Once Upon a True I Pursued Profit

Many years ago, I settled down in a large city located in what is called the Deep South. Instead of going to work for some company, I purchased a custard stand. The closest thing to it in existence today is a Dairy Queen.

Seven days a week, I opened up my business at ten in the morning and closed it at ten in the evening. During those hours, I made and sold custard (ice milk), purchased supplies, hired and trained people, ran radio ads, cleaned all my equipment, and more. I did all the things I had to do in that business because I was pursuing profit.

Throughout that year I was involved in either production activities or sales activities. But no matter how hard I worked or how many hours I stayed at the business, I never found any direct profit activities. What I discovered very quickly was that pursuing profit was where all the action was. Profit happened because of the things I did in the pursuit of profit.

At the end of my first year in business, I lost money. Stated another way, I made negative accounting as well as negative economic profit. So I sold the business and went to college.