Бесплатный фрагмент - The richest man in the country

Introduction

I once read George Clayson’s book «The Richest Man in Babylon», which I really liked. It describes good rules for dealing with money and ways to get rich. They can be called capitalist. Save up, save up, then invest your money wisely and you will succeed. This approach to money, of course, helps to manage them correctly.

But then I looked around. I noticed what was happening in the place where I live. I looked at what rules work here, studied the patterns that made some people rich in this country, and realized that, no, these rules from the book will not work here. No, well, some of the laws of wealth described in the book are also applicable here, some of what is offered in it works, but not everything and not always as described in it. The success recipes that apply here are different. We live here by different rules and laws. In our country, at least now, many people are getting rich in a different way.

So I decided to write a book similar in structure, but reflecting the peculiarities of the place where I live. I’m not going to say what specific country or rather even territory we are talking about, you can guess for yourself. I think that people who decide to read this book will be able to get to know their country or their countries, thanks to the things I have described.

I repeat, I am not saying that everything is absolutely different here than in ancient Babylon. Therefore, everything that is written in the above book (bestseller) will not work in countries such as the one in which I live. But there is still a difference. And it should not be ignored. You can get rich here in many ways, including fairly honest ones, for which, as they say, you can’t blame a person. But the secrets of our people’s wealth have their own characteristics, and in some cases they are quite significant.

For example, it is difficult to save money if the country has wild inflation. In addition, the state can also deprive people of part of their savings or even all their money in various ways in order to solve their problems at the expense of the people. Today your money is worth something, and tomorrow it’s turned to dust. Well, what kind of savings can we talk about in this case? Therefore, it is necessary to take into account inflation, all sorts of devaluations and denominations, because of which money is partially or completely devalued. If you don’t take this into account, you will just get bored at one fine moment and everything, your dreams of getting rich or at least simplifying your life through savings, will evaporate like a mirage.

With the investment of money, too, big problems can arise if there are a lot of scammers, various scams and scammers around, if the state itself periodically throws its citizens through various programs in which it forces people to participate. Obviously, this will affect people’s approach to managing their money. Money will not work actively in a country where people are constantly being cheated and robbed. And even more so, because of the constant cheating and theft at all levels, there will be no long money in the country. People will develop a speculative mindset in which they will want to use their money as quickly as possible before it is taken away from them. Or they will try to take them somewhere. Otherwise, they will take it away, devalue it, or somehow deceive you. That’s the prison psychology, it turns out. It does not contribute to the formation of an investment mindset.

The laws of wealth are not the same everywhere. Moreover, some of them are completely false. They’ll tell you one thing, but they’ll do something else. Don’t we know how hypocritical people who have wealth and power are? Fooling everyone, they are best at it. Rich people can tell any fairy tales about how they came to be rich, what are you going to ask them for every word? Just as you won’t ask a politician who doesn’t keep his promises. Therefore, it is naive to expect that they will tell the truth about their success. In addition, some of them themselves do not really know how it happened that they were in the right place at the right time, made an obvious decision for such cases and got the desired natural result.

A person does not need to be the best, and even in everything, to succeed, to get rich. He needs to know certain rules of getting rich that apply in the place where he lives, follow them in a disciplined manner, but then, and then, as luck would have it. A lot depends on luck here, too. To be in the right place at the right time, you can’t learn that. It can just happen to you if the circumstances match up in a good way for you. But for their part, a person, of course, must do everything possible to bring themselves closer to the possibility of achieving success in the right business. This is a woman to find yourself or a man. Who knows where and how you will meet your own person, but for this to happen, you need to get acquainted and meet different people. One of them will be the most suitable option for you.

What’s also bad for most people is that they are often misdirected when they are told how to get rich. Here are all these interviews with rich people, their books, where they talk about what and how to do to succeed, I believe that these things can do more harm than good. Because everything they say and write about is far from reality. Maybe not always, but often. How they like to tell fairy tales — I worked, I plowed, my wealth was given to me by hard work. Well, what the hell do I need it for, listen to this nonsense? You tell the truth, what you did — who you deceived, put, sat, betrayed, who you licked, and who you licked, who you intimidated, who you killed, in order to come to what you have. That’s where the truth about your success lies. Depending on how a person came to be rich, he may have such a list of not the most beautiful things that he did that it will not be possible to talk about any folk hero. A villain, a thief, a crook, a traitor, and so on. Here’s what might be lurking under the hood of its success. But they, having grown fat, want to be heroes. They want to be legitimate, so to speak, rich people and rulers. So they invent fairy tales about their lives and about themselves. Who wouldn’t?

And people read these fairy tales, do the same as the heroes of these fairy tales, and nothing happens to them. Because it shouldn’t. Work harder, then you’ll be rich. Yeah, rich, of course. Did you do a lot of plowing yourself? Or, plucked hard workers in various ways, due to which he made his capital? You will die faster if you work like a horse, but without intelligence, without understanding what you will come to by doing what you are doing. And we don’t need to talk about all the modern «Stakhanovs» when someone studied there, tried, worked, for which he got a promotion and now lives happily ever after. First, this is not always the case, because good positions often have their own people, not workaholics, especially in government organizations, where the quality of the employee and his competence are not so important. And secondly, all managers and bosses can not be, so, learn not learn, pasha not pasha, and will choose one person in each of the areas for a certain position. Therefore, you should not exaggerate the importance of such an algorithm of actions by giving such illustrative examples of career growth.

In some countries, studying the lives of rich and powerful people in order to learn how to succeed in life by their example is like studying the life of animals or the life of some exotic wild tribe, where everything is surprising and amazing. Such people can interact with each other like animals in the wild. A rigid hierarchy, a bullying attitude towards everyone who is lower than you by one criterion or another, self-affirmation at the expense of the weak, constant deception, substitutions, even extermination of each other, that’s how they live. The higher ones yell nonsense at the lower ones, humiliate them, insult them, no culture, no mutual respect, everything is based on the fear of violence. Complete Machiavellianism. Such jackals are afraid to turn their backs to each other, so that the knife will not be stuck in this back.

What ordinary people despise and hate may be considered a norm or even a virtue among the powerful rich. Where an ordinary person gives a hand to a fallen person, a rich person will finish him off. In cases where ordinary people support the person who is falling, the person in power will push him. I remember reading a book by the head of the president’s security service, in which he told me how he made a mess of his health in order to get some benefits for himself. It was a state security officer, in rank, and he was mowing. And he was proud of it, that he managed to deceive the doctors, he boasted of such an act. This is how such people think and behave. Not at all in the way that ordinary people are supposed to think and behave. While poor fools are taught that it is bad to mow down, for example, from the same army, it is bad to deceive people, pretend to be sick, because it is low, only weaklings do this, people of high status are happy to do this, so that later they can have privileges. And they brag about it in their books. It is necessary to pay attention to such things and draw appropriate conclusions.

