St. Paul Recorder

Dear Joe
By JAMES L. HICKS
LETS GET DOWN TO
BUSINESS!!!

It's about time you made up your mind as to what you are going to do in this civilian life, Joe.

People are getting tired of seeing you jump from one school to another just to draw subsistence allowances, and to those of you who are not in school, it is well to remember that the 52-20 club will not last forever.

If you don't like working for other people, why don't you go in business for yourself?

HOW TO MAKE MONEY!

If you have a good credit rating and a fairly decent idea of what kind of business you'd like to get into, you can finance your business venture with a GI loan.

If you do not have a good credit rating and a fairly decent idea of business you want to set up, you can't get a GI loan and you shouldn't be in business anyway.

But let's suppose you do have a good credit rating—maybe by looking at what some other guys have done you will get some ideas.

Veterans have been most successful in business in doing the "what comes naturally" a little differently.

Take the case of Lloyd Rudd and Cyrus Melikian.

They were shivering in a railroad station one day when they walked up to a vending machine which was dishing out cold drinks for a nickel.

"This damn thing should be giving out hot coffee instead of cold drinks," Rudd said.

"That's an idea," said Melikian, and the two men invented "Kwik Kafe" hot coffee vending machine.

Last year their sales grossed $3,000,000 and they expect to do $8,000,000 worth of business in 1948.

ROLLING BISCUITS

Then there is the story of Don Unangst and Roy Sims of Twin Falls, Idaho. They bought an old bus, with a GI loan, put in a 25-foot counter complete with stools, rigged up a kitchen, made some shelf space, got themselves a stove, a cash register and a juke box and opened up what is now a flourishing restaurant business on wheels.

They take their food wherever there is a crowd and business is good because crowds will always eat.

Fourteen vets in Milwaukee got together and formed Trash Collection, Incorporated. They bought two new trucks and took care of all trash details for various business houses—and are making money doing it.

Got any ideas yet? Well, keep reading. You can't help it if you're dumb.

Jerry Michelman of Boston has a clothing store on wheels. He bought a new truck, made room for plenty of hangers, got a supply of men's and women's furnishings and started carrying Macy's right up to Milady's door with the added attraction of allowing her to roam all over the store without anyone else pushing her around.

Ex-Major Joe Devine and ex-captain Russell Lipscombe, both of Arlington, Mass., couldn't forget what a convenience it was to have a truck which would run on land and sea like the Army's ducks did during the war. They bought a couple and are now in a year-round business hauling parties on land and in the water at a choice vacation spot.

Even the Wacs got ideas. Five of them got together and bought a run-down house in a ghost war town and have converted it to one of the most popular hotels within miles of Johnsville, Calif.

Got any ideas yet? Listen, Joe, maybe you were just cut out to be a hard working man!