EM 39: Shall I Go into Business for Myself? (1946)
By Herbert Heaton
Professor of History, University of Minnesota
(Published January 1946)
How Much Room Is There for New Businesses?
- Will they all come back to life?
- Some will get trampled in the rush
- The sobering truth
- Business—all sizes and shapes
What Kinds of Businesses Have the Best Chances?
- The chance to be of service
- The extent of small businesses before the war
- Small cogs are important, too
Can Small Businesses Compete with the Big Ones?
- What chance for a little fellow?
- Typical Operation of a Retail Hardware Store in 1939
- The limits to largeness
- Likes and dislikes
Case Histories of Veterans Back in Business
- Bigness may cost too much
- Efficiency makes the difference
- Can little businesses get the benefits of bigness?
- The benefits of cooperation
- The high cost of competition
Do Small Businesses Suffer More in a Depression?
- Dangerous quicksands
- The national debtor habit
Does Self-Employment Work Like a Dream?
- The unattractive side
- Or do you want to be a wage earner after all?
- There is a niche and a need
- Discussion leader’s role
- What kind of discussion is best?
- Handbook for discussion leaders
- Questions on small business
Primary source documents from 1944–46