From Rags to Riches

He stood by his Desire until it became the dominating obsession of his life-and- finally, a fact.

when he went to orange he did not say to himself,” I will try to induce Edison to give me a job of some soft” He said” I will see Edison, and put him on notice that I have come to go into business with him.
➽He did not say,” I will work there for a few months, and if I get no encouragement, I will get job somewhere else”
He did say” I will start anywhere, I will do anything Edison tells me to do, but before I am death, I will be his associate.”
➽He did not say” I will keep my eyes open for another opportunity, in case I fail to get what I want in the Edison organization.
He said” There is but ONE thing in this world that I’m determined to have and that is a business association with Thomas A.Edison. I shall burn all the bridges behind me, and stake my ENTIRE future on my ability to get what I want.”

When he was a young man, Edwin C. Barnes yearned to become a partner of the greatest inventor on Earth, Thomas A. Edison. Even though Barnes was broke, had no special technical skills, and owned only meager clothes to wear, he pledged to himself that he would make his dream come true.

On a fateful day in 1905, Barnes rolled into West Orange, New Jersey on a freight train. Despite being poorly dressed and looking more like an outcast than a man of achievement, the Midwesterner walked into the famous Edison Laboratory full of confidence. There, he told the famed inventor that he had come to form a partnership with him. Nearby members of Edison’s staff were amused by Barnes’ declaration, and they laughed at him hysterically. But, Edison did not laugh. For, what he saw was a determined young man who was prepared to do whatever it would take to help bring new growth to his company.

Impressed with Barnes’ ambition and internal drive, Edison decided to give the poor man an opportunity to work with him – not as his partner, but as a floor sweeper! Barnes accepted the inventor’s offer without hesitation, and he was not dejected in the slightest knowing that he would start his new career with a broom in hand. The aspiring “partner” understood that he was given a chance of a lifetime to show Edison what he could do for him. He knew that accepting the legend’s humbling offer would open the door for him to observe how the brilliant man thought. Barnes also understood that Edison was extending to him a tremendous opportunity to meet his friends and associates, some of the most influential and most powerful people in the world.

From the very beginning as a floor sweeper, Barnes did the best work he possibly could for Edison, and he never once backed down from his goal of establishing a partnership with the world’s leader of practical technology. Months went by, and, to the unobserved, nothing special seemed to be happening. In the mind of Barnes, however, something very big was blossoming – he was learning what made Edison tick, and he was setting the stage to attract opportunities his way.

After working for Edison for nearly two years, Barnes “saw” a golden opportunity, and he seized it with full force. Following many years of preparation, the inventor was ready to commercialize his dictating machine, a recorder which could capture and play back the human voice. Edison’s machine, later renamed the Ediphone, recorded “voice letters” on a wax cylinder, and its inventor thought very highly of it. However, when members of Edison’s sales force looked over his new invention, most of them doubted that it would be a commercial success, and they expressed little interest in trying to sell it.

Barnes, in contrast, recognized that Edison’s new machine could help thousands of executives across the country. He envisioned that it would allow them to dictate at any time, day or night, for later playback. He saw that an executive would no longer need to have a stenographer at his side to record his thoughts. Barnes also conceived that Edison’s dictating machine could increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve profits for its users.

Realizing that an opportunity of a lifetime had landed at his feet, Barnes wasted no time working out a marketing plan for selling Edison’s dictating machine. He took his plan straight to the inventor and sold him on his desire to market and distribute his recording devices across America. Edison was so impressed with Barnes’s proposal, he readily agreed to give him exclusive rights to sell and distribute his new voice machine in Chicago and contiguous territories.

Within months of securing an agreement with Edison, Barnes had sold thousands of “talking” machines. Sales, in fact, had grown so rapidly he established his own firm, Edwin C. Barnes & Brothers, to keep up with and grow the sales of Edison’s product. Barnes proved to be very adept at judging, selecting, and managing people, and the new boss quickly surrounded himself with “one of the most efficient and energetic staffs in the field of office appliances.”

Despite near overwhelming success selling Edison’s Dictating Machine in the Chicago area, Barnes sought control of an even bigger market. This drive reflected the business man’s insatiable appetite for taking on added responsibility and for rendering the best service he possibly could – both for his employer and for his customers. Barnes got his way, and in 1917 his firm gained control of the sales market in New York and in St. Louis, while retaining his agency in Chicago.

So successful was Barnes at selling Edison’s dictating machine in each of his markets, he became a multimillionaire at a relatively young age. But, more importantly, Barnes became a man who helped thousands of people across the country benefit from Edison’s device. And, it is probable that the true potential of Edison’s machine would not have been realized had it not been for the uncanny insight that Barnes fostered during his working years at the famous laboratory complex in West Orange.

Pivotal to Barnes success as both a manager and a salesman is that he worked diligently to know what was happening in every area of Edison’s dictating business. From the factory floor to marketing and sales, Barnes kept abreast of all significant developments and issues which influenced product production, quality, and service. He continually sought to identify problem areas, bring forth solutions to them, and create new opportunities. Thus, Barnes didn’t wait for good things to happen – he made them happen.

There is no doubt that Edwin C. Barnes was an extraordinary thinker. However, what really separated him from the rest of the pack was his uncanny ability to select the right employees, establish organized and energetic teams, and keep the people around him highly motivated and focused. In business, his role as “coach” was just as important as his role as “boss”. Barnes made it a habit to talk personally and regularly with employees at all levels of his business. He listened to them with open ears, considered highly what he was told, and – when appropriate or necessary – offered them a bit of motivating guidance. These habits helped Edison’s “top man” make the right business decisions, and they brought forth full support and organized effort from the people around him.

👉Barnes did not judge his success by how much money he made or by how many sales he generated. He considered personal gain and sales numbers just a by-product of his true aim – to achieve 100% customer satisfaction! As such, Edison’s “partner” did not resort to sales gimmicks or trickery. In fact, he never pushed to sell a dictating machine without first verifying that his potential customer would benefit from it. And, once Barnes did make a sale, this was just the beginning. He followed up with service and made sure that his buyer reaped full benefit from his purchase.

“He left himself no possible way of retreat. He had to win or Perish!”