Bob of Small End (21 page)

The wood was
delivered when Bob was sitting on a chair in his garden finishing
the sanding Friday morning. The driver was surprised to see his new
shed and helped him stack the wood inside.

“
Why did
you build that? I thought you stored the wood in the
workshop.”

“
I need
more room in the shop. I’m getting some new equipment so I’m making
room for it.” He signed the invoice and told the driver he’d pay
when he was in Big End.

Bob took his
coffee into the shop, sat on the stool and wondered if he should
start rearranging the shop after he’d moved the rest of the wood to
the shed. He considered moving the bench to give more room for
cutting the long pieces but couldn’t decide where it should go.
It’d be easier to decide once the wood was out. Coffee finished, he
transferred the wood and the finished sets to the shed. It was
surprising how much bigger the shop looked afterwards. ‘I can see
where the bench should sit now but maybe Ken should be the one to
decide where it should go. It’s more Ken’s shop than mine now.’

He began
painting the village sets, stopping after they had been given their
first coat. Supper that night was a curry, washed down by a bottle
of beer.

After tiding
up Bob sat in his easy chair with the partnership form and a
pencil. He found most of the areas easy to complete but left the
accounting method line empty, Ken or the lawyer would have to help
him with that. He wrote that he’d have a fifty-one percent interest
and Ken would have forty-nine. And he stated he would contribute
£2,550 to the start-up capital and, presumably, Ken could write
£2,450. £5,000 should be enough to start the company. They’d have
to talk about where the money should be kept; he assumed they’d
have to open a new bank account. He left the space for the
accountant’s name and address blank and suggested July 1st for the
fiscal year. However he wasn’t sure what date would be best.

Completing the
form took about an hour and Bob was tired but happy when he’d
finished. He had read somewhere that starting a business was hard
and time-consuming and was now beginning to understand why; filling
forms, stock-taking, keeping track of expenses and income, knowing
what retailers could or could not supply and more. He guessed that
even after he’d learned all about those things he’d still be
worrying about whether their income would cover their expenses.
Hopefully they wouldn’t have to worry about sales. That is, if he
could find enough retailers who were willing to stock their
toys.

Bob
arose early again on Saturday, put his clothes in the washer and
dusted the downstairs rooms before giving the village set its
second coat of paint. After lunch he caught the two o’clock bus and
went directly to
Home and
Holiday
.

“
Hello
Jenny. How are you? Hi Susan. How’s business? Are you ready for the
spring crowds?”

“
Not
quite Bob. I’m glad to see you though. We’ve sold about half of
your toys. Come into the office and I’ll check. Yes, here we are.
We sold three village sets, three trains and two farms in March. If
I don’t sell any today I’ll be sending you a cheque for, just a
minute, £123.75. It’ll arrive by Wednesday, I expect.”

“
That’s
great Jenny. I’m so happy; it looks like we’re both going to make
money. I’d still like to buy lunch for you but it’s too late today
and I know Saturday’s not a good day for you. Maybe some time next
month.”

“
Thanks
Bob. I’ll probably need more sets by mid-month and perhaps we can
lunch then. Right now I’ve three or four of each toy. The Easter
visitors will buy most of them, I expect.”

“
Let’s
hope so. I’m off now, got to go to the bank. Call me when you need
more.”

At the bank
Bob transferred five hundred pounds from his savings to his
checking account, withdrew one hundred pounds and ordered more
cheques. At the lumber yard he paid for his wood and thanked the
manager, who was at the counter till, for delivering it so
quickly.

“
We
deliver materials to Small End builders three or four times a week
these days, that’s why you get it quickly.”

“
You
mean the sub-division behind my house? I live next to the railway
station.”

“
Yes.
Although there’s going to be another sub-division soon, north of
the railway tracks. They’ll lay the water and sewer pipes this
summer, I’m told. It’s likely they’ll build some model homes after
that. I’m extending my yard to hold all the wood they’ll need.
There’ll be an industrial area in Small End but I’ve not heard
where or when they’re going to put it.”

“
One of
your drivers mentioned that. Where do you think all the people will
be coming from?”

“
From
London, I guess, or from cities where there’s low employment.
There’ll probably be a lot of retirees too. Small End will be as
big as Big End in ten years if the rumours are correct.”

“
I won’t
like that at all. I sure hope it doesn’t happen.”

“
We’ll
have to see what happens. I like the growth, it’s good for
business, but I don’t live there.”

Bob thought
about what he had been told as he walked to the super-market. He
didn’t want Small End to become a great deal bigger. It was bad
enough with the new sub-division behind his house. They couldn’t
put lots of people there, there wasn’t enough room, but if they
built above the railway track there’d be cars and busses running up
and down in front of his house all day.

He checked his
watch and realised it was later than he thought. He’d missed the
bus and wouldn’t get home ‘til 6:15 now. Well, Joe would save a
seat for him. He might as well go to the library and read the
Business Act.

“
You
probably mean the
Business Names Act of
1985
. Yes, we have it. It’s often called for. Most
small owners ask to see it. Are you starting a
business?”

“
Yes,
with another man. Can I borrow it?”

“
No. I’m
sorry. It’s in one of our reference books. If you only want the act
you can buy a photocopy.”

“
Then
I’d like to buy two copies please.”

He sat in the
library reading the act until it was time to catch his bus. The act
was straight-forward and it looked as if the only thing they would
have to do would be to buy some headed stationary. Arthur would
tell them if they should do anything else.

Chapter 8 Forming the partnership

The Crown was
busy when Bob arrived but Joe had saved a chair for him at their
usual table.

“
Hello
Bob.”

“
Hi
everyone. Have you ordered yet?”

“
Yes. We
weren’t sure you were coming. It’s six thirty. Len says the fish is
good. Jane and Jack have ordered it.”