You beggar fool, work hard, risk your life and health, and I’ll live by different rules. In the end, I will have a lot of benefits, and you will live like a stray dog and still serve me. That’s how it turns out. Therefore, I decided, taking into account my experience of studying rich and successful people in our country, to write my book about the richest person in our country. Or rather, about who a person should be, what he should do and how to be the richest or one of the richest people here, in this territory, with such rules and laws as exist here.

There are official and unofficial rules of the game that apply to a specific territory. When you know them, especially the unofficial rules, you will behave correctly, so as not to allow yourself to be deceived, used, and to come to a good life, to wealth. It is about such rules, mostly unspoken, that this book speaks. Some of them you know or guess that they are exactly like that, and some of them can be a discovery for you. But in any case, you will see a system that we have and that explains the success patterns of different people who have a lot of money here.

Well, I have a bit of dystopia. It is necessary to think not only about what is, but also about what can be and how to come to it. My dystopia may well become a reality. It all depends on the people.

The man who dreamed of making money

Timofey, a local taxi driver, was in a decadent mood, sitting on an old bench near his rickety house and slowly sipping cheap beer from a one-and-a-half-liter bottle. From time to time, he glanced at his shabby little house, which he had inherited from his grandfather, and also at the rather old domestic car standing next to it, which he had to repair half the winter in order to use it mercilessly all summer, delivering customers to different parts of the city. He didn’t have anything else of particular value, except for all this junk.

Through the kitchen window, his wife could be seen cooking something, bent over a small pot. Timofey knew that their refrigerator was almost empty, because he hadn’t earned much lately, as there were no orders. In addition, I had to pay off several old debts, and prepare my children for school, which was always an expensive pleasure. So all the money went out. That’s why the soup his wife made was probably almost empty. He should have put his beer aside, which he’d spent the last stash on, and driven off to «bomb», and maybe given someone a ride to earn something. But I wasn’t in the mood for it. One and the same gimmick, which does not bring significant benefits, he is rather fed up.

His mind was preoccupied with other things. And the hot summer and the still-cool beer were drawing his butt closer and closer to the old bench that his great-grandfather must have built.

Not far from his house, two streets away, you could see the posh mansions of prosperous neighbors, with a beautiful high fence, neatly trimmed grass, evenly planted shrubs and small Christmas trees. These were real palaces where respectable people lived.

«People live,» he thought. — And here you don’t know how to earn money for yourself and your children. What a life.

He sipped his cheap beer and looked up at the sky. The sun beat down mercilessly, not a cloud in the sky. He pulled his cap down over his eyes to block out the sun’s rays and decided to take a bit of a walk while leaning on the side of the house. However, the voice of his old friend Pavel, a local locksmith, cheered him up.

«Hello, Timokha,» my friend yelled in a loud voice. Timofey flinched and almost dropped the beer bottle from his hands.

«Why are you yelling?» Timofey grunted hoarsely in response.

«Don’t beafraid, izh,» Pavel replied, smiling. «It’s a wonderful day, even if you sing and dance.» I see you’ve had a bit of fun in the sun and the beer, so I decided it wasn’t the time to sleep on a bench in broad daylight.» What kind of swill do you have, by the way?» It’s not like you to be drinking beer in the middle of the work week, and it’s so shitty.

«I don’t have enough money for normal things,» Timofey muttered sadly. — I couldn’t help having a drink tonight.» It’s too much for cats to scratch their souls in order to stay in a sober mind and a solid memory.

— What happened?» Pavel asked. «What’s the trouble?»

— My trouble is my whole life, damn it. All my life I’ve lived like my whole family is cursed, I can’t get out of this shit. Freaking rogue.

«What’s the matter with you, brother?» Yes, there are more than half of us such beggars in the city. Is everyone cursed? What are you doing all of a sudden, huh?

— Yesterday, the whole family watched a movie, a family viewing, so to speak. It was a movie about successful people. They showed such beauty there. All this wealth, all this luxury, I saw how the eyes of my children and my wife sparkled, I saw how they admired these people who could afford anything they wanted. What about their father, who is he? An ordinary driver, and before that an electrician who can’t afford anything, even repair a house. I can’t really get my kids ready for school, and I can’t pay off my debts. I gave everything to the last penny. And now there’s not even any food in the house, nothing to eat.

«Well, you know, there are many of us who live paycheck to paycheck,» Pavel said sympathetically. — We all have beggarly salaries. I understand you, but I always feel a lack of money myself.

«That’s what I mean. Do you know what’s the hardest thing that happened to me? This is my dream that I had last night, after that damn movie. Just imagine, in this dream, I was in the place of these rich and successful people, whom everyone respects, for whom all the doors in this world are open. Oh, it was a divine sensation, beyond words. I still have these pictures of joy and happiness before my eyes.

I had a big and beautiful house, like the ones across the street. It was a prestigious car, a foreign car, not this damn basin. I was dressed in an expensive suit, looking so important. Everyone greeted me, important people shook my hand, I felt like a person, in the full sense of the word. And my wife, and the children, they admired me, you know, Pash. The kids wanted to be like their dad, not like strangers. And my wife could afford beautiful clothes, cosmetics, she was so beautiful in my dream, words can not convey. She was always beautiful, but it’s hard for her to take care of herself, cosmetics are expensive, clothes too, and she is always in business.

«It’s a beautiful dream,» Pavel said, sitting down on the bench next to him. — So what happened next?»

«Next?» And then I woke up, as always, in my old bedbug house, on an old creaky bed, in old socks with holes in them, in a T-shirt with stains that no washing takes. And I didn’t even have anything to drink in the fridge to survive the dream. He handed a bottle of cheap beer to his friend. «Take a sip, if you don’t mind, while it’s still cold.» Another twenty minutes and it will turn into urine.

«Such thoughts make me sad, too,» Pavel said listlessly, and took a sip of his beer. — You reminded me that I haven’t paid my rent in three months, not since we started getting late paychecks. I thought I was going to make fun of it, butone person had to do plumbing in a new apartment, but it didn’t work out, they found another master, and I’m screwed. I just wanted to borrow a twenty-dollar bill from you before my paycheck, so that I could pay off some of the debt, otherwise they’ll cut everything else down. But apparently, not fate.

— Yes, what a twenty, — Timofey answered dejectedly — - there would be a tenner for food to find, there is nothing to feed the children in the evening. And money helps those who have capital, who will not be left without means to live, if someone helps. And when the goal itself is like a falcon, well, what help can there be. When there is wealth, why not help others, especially friends whom you have known since childhood. And so… eh.

They took turns drinking beer, and then Pavel asked:

— What does he plan to do?

