web site. (6) Our only expenses are postage, telephone, office supplies, web site, and our time. We do no tax-deductible entertaining, travel, or legal expenses. If it is a large trade, we will generally do it for less than 1%.
I can’t imagine what a TV ad costs, and as far as I can see, there used to be a lot of gold and silver outfits advertising on TV, and they all seem to have disappeared. I never called any of them, but the “come-ons” must have been many, such as free this or that, etc. Nothing is free in a business, so don’t be fooled. We don’t give anything away, other than our time. We do no TV or any other advertising. The old saying goes, that if you have something to offer, and its quality, needed, and priced right, no advertising is needed, and that’s true. A billboard or mass mailing must be expensive, as we’ve never done any of them, and have no signs in front of our homes. It must work, because I started it in November of 1977, 45 years ago, and it’s still here. I did it all alone at the beginning, and got so busy that David came on, and we got so busy that Melissa came on, and finally Morgen. It’s all in the family, and going to stay that way.