“
Then
that’s what I’ll have,” and Bob walked to the bar.

“
I’ll
have the fish please Len and a bitter. You’re busy
tonight.”

“
Yes. An
early tour bus stopped here. Good thing we had extra
food!”

Bob carried
his beer to the table and sat down. “I can guess what most of you
have been doing this week but I bet you can’t guess what I’ve been
doing.”

“
Well
tell us what we’ve been doing first and we’ll guess what you’ve
been doing afterwards,” prompted Jane.

“
You’ve
been emptying the station, taking the parts you want to keep. I’ve
seen Joe with a wagon load and meant to come over but I’ve been
very busy.”

“
Yes,
you’re right. We’ve taken the doors, the stove and scuttle, the
pictures, the telephone, desk and chairs and the benches. We’ll
probably use some of them in the new place. We stored them in one
of the meeting rooms. As for you, you’ve been practising your
driving and will take your test in two weeks. Tim told me
that.”

“
You’re
right so far but I’ve been doing much more. Ken Smith worked with
me Monday and Tuesday and we’ve decided to become partners and
start a business.”

“
Become
partners? Whatever for?”

“
We’re
going to make wooden toys, of course.”

“
You’re
doing that already. What’s Ken going to do?”

“
Well I
don’t like the idea of constantly making toys. That’s what I’m
doing right now and it feels like I’m working in a factory. Jenny
and Leo are already selling two or three sets a week and it’s only
March. They’re certain they’ll sell even more in the summer. So I
have a problem. Do I return to my old way and make just enough for
you, Rose, or do I make more so I can have a couple of holidays
each year. I want to have holidays now, after my Portugal trip, so
I planned to hire someone to help me but Ken suggested something
else, that he’d make the toys and I’d sell them. He knows all kinds
of ways of cutting wood and has already increased the production
rate.”

“
Wow!
You’ll just sell the toys not make them? Will you like
that?”

“
I don’t
know. I think I will, at least for a while. We went to Southampton
Wednesday to ask an agent to register our trade name. It’ll be
‘
Small End Wooden Toys
.’ We
also saw a lawyer about forming a partnership although we haven’t
signed the papers yet.”

“
I think
you are moving too fast,” exclaimed Joe, “but I know Ken. He’s got
tons of energy and likes to get things done. If he says what you’re
planning is going to be okay then it will probably will be. He’s
got a lot of experience. He worked on the shop floor for several
years before becoming a supervisor, then shop-floor manager and
then going into management, so he knows all about working with
wood.”

“
I know
him too,” said Jane. “He’s a good man.”

“
Well I
won’t sign any papers until I have gone carefully through the
forms. So, you can see, this week’s been a busy one.”

“
It sure
has. Don’t overdo things Bob, you’re not twenty any
more!”

“
Yes.
I’m beginning to realise that.”

“
Oh Bob,
you weren’t here when I told the others the good news,” Jane said.
“Small End has been given another grant from the government; four
hundred thousand pounds! Isn’t that wonderful!”

“
Yes, it
certainly is. But why? Why did they give us money?”

“
Because
Small End will soon be supporting two to three thousand more
people. They’ll come from London or the north over the next two or
three years. The money is to be used to improve the place, the
water and sewage systems, enlarge the post office and the municipal
offices. Some of it is for the Community Centre, if we need it, but
with the grant we’ve already got and the money we’ve made from the
shows we’ve over a hundred and eighty thousand pounds. The
architect says that’s more than we’ll need.”

“
He
doesn’t want me to demolish the station,” Joe said. “I’m glad, the
tractor’s not designed to push down buildings.”

“
How are
they going to knock it down?”

“
We’ve
hired a company in Big End,” said Jane. “Their bulldozer will do it
as soon as we have removed the interior walls. They’ll also take
anything we don’t want to the dump. The architect doesn’t want to
use any of the old windows or doors so they’ll take them
too.”

“
Well
I’m glad we got the grant but I don’t like the idea of two or three
thousand more people coming to live here,” said Bob. “That’s what I
told Leo, the lumber yard manager, when he told me about
this.”

“
Not
many people here like the idea either Bob. It’ll be a big change.
About three hundred will live behind your house. All the rest will
live in a new subdivision north of the railway line. We’ve been
told there’ll be an industrial park north of the line as well, to
be built when the next subdivision is being built.”

“
Yes,
Leo told me there’d be one. He likes the expansion, of course. More
business for him.”

“
Us’ll
be called
Middle End
then.”

“
It’s
nothing to laugh about Jack,” said Bob.

As they were
getting up to leave Rose gave Bob an envelope. “Here’s the money
from my March sales, £33.25. I sold only one village and one farm
this month so I still have plenty. I’m glad Leo and Jenny are
already selling them. You deserve the money and you should use it
to have plenty of holidays.”

“
Thanks’
Rose. Two a year will be enough for me I think. Oh, would you order
another hundred boxes and wrapping paper. No, make it five hundred,
please. And Jack, could you make six hundred labels please, two
hundred of each. I’ll be running out soon.”

“
Yes, of
course I can,” said Rose and Jack nodded. “Aye, Bob.”

“
Is
there anything you want from the station before it is bulldozed
Bob?”

“
I don’t
think so Jane. I’ll walk over tomorrow and check. I suppose it’s
all open now you’ve removed the doors.”

“
Yes.
Take anything you want. All the rest is going to be
scrapped.”

“
I’ll be
sorry when it disappears; my Dad’s and I spent our whole working
lives there.”

With that the
group broke up. Jane moved over to another table to talk about the
Spring show and Joe moved to the bar to chat with Len until Jane
had finished. Len would let everyone know what Joe told him about
Bob’s activates; he was the village’s chief source of
information.