«I don’t know,» Timofey said. — I can’t think of anything yet. I don’t want to go and look for clients. It’s all pointless. I’ve been doing this all my life — I work, I work, I work, sometimes on a construction site, sometimes in a factory, sometimes in an auto repair shop, now таксуюI do this, and what’s the end result? But nothing, zero. The fact that I support my family somehow doesn’t count. Because that’s not life. You can start with this, but you can’t end with this.

Timofey took a deep swig of beer, then stared at the ground and said softly:

«Pash, I’m forty years old, forty fucking years old, just like you. You and I, two big fools, are on our forties, and we haven’t achieved anything, not a damnthing! We’re freaking losers, losers, rednecks. You know, when I was a kid, before school, my dad took me to the factory to show me how shitty it was. And it was really shitty, really shitty. Noise, mud, screams. Even though I was sitting in the dresser for half a day before his short shift ended, I still didn’t like it very much. It was some kind of hell. I remember sighing like that when I got out of this squalid place. And my father told me that if I didn’t want to work as well, I had to study. If I study and get a good job in life, I won’t have such a dirty job. But what’s the use of studying?

I studied, I graduated from the institute and what? Who needed my higher education when it was all about connections, and who needs it today when it’s all about money? I worked the same way as uneducated people, and I had no prospects. They were just more willing to hire a person with a good technical education, but not for noble positions. I had to lick assholes, and I didn’t even know how to lick them to get up. All this education, it does nothing if there are no people who can push you to a good place.

«My father always taught me to work, to work hard,» Pavel said thoughtfully. — He worked too, worked hard, worked very hard, and hardly drank at all. And then, in his old age, he had accumulated so many sores that he couldn’t even go to the toilet without help. And I worked hard, too, thinking that if I worked hard, then fate would reward me. Nothing like that. In this life, especially in this country, it is not the one who works who lives well, but the one who… probably steals. If you don’t work, you eat, that’s how it’s all here, as it was said in the famous film. And on TV they show these impudent faces that have crept into the authorities, who now steal by the millions and still have the audacity to teach others about life.

«Yes, you’re right,» Timofey confirmed. Or, who steals, eats, so, probably, it is more correct. Life isn’t fair. I wonder if any of the people we went to school with really made it, do you think?

«Hell, yes, you just reminded me of a recent incident that happened to me,» Pavel said cheerfully. «Do you remember Dimon, that полулохаbespectacled half-wit who was good at math?

«A globe or something?»

«Yes, that’s the globe. So he’s now the owner of an investment company, or whatever it’s called, I don’t know. Advertising it on TV is played day and night, maybe I saw this «AI» of his, it stands for something like: intelligence, innovation, investment. There he offers to invest money at a huge percentage, if I’m not mistaken, at 50% per month.

— 50%? — Timofey asked in surprise. — It’s a divorce anyway. Although I am not strong in economics, but it is obvious that no real business gives such profitability now, even in our country with its virgin market. What kind of suckers are doing this?

— A lot of suckers. Well, you know, the people in our country are dark, they don’t know anything about financial matters at all. Although they do not immediately offer such a percentage, it is gradually increasing. The longer you do not withdraw money, the higher the percentage by which it is multiplied. There are plenty of people who want to cash in on this. So the suckers are kind of like a rod. But this is only part of his business. He also has oil, timber, and technology companies that he co-owns. This is what our old classmates told me. The dude got up. Including on suckers.

— Here’s a damn thing, our land will never be impoverished by fools. Suckers carry the money themselves. To us, you and I would be so carried.

«Yeah. But that’s what I mean. I saw him recently, this globe, I mean, Dimon. Dmitry Ivanovich he is now, solid all such, with money. I didn’t even recognize him at first. And some even say that he is the richest man in the city, or even in the country.

«What are you talking about?

— yes! And most importantly, he behaved normally with me, came up and greeted me on the square. Near the mall, so many people saw it. I was in shock. The big man shook my hand, hell, that doesn’t happen to everyone. I was once a nerd. He was buying something at the store, flowers, I think, and I was passing by there. So then he got into his fancy car with a private driver and security detail, and drove off. He left me his number and said that if there were any problems, I could call him. I was so lost at that moment that I forgot about the phone number. And to be honest, envy overcame me, a strong envy. I can’t bear to think that such a nerd has done better in life than I have.

— Cool! Timofey said. «So much for the bespectacled guy who got half the class screwed up.

— Maybe we should meet him after all, have a chat, find out how he got into the world? Pavel asked enthusiastically.

— You can probably. If he agrees, "Timofey replied. — So at least some chance to change your life will appear. Otherwise, this poverty is already quite bad. Oh, this globe, well, you have to shoot like that. We all thought that he would be some kind of laboratory assistant, but he is raking money with a shovel. I definitely need to meet him. Surely he knows some secret of wealth, which certainly does not consist in studying or hard labor. Although he studied well, it was clearly not his school and institute knowledge that helped him. Yes, this nerd should have been running around the hospital with flasks for pennies, and not making money, if he went to work by profession. And he… he knows something. I need to meet him. Let’s also invite other classmates to the meeting from those we know. Like, there will be a classmate meeting. I think many people will want to hear itпослухать, it’s a big bird now. It’s necessary, a person from our class, from our school has made a breakthrough.

«Good idea,» Pavel said approvingly. — I’ll get everyone I can reach out to. And we’ll meet up with Dimon together, have a chat. See what we’ll learn.

«Or we’ll spend some money on a beer,» Timofey said, smiling. — By the way, will you finish off the eggplant? There’s a third left.

He handed the beer bottle to his friend.

«Ugh,» Pavel spat, taking a sip of his warm beer.

— What, you turned into a pissing dog?» Timofey asked, smiling.

— Yes, in general, a nightmare!

— Well, then throw it out the fuck, this urine. What are we, drunks or what, to suck this stuff diphenhydramine. Come on, gather people, look for Dimon’s phone, let’s go learn how to make money!

That was settled.

The richest man in the country

Dmitry Ivanovich was a respected man in the city, and indeed in the whole country, and was rightfully considered one of the richest people in it, and most likely the richest. It’s just that many of his assets were unknown to the public. As well as part of his income, which he successfully hid in offshore companies, as it should be in a country where tax evasion is the norm.

But even officially, Dmitry Ivanovich had a lot of assets. He had a substantial stake in the oil business, was a co-owner of several major media outlets, had a small stake in high-tech companies, and was also a co-owner of several gold mines. He owned some of these assets through shell companies. However, Dmitry Ivanovich was particularly proud of his investment company — «AI» (intelligence, innovation, investment), in which he attracted funds from ordinary investors, promising them high interest rates. He made a lot of money out of thin air, selling people beautiful promises.

And now he hears from his secretary that two school friends, Pavel and Timofey, have come to him with what they say is a serious conversation. Dmitry smiled and without hesitation ordered them to enter his large and bright office, which was located in a solid building in the center of the city. Friends came in, said hello, and in order not to take up a business person’s time, they immediately got down to business.

