Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin only attended school for two years while growing up in Boston – but he was the most famous writer of his time and he made enough money to retire from his printing business at the age of 42.
Some might think he built his fortune from his famous inventions, including the lightning rod, bifocals, the odometer, and the Franklin stove, but Ben Franklin never patented any of his inventions. He believed that everyone should benefit from science. I guess you could say he was an eighteenth century open-source advocate. I learned this after reading the Walter Isaacson biography Benjamin Franklin, An American Life Simon and Shuster, 2003
Ben Franklin was, without a doubt, one of the most successful businessmen of his time, but he perhaps taught us the most by how practical and strategic he was in the way he did business.
1. Franklin was not educated, but he was a life-long learner. He spearheaded the creation of the first lending library in the county as a means of providing himself access to literature and philosophy that would allow him later in his life to be able to converse with the elder statesmen and international political leaders of his time. Not to mention, being a voracious reader also contributed to him becoming an exceptional writer.
2. Franklin was a consummate networker. Franklin had a great personality. He was clever, charming, astute about human nature and eager to succeed. He became an expert salesman. He liked to mix his civic and social life to further his business endeavors. His printing business was initially financed by two businessmen who were impressed by him. He organized weekly meetings of up and coming businessmen called Junto. This early American version of a mastermind group was joined by enterprising tradesmen in Philadelphia’s middle class. They shared ideas, did deals and learned from each other.
3. Franklin sought to improve himself and his community. He and his colleagues in Junto established a university, hospital, lending library, militia, firefighting brigade, learned society, and the first insurance company.
4. Franklin took only very calculated risks. Project printing was how he paid the bills. Franklin knew he could make more money as a publisher. Despite bitter turf wars with fellow printers, he created joint ventures with his rivals to spread the financial risk on large jobs. Franklin published newspapers and almanacs, but when his opportunity came for large government print jobs he used his joint ventures to help to cover a huge upfront cash outlay. This resulted in several profitable deals. Sometimes things still went wrong, but he never lost his shirt.
5. Franklin carefully managed his personal PR. Franklin knew how useful a good reputation was in business. Franklin not only was hard-working and down-to-earth, but made sure that everyone knew it. By managing his reputation, he gained credibility which earned him customers. He also knew how to communicate his vision to others, often using his own press as a vehicle for his strategic public relations work. Biographer Walter Isaacson called Ben Franklin “the country’s first public relations expert.”
6. Franklin was a franchiser of sorts. Once his apprentices became journeyman printers, they were free to set up their own businesses, if they could find the seed capital. Rather than risk one of his journeymen becoming a local competitor, Franklin came up with a franchising idea. He set them up in business as his printing partner in other colonial cities where he did not have any operations. They paid him back with one-third of their annual profits for the next six years – this move gave Franklin significant market share for his publications. The economies of scale enabled him to crush his competition with more competitive pricing.
7. Franklin was an excellent writer. Franklin’s signature publications the Pennsylvania Gazette and Poor Richard’s Almanacs were the most successful publications in the country, in large part due to Franklin’s witty conversational writing style. Franklin often wrote anonymous letters and pamphlets which he published in his own publications to try to sway public opinion.
8. Franklin paid attention to his market. Franklin saw the world around him in terms of how it could be improved upon. When he saw opportunities in his market, he came up with creative ways to meet customer demands. For example, Franklin realized that nearly a third of the settlers in Pennsylvania were German-speakers, and promptly launched the Philadelphische Zeitung – the first newspaper printed in German in the colonies.
Many of Franklin ideals and methods of doing business give us a great roadmap for success today. His never ending search for a better world is best summed up as “doing well by doing good,” his ultimate secret to his success.
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Margaret–
Thank you so much for stopping by the blog. I post updates 2-3 times a week, depending on the week. I am glad that it’s a good resource for your business. I have even more excited stuff coming this fall so stay tuned.
Good Luck with your business.
Melinda