«Dimon, if I may call you that, we’re here on important business. We want to learn how to make money from you. If you don’t mind, we’ll arrange a classmate meeting and listen to you all together to find out how you managed to get up in life like this. We are very interested in finding out.

«Oh, I see. That, then, is the seriousness of your conversation, "Dmitry Ivanovich said, rubbing his chin with his fingers. «Well, clever, clever. Just that you guys are so late? I’ve been swimming in money for several years, and you just decided to visit me for knowledge?

— Yes, Dim, you know, only in old age the brains began to appear. And with them, the desire to learn.

«I see. I understand. As you can see, life has brought you here. Well, let’s organize something like a seminar for our own people. I have one hall here that is suitable for meetings, and you can come with all our former schoolmates there. And I’ll tell you what I did and how I did it to keep my seat right now. Let’s have a meeting like this at the end of the week.

On Friday evening, fourteen people, including twelve men and two women who were former classmates of Dmitry Ivanovich, gathered in a small but cozy hall to listen to him and learn about how you can make a lot of money in today’s country where wild capitalism ruled. Dmitry began from afar.

— Well, my school friends, as you can see, real life is somewhat different from what we were taught. I was aiming for science and even managed to work in it for a while. But then the country collapsed and people had new opportunities that it was a sin not to take advantage of. At that time, money almost completely stopped going to science, and the dilapidated country no longer needed it. But in other places there are a lot of them. At first, I went into a simple trade, selling everything I could get-vodka, clothes, cars, equipment. Jeans sold very well, although many people offered them. And then a friend from the bank advised me to go into banking, saying that there are great prospects. He had a vacant place there, which he offered me to take. I quit my business and got a job in a bank. Fortunately, my education looked solid and I was accepted without any questions, especially after learning that I managed to do business. The decision was not easy and not unambiguously correct. But I made my choice.

Sitting down on the edge of the table, Dimitri continued.

«It was a hell of a job. Sometimes I had to plow for 14—15 hours, bringing all the documents to the desired standard. And it was quite a job. In fact, the bank helped launder huge amounts of money obtained by criminal means. This money was sent to shell companies, which then transferred most of the money in the form of cash to the right people. Some went through multiple accounts until they were where they were supposed to be. Money was stolen in the millions, but then, as always, it was. You can’t tell me everything about this job, it will take a long time. But one thing I immediately realized for myself then was that to earn a lot of money, you don’t have to work a lot, but be able to appropriate it.

«You mean steal?» — drowned one of the listeners.

— You could say that. Only, if we talk about ourselves, we embezzled money that was already stolen, and with the consent of the other party. It wasn’t exactly theft. Our bank took the risk by performing muddy operations with dirty money. We could have been grabbed by the ass at any moment. And it would be all our fault. So, we sold the risk, giving people clean money. When privatisation started, all the money was dirty in our bank. We took our toll, risking being hit by various structures, including crime.

— And then what happened?» How did you manage to come back to your business?

— And then I came up with an idea that you can now see coming to fruition.

«An investment company?»

«That’s the one. But at first everything was problematic. First of all, I couldn’t do what I was doing all the time. Although I lived well at that time, I had everything, but I still wanted to create something of my own. It was not interesting to sit on a salary, even if it was high, while people were creating various income schemes and launching projects. Especially for scammers, it was a golden time. The virgin mind of our citizens, trained to believe everything that is said on TV, simply could not be ignored. And many people took advantage of it, destroyed the gullible people to the fullest. And secondly, sooner or later I would still have to switch to something, money laundering could not continue forever, which is obvious.

— What did you do?»

— I was looking for options. I have seen, following the example of those whose money we laundered, how they earn money, and what they do for this purpose. And I was thinking how I could do something similar, but legal. The idea came. Only I needed money and a roof to implement it. My funds were not enough for a powerful breakthrough. I decided to find these things from my boss, knowing that he was doing well with free money and, of course, with a roof. When I came to him with my business plan, I hoped that he would approve it. But he just laughed.

— What was so funny about it?»

— I naively thought that if you invest in young companies, then you can become a co-owner of most of them. Their owners, getting back on their feet with my help, will go about their business, develop it, and our company will have a percentage of it. And if necessary, it will help you survive difficult times. Well, that’s just to explain.

— What was so funny about that for your boss?»

— He said this approach wouldn’t work in this country. This is a complete scam and no serious project can be implemented in this way. Anything designed for the long term will die. Only something with state participation can work for a long time, and even then not always. And in other cases, people will simply steal the money and leave. He also said that his banking business is built on people’s greed. People use his bank to launder money, not to grow their businesses. No one needs money for serious projects, because entrepreneurs understand that it is almost impossible to create such projects now. He also said that it’s good when you don’t take anything from anyone and don’t steal, and people bring you the money themselves. And then he rejected my plan.

— Were you disappointed?» But you didn’t give up.

— Yes, definitely disappointed. Not for this country, he said, such projects. But I began to give up, of course. I remember not sleeping all night, I was hurt. I thought that now I would be able to stir up such a serious case, in the best traditions of capitalism, but alas, there are other rules. My boss was absolutely sure that this would not work here. But then I remembered him saying that it’s good when people bring you money themselves. Something about that struck me. I went to the largest library in the city and looked for books on investing. I was hoping that this way I would come up with a new idea faster. And then I came across a story about Charles Ponzi. He’s a tough guy, and he’s got a lot to learn from him. After studying it properly, I realized: here it is, a business idea that will definitely work. The suckers will bring me their own money. But this will not be a scam in its pure form. People will decide how much risk they should take when contacting my company. If greed overcomes them, it will also destroy them.

— Yes, we see how people fall for a high percentage. And then they will shout that they were cheated

— Well, what did you want?» People have always been greedy and lazy. They want to eat in three throats, and do nothing at the same time. And if you offer them such an opportunity, they will jump at it. What they want, they get. So at three in the morning, I drew a simple business plan on my knee, and in the morning I brought it to my boss, so that this time I would still get the necessary support and funding from him. He looked at what I had come up with and said that yes, this is exactly what might work. Such an idea is much more likely to be successful.

— What was so special about it?» Timofey asked.

— Nothing special at all. Such things already existed. It was all about the scope, and some advertising ideas on my part. We decided to buy a huge amount of advertising, mainly on television, showing people how they can increase their money. And most importantly, the hero of the commercials was the most ordinary peasant, a sort of collective farmer, a simpleton, who explained to people in very simple language, such as folk, how he had invested his money profitably and now could afford a lot.

The simplicity of words and the abundance of advertising — that’s what I bet on. Bos gave me money, promised to cover for me in front of cops and bandits, and I started running ads on TV day and night, sparing no expense. Plus I used other advertising tricks. The people fell for it. It was a success. There were more and more depositors every day. For a couple of months, we recaptured all the invested funds and began to buy more ads with the money we had already raised. More precisely, I did all this, and my boss was content with his percentage and did not interfere with my work at all. I returned all the money to him, plus I gave him an extra income, so everyone was happy. Otherwise, everything was fine, sharing with anyone I needed, I could work without any interference, no one poked their nose into my business.

«So you created a pyramid?»

— Yes.

— And who puts their money in it?» — What is it? "one of the listeners asked. «Ordinary illiterate hard workers who don’t understand such things?» Do old women drag their coffins? I have a retired neighbor who took all the money to your company. It turns out that your wealth is built on deceiving people like her?

«Oh, no, you’re wrong. It’s not quite like that. First, everyone carries the money, including financially literate people who understand the principle of my pyramid scheme. They know how to enter it correctly and when to leave it. Although their greed overcomes, so they are in no hurry to withdraw all their money, realizing that they risk losing it. Greed, greed, and more greed drives them. And secondly, money is returned to people if they want to take it away, no one will refuse them. We just encourage them not to do it. We have a lot of different buns available, for which people are willing to keep their money in our pyramid for quite a long time.

As I said, humans are greedy and lazy creatures. Because of this, they do not want to think for themselves about how something works and prefer to believe others. That’s what we’re playing on. We tell them only about the positive aspects of cooperation with our company, and they do not ask about the negative ones themselves. By bringing their money to us, they can multiply it by a very good percentage in a month. Everything is fair here. And if they do not remove them, but leave them lying there, then in two months the percentage will become even higher, in six months even more, and in a year even more, and so on. Plus other privileges. Plus a percentage of those they bring to us. And everyone gets paid everything if a person wants to withdraw their money. But why take them away, if it will hit the interest rate, it is more profitable to leave them. The longer you keep your money and don’t take it away, the more it multiplies.

But even if a person decides to take a certain amount, you never know, he will need money, then our consultants will advise him not to take everything, but just as much as he needs, preferably as little as possible. Then the percentage of multiplication of the balance will decrease, but it will not disappear completely and the person will not need to increase the percentage on their contribution in a new way. As a result, most people do not withdraw all their money, even when they need it, which means that we do not lose this money, it continues to remain with us. Some of them have been keeping their money with us for several years, but the same old women keep their coffin money and do not withdraw it. But if they die, then other people, such as their relatives, will not be able to receive their deposit, this is forbidden, after all, we are not a bank, and they know about it. But if they feel that the end is near, they can remove everything, they will get everything back. And it will be a decent amount of money.

— And how long can such a system work? Pavel asked, scratching his head.

— As long as people bring their money to us and don’t take it away, the system will work. It can work for years. But then, of course, her life would end. Any pyramid is closed sooner or later. We are not a bank, we practically do not wrap this money that is brought to us, except sometimes it is not serious. And we don’t have any insurance. Therefore, those who need money, they take a little of it, and those who want to be rich on paper, keep it with us and do not touch it at all. Everyone gets what they want. You need to get out of the pyramids on time. If people don’t think about it, it’s their fault.

— But you’ll still win, right?»

— of course. How can I not win? This is my business. As long as it generates income, it is profitable for me. As soon as the income is gone, I will close it, taking everything that remains. All the money I took from the fund, I invested in assets. Everything that is registered with me, plus what is unknown, is all on the foundation’s money. People made me rich, and I made them all rich, but on paper. Only a few people will really reap the benefits of cooperation with me if they realize that it’s time to go out.

— And when the pyramid collapses, what will you do?» After all, people will start asking you for the lost money.

«Then I’ll probably have to disappear for a while.» He may even go to jail or, more likely, only be listed as a sit-in for a while. I’ll pay the right amount and they’ll make me a convict, and I’ll be somewhere on an exotic island sunbathing and drinking tequila. People will need blood, after all, they lost money, they will get it in the form of a myth that I received a well-deserved punishment. No more than that. Such is life. There are no freebies in it. If you’re too greedy, you’ll pay for it sooner or later. If someone doesn’t understand all the risks, contacting us is their problem.

— And what is the main secret of wealth, then? It turns out that the ability to deceive people?

«Hmm,» Dimitri smiled. Then, after sitting for a while and thinking, he said, "Deception is deception, and business is business.» It’s not the same thing. Business makes people an offer. You want to agree to it, or you don’t want to. By agreeing, you assume all the risks associated with it. If you want guarantees, work with the state. It does not make the most favorable offers to people, and moreover, it also imposes them often, so you can not refuse. It can also easily devalue all your savings on the passbook, which will burn out in one moment. Is this a hoax or something? And why should a business operating in such a state be more honest than the state itself? If you want to play by alternative rules, not state rules — take a risk.

Those who don’t take risks don’t drink champagne. Otherwise, don’t mess with anything that isn’t state-owned. The business itself takes risks, and so do the people who work with it. How else? Otherwise, you can live on pennies, cooperating with the state, and they don’t always pay, don’t they? Therefore, the first secret of wealth is a willingness to take risks. The first one or whatever it is in the account, you can decide for yourself. I only know that there is nothing to do in business without risk. And business is one of the fastest and most accessible ways for many people to get rich.

— What else can you advise us? Are there any other secrets, rules of wealth?

— I can tell you about the second secret of wealth: learn to communicate with people. Someone who understands people and knows how to communicate with them can sell them a lot. And selling is a business. This is a collaboration: you to me, I to you. You will learn to communicate with people, and you will be able to agree on many things with them. I sold my idea to people and became rich. First I sold it to someone who helped me with the money and the roof, and then to everyone who brought their money to me. If I had my tongue up my ass, it wouldn’t work. I wouldn’t even get my boss to help me with my business, and I wouldn’t come up with an attractive ad that reflects my ideas for people. The ability to communicate is the secret of wealth. You can consider it conditionally the second in a row.

«You’re lucky to have a boss. If it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t have been able to launch your project, "said one of the listeners.

— If it wasn’t for him, there would be another person, a third, a tenth. Don’t you realize yet that it’s all about being determined to make money, not waiting for someone to help you do it? Most people would still be doing the damn jeans I started with, but they’re still doing them, selling them in the market, sitting there all day like chickens in a chicken coop, and not even thinking about anything more. Once they successfully pushed rags, so now they are going to do this for the rest of their lives. Idiots. None of them thinks about growing from such a market trader to someone bigger. And work, how many people, working in a bank for a good salary, as I did, continue to sit there until they are blue in the face, until everything collapses? And they don’t think about their business.

Look at these lazy cows who, living in a country with a virgin market, can’t move away from their stupid familiar places of work and start their own business. They’ll come up with a million excuses just to do nothing. Then they are afraid of bandits, then they are afraid to burn out, or something else. But no, they would have found out everything properly, agreed with whom it was necessary and muddied up the case, as others do, who are not afraid of bandits or risks. But no, they continue to knead shit in a mortar for pennies. After all, soon all this will end, the market will be monopolized, all profitable niches will be seized and fuck you from scratch that you will create. Of course, other opportunities will appear, but why miss these opportunities? But no, people sit in the old place, do not receive a salary for several months and do nothing. So, there must be determination. You can consider this another secret of wealth. There is no luck, only determination.

— But how can everyone be an entrepreneur? Are there really no other ways to get rich?

— They can’t. And they won’t. People are all different. But everyone has a choice. You’ve made your own. So you sit here and listen to me while other people watch shit on TV, suck beer, and scratch their bellies on the old couch. Here they are definitely not going to get anything. So they will work hard for their uncle for pennies all their lives. And some of you, whether you want to be offended or not, will not change anything in your life even after my words. That’s the way people are. But those who listen to my words will do something. There are other ways to get rich. Look at the bandits, look at the politicians, look at all the sycophants who are sucking up to the budget money. You can explore these methods if you like them.

In the previous system, sycophants and scum did well drowning normal people. But since our country has begun to live by the rules of capitalism, I think it is better to choose the simplest and most understandable path to wealth in this case — business. Specifically, you should engage in trading. Not everyone can be an entrepreneur, but many are quite capable of taking this path. That’s what you personally see as a problem in this case?

The audience shook their heads thoughtfully. No one was able to say anything that would explain his inability to do business. Then Dmitry continued:

«Was I born a merchant?» You’ve known me since I was a kid. I have always been a person who is not very sociable, was afraid of many things, and generally saw myself in science. But damn it, when all around you single-celled creatures are making a lot of money using the simplest buy-and-sell scheme, when yesterday’s crooks are becoming millionaires, how can you stay on the sidelines and do some nonsense for a penny?

No one could say anything in reply. People pondered. That was the end of Dmitry Ivanovich’s communication with his former classmates. He promised to give advice to anyone who decides to go about their business and start trading something. As he said, practice is the best teacher in business. Therefore, less chatter and more business. Someone’s eyes burned after his words, business ideas began to emerge in their heads.

And someone thought that all this was garbage, it would be better to give money, since he stole so much. So, then everything depended on the people. They were given the necessary information, but only they themselves could apply it. No one will do anything for them. Doing people’s work for them means nurturing parasites in them, which will then become greedy and evil. This is the same as spoiling children by giving them money. So you can raise either lazy incompetents, or terrible monsters. People have to do everything themselves to stay human. You can lead a horse to a watering hole, but you can’t force it to drink.

Important rules for getting rich

Being a very rich man and therefore very famous, Dmitry Ivanovich attracted the attention of many journalists, writers, and ordinary people who wanted to learn more about how he was able to get so rich in a country with wild capitalism and at the same time relatively honestly. He was invited to interviews, articles were written about him, and he was offered to write a book about success in modern Russia. He accepted some offers and refused others. However, he could not refuse one such offer — to hold a major seminar in the capital.

Not only was he asked to talk about his success by quite respectable people who wanted to show that many people in the country have great opportunities, but it was also a great opportunity for him to make additional advertising for himself in order to attract more investors to his investment fund, which in fact was a financial pyramid. He had no experience in conducting large seminars. But being already quite a liberated person, thanks to his success, he very confidently began his communication with numerous listeners of various ranks who gathered in a large and spacious hall in the center of the city to listen to him.

Workshop

— Before we start our seminar, I’ll tell you right away who has nothing to do here. Such people can immediately leave the gym without spending time learning what is not suitable for them. If you are one of those people who need to go to work to eat, to feed your family, to pay rent, and so on, then go out. We won’t even discuss your excuses. If you want to eat, go ahead and eat. You need to take care of your family — go and burn out your life in a hated job for pennies. I don’t need your nagging here. Next, if you’re one of those people who needs some fucking guarantee that you won’t be doing business without, the door is right there in the corner. In this world, there are only opportunities, and there are no guarantees.

Also, everyone who needs stability should go to the exit. I advise you to look for her in the cemetery. There’s a lot of it. And if you want the state to create business conditions for you, then, my friends, do not waste your time here. For this is a requirement from the realm of fiction. The state can only put a spoke in your wheel. And if you are used to doing things only on someone’s orders, that is, working only from astick, and you do not do anything and do not want to think, then in this case I advise you to leave the hall. You will not find a shepherd here, but you must become one for yourself. With everyone else, we will talk about how to get rich in our long-suffering, but at the same time beautiful country.

All the listeners remained in their seats. After waiting a moment to emphasize the importance of his words, Dmitry continued his speech.

— Well, since you’re all so serious and grown-up, then I’ll ask you the first question that will make you think about the basics of wealth. How many of you can say what a business is? You don’t have to raise your hands. Get up too. You can shout from your seat. I have good hearing.

Several responses were heard from the audience.

«Good, good. I see you have your own opinion on this matter. Part of what you said is true. However, if we talk about the most important thing, then business is sales. Everything else is less important. Without everything else, you can create a business, even if the simplest, for example, selling apples from your garden to your neighbors in the house or solving problems with electrics and plumbing for a modest fee. All this will be a business. Simple though it is. But without sales, it is impossible to imagine a business. After all, trade is the basis of cooperation between people. Good, honest cooperation, if we talk about normal sales, and not, say, about the sale of protection services by bandits, which many entrepreneurs do not really need, but are forced to buy them. And what is sales, who can say?

There were several responses from the audience again.

— These are the two people who mentioned communication, they are right, — said Dmitry. — This is the basis of sales. To put it more precisely, it is about the ability to communicate your information to people who, guided by it, can decide to exchange their resources for what you offer them. Isn’t that too hard to say?

In short, you need to be able to get into people’s heads and put your motivating information there. There are many ways to do this. To communicate with people, it is not necessary to gather somewhere like this or meet with a specific person and talk about something. Or, as they say, conduct negotiations. These are selling texts, advertising, fiery speeches, and demonstration of something, for example, it is indicative consumption of something. All this is an informational impact on people, after which they may want to buy something from you and thus allow you to earn money. The more people buy something from you, the more you will earn. Is everything clear?»

— But what about the ability to get the right products, especially when they are in short supply, this is also important for sales? — What is it? "one of the listeners asked. — Quite recently, our country lived in conditions of terrible shortage, when it was not necessary to inform anyone about anything, it was only necessary to have the goods that people needed. They would have bought it without question.

— The conditions you are talking about are not market conditions. This is not capitalism. This means that there is no need to talk about business as such. Getting the right product is, of course, also a business. But in a normal market economy, which involves competition, can there only be one such genius who can get people the goods they need? This is some kind of problem that everyone else needs to create, so that one person can get the right product while others are chewing snot. This is no longer a market, this is no longer capitalism. What the hell kind of business can it be?

In a normal market economy, when business is possible, the ability to get goods is valuable and important, but not paramount. Because the market creates the very product that is being sold. The market solves the problem of scarcity if it works normally. And in a good state, where there is order, the problem of monopolies is also solved. Otherwise, the market is killed and there is no need to talk about business anymore. So let’s imagine a situation where, in conditions of shortage, several people were able to get the right product for people and want to sell it at the best possible price. Which of them is best able to do this?

— Who will be the fastest?

— Well, yes. And by this nimbleness, we mean first of all the ability to work with the language in order not only to sell what everyone needs, but also to do it with the maximum benefit for themselves. Even taking into account the specifics of the conditions when there is a shortage and a limited number of offers, you still need to be able to attract attention to yourself. But in a full-fledged market, as a rule, there is competition in many areas, so in order to sell, you need not only to have what people are willing to buy, but also to be able to stand out from the competition, to be able to interest customers with your offer. Therefore, without high-quality communication, you will not go far in this world. Learn to communicate with people, this is one of the rules of wealth. It can be considered conditionally the second.

— Then what’s the first rule?» — What is it? "one of the listeners asked.

— I called it at the very beginning, talking about someone who does not belong here. It’s about taking risks. Where there is a lot of money, there are usually big risks. These are very different risks, depending on what you are dealing with. For example, this is the kidalov risk. In business, you can easily get screwed if you don’t play it safe. But you will never be 100% insured, there are no such guarantees in principle. Therefore, to do business, you need to be able to take risks. And to do this, you need to mentally tune in to the loss of everything that you let into the business. You can order a product, invest a decent amount in it and get something completely different from what you expected. Or get nothing at all. You may encounter such offers when you need to decide whether or not to buy a dumb product, but at a cheap price. It is not known whether it will justify the investment or not. It can more than justify it, or you can fly with it. Avoiding such deals is stupid, you can lose a lot of money because of your cowardice, but doing them all the time means being irresponsible. It’s like playing Russian roulette all the time.

In general, there are many risks. And you need to be prepared for them. Otherwise, you can forget about wealth. Cowardly people are content with crumbs from the table of daredevils. And let this be the first rule of getting rich for you. That’s why I immediately suggested that all the slugs who need guarantees, conditions, money to eat, leave the hall. What the fuck do we need students like that for? They can only spread their fears. Scary — then sit like a faithful dog on a chain, serve the owner for a bone. And if you want to catch big prey-choose the life of a wolf, which takes risks every day when hunting, and therefore gets a big prey.

— Does this mean that not everyone can do business?

— My personal opinion is that almost everyone can do business. Well, maybe except for some kind of disabled people on the head, when a person simply cannot physically do something. In other cases, it all depends on what the person has in mind, what they have been taught, what they are used to. So I also want to ask you a question: tell me, can everyone work at a factory, standing at a dirty noisy machine from morning to night? Or can everyone go down to the mine to get some coal? What do you say?

«Well, if your health permits, that’s probably all,» came the reply from the audience.

— Oh, come on. Will you go there yourself?» Or would you prefer to do anything, just not so hard and dirty work, and in the case of the mine, even dangerous?

The audience was silent.

— Personally, I will not do this work voluntarily. I’ll find a thousand other ways to make money if I have to, but it’s crazy to dig coal underground somewhere. And I have a lot of friends who will never do that in their life. Although their health allows them. And people who already work like this are used to it. They are used to this kind of shit, to such inhumane working conditions, so they continue to do this terrible job. Although they have a choice, they really have a choice to start making money in a different way, but they do not use it. Because, again, they’re used to this shit, you know? It’s all a damn habit. They will continue to die in their pits, but they will not go into business.

— And how to refuse it? — What is it? "one of the listeners asked. — I’m used to my shitty job, too. I can’t stand her, I hate the boss, that asshole, but I work. Like a slave. And voluntary.

«You’re probably one of the people who should have left the hall at the very beginning, when I suggested it,» Dmitry replied with a smile. «It’s a joke. Each person has his own motivating moment, which he needs to find, so that he pushes it where it is necessary. Someone’s desire can help when, for example, I looked at how fucking my neighbor lives in his palace and wanted to do it myself. For some, fear helps when a person is so afraid of, say, their impoverished future, for example, it can be life in old age, when you are sick, weakened, you will live on this impoverished pension and will not even be able to eat normally. It can give you goosebumps. Such fear can also push a person to change.

Someone needs to be angry, for example, at the bullying that poor people are subjected to, at the prevailing injustice, in order to tell themselves that no, I do not allow myself to be treated so bestially. Love helps someone — he fell in love with a beauty, and she doesn’t need such a poor beggar. So you need to get rich. You know what I mean?» It is necessary to find in yourself this motivating button that will move your carcass from the dead place. And, if you’ve already guessed, this can be considered another rule of wealth. There should be motivation. I also call it determination. A person must have the determination, derived from their willpower, to take and change their life. But most of you are better off thinking about motivation.

— Can a kick in the ass be such a motivation? Well, for example, when the boss is already so annoyed that there is no longer any urine to put up with him?

«Maybe. But usually we call an external influence on us a stimulus. An incentive is precisely an external incentive. And motivation is mostly an internal motivation. The difference may be small, but it is there. Using the example of the same boss, we can assume that if everything depends on his behavior, then at the moment when he realizes that he is losing you, he can become nice and kind, can praise you, give you a bonus, and thus influence your decision. You will stay, because of its impact on you. And it turns out that with a kick in the ass, he will stimulate your departure, and with a subsequent pat on the head, he will stimulate your further work for him. Well, why do you need to depend on external circumstances? You need motivation to manage yourself. You need your own thoughts on how best to proceed.

— Tell me, how is it that now in our country there are so many not the most intelligent and worthy people who appropriated the national heritage once, and now they have become very rich? How are they so different from the rest, what is special about them? Why them?

— Why should there be someone else?» No, guys, this is a strange question. Well, if they were other people, you would ask the same thing about them. Someone always yells something in the situation that has arisen. So they snatched it. I got mine, they got mine, you got yours. Well, the fact that they are not very smart, well, it depends on how you look at it. And what kind of mind do they need to privatize state property? What is this, high matters to learn or something? These are people of action who did not chew snot when it was necessary to make important decisions. They were greased and greased in time, got where they were supposed to be in time, and eventually grabbed what was being dragged away by everyone who was not lazy.

Here is another rule of success in business, saying that you need to think less and do more. If you think long enough, you will start to doubt. If you start to doubt, you’ll slow down. Well, then the others will pass you by. Others will do what you won’t. Of course, this rule can be attributed to risk, but I prefer to consider it separately. Because I always approach things in such a way that I try to do something all the time. Even if I develop some plans, make some calculations, I still do something at the same time. It’s better to do something and make a mistake than to do nothing at all and miss the opportunity. Got it?»

The audience silently considered Dimitri’s words for a while. Meanwhile, he sat down at a table on the stage, poured himself a glass of water and drank it slowly, giving people a chance to think about what he was saying. And then a question came from the audience.

— Tell me, how can you quickly earn five thousand dollars? Very necessary!

«Sell something for five thousand dollars,» was Dimitri’s immediate reply.

«But what?»

— You’re asking me?» Dmitry turned to the listener. — If I’d known, I’d have done it already.» Think with your head what it is given to you for. You asked a simple question, I gave you a simple answer. Or do you want us to come up with a sales business plan together? You think it’s a matter of five minutes? Strain your gyrus. You yourself are constantly buying something, you need to understand what you can use to raise five thousand dollars. Don’t talk about drugs. There is no need for intelligence here. Say, how about an idea? Do you have a five-thousand-dollar idea?» If there is, you can sell it. Let it be a promise for five thousand dollars, I think it’s a good option. Promise people something worth five thousand dollars, and they’ll give it to you, right away or in installments, depending on who you promise. If you promise nice, they’ll pay, check it out. Well, like, NewVasuki to them imagine, option?

— Well, you’ll have to give them away. They will ask for promises.

«Naturally. Yes, and with a percentage. Unless, of course, you want to be rolled into the asphalt. Serious people, and they always have such money, will definitely ask.

— What’s the use, then?»

«How about what?» You’re not taking five thousand dollars to eat them, are you?» This is stupid. And to increase it. You take five thousand dollars from people, buy something with it, sell it for fifteen thousand dollars, return their five dollars to people, plus a percentage, the rest is yours. Even more than the five you need can come out clean. And yes, don’t ask me what to buy and resell for five thousand dollars, if I knew, I would have already done it.

— Cool.

— no. Wise. It’s all about trading. I’ll tell you the whole point here, but you can come up with ideas about what to buy and where to sell. Because any idea will be temporary. What I can offer you, think for yourself. People used to buy jeans and vids, but now this shit is enough. They need other things. So, think ahead. You always have to think. Trends are always different.

— And your company "AI" has been consistently generating revenue for several years. What is its secret?

— People, how can you, being in your right mind and firm memory, refuse the offer that my company makes? I don’t even want to know if you have any investors in my investment fund or not, we don’t need that. If you showed interest in me by coming here, you should also know what my main company offers. So tell me, how can you refuse such an offer?

— Is this the secret of your company’s success? — there was a reply from the cheerful hall.

— of course. I know what people need and that’s why I was able to make them an offer that is simply impossible to refuse. So they cooperate with me. Okay, I understand that you want me to formalize this in some special rule of getting rich, a kind of truth that you need to set in stone. Good. Let’s call it this: to convince people to give you their money, think about them, not yourself. Is the idea clear?

«Not exactly, to be honest,» a man in the back row shouted.

— You’re all terribly selfish people who think only of yourself. I’m like that, too. Therefore, when we offer something to someone, we look at our offer through the prism of our interests. This makes our offer not beautiful enough in the eyes of other people. Of course, it is right to think about your own benefit, it helps us to pursue our own benefit, this is what the whole business is built on. But because of our selfishness, we don’t understand people’s needs and can’t adapt to them. How is it, the entrepreneur thinks, that I made such a great offer to them, and they don’t buy anything from me? Why? Because they’re buying from your competitor who’s better at getting their attention.

We’re all too good for ourselves. But in the eyes of others, everything can be completely different. When you think about other people, you know what they might want to see and hear to be fascinated by you and your offer. That’s how you are now, you want me to tell you the truth about our reality, not that I’m going to tell you Western success books that don’t fucking work here, right?

«That’s right,» the audience boomed approvingly.

— Knowing this, I’m telling you exactly what I should be saying about wealth, and I’m not making it up. And I’m not teaching you to steal, rob, kill, or break the law. Although, if you look at what surrounds us now, you will get the impression that everywhere there are only bandits and thieves who are getting richer. Right?

The audience boomed its approval.

— And there is no place for normal business, you can’t earn money by honest business. Only here, for some reason, people are engaged in it and relatively honestly come to wealth. And now you know exactly how they do it. So, think about the people you want to get money from, and you can find the right words for them to give it to you. I hope it’s clear now what I mean. Taking money by force is not our way. Let the authorities and bandits do it. And in business, people carry their own money, voluntarily.

— And how do you manage to negotiate with the bandits? Many complain about them. You don’t have any problems with them. How is it?

— And this will be the last rule of getting rich for you today, which I will tell you about. It goes like this: be able to share. And not only with bandits. And not just because they force you to. A person should fit harmoniously into the environment, should be a part of society, and not oppose himself to it. Giving away some of what came to you thanks to the people around you is about the same as preserving a fishing spot, not catching all the fish, but allowing it to continue to multiply. Only locusts destroy everything by the roots. And more intelligent creatures should take care of their feeding place. You need to feed those who feed you, or who allow you to feed, or those who do not interfere with you to feed. What do greedy people do? All to yourself, to yourself, and then there are problems about them with others. By sharing, we integrate into the system, buy people’s love, and miss the mark.

Sometimes you don’t need to give so much to people that they treat you well or don’t interfere with you. Bandits, they’re bandits. There are still people in power, and ordinary hard workers. You need to be able to share with everyone. I’ve greased it there, I’ve greased it here, and this will only make the business go faster. Just remember this rule and never neglect it. Share and do not be greedy, and those who want to put a stick in your wheel will be much less, and those who help you will be more.

That was the end of the seminar. Dmitry promised that he will hold several more similar seminars, where he will tell everything that he knows. After that, people will have all the necessary knowledge to become rich by doing business. He also said that if someone comes to him for advice, he will definitely help him. Only it is better to come several people at a time when he will be free, because he is not free so often. So, anyone who is serious about success can count on some help from him. He will definitely support such people.

Where to start

There are people who should be told once about the general principles of how something works and then they themselves reach the understanding of all the necessary details of a particular activity, they themselves are able to guess all the subtleties of the necessary business. They don’t need to be chewed up and explained in detail, they don’t need to repeat the same thing a hundred times so that if they don’t understand it, they will at least remember it.

But there are also some people who almost have to do everything for them so that they understand everything. Such people, of course, go into the topic for a long time, at first not understanding for a long time what they need to do, how to do it, how to solve the difficulties that arise. Complex people. Well, that’s what they were taught. They were taught from school to simply perform certain tasks according to a certain algorithm. But so that they can think for themselves how and what is better to do, they can’t do this, they didn’t want to teach them this. But this is exactly what determines a person’s intelligence quotient, in other words, his thinkingability.

It is one thing to know, another thing to think, that is, to come to some knowledge yourself. Such poorly thinking people usually say that if they don’t know something, then they don’t have the answers to the question posed. And to think about what that answer might have been, it’s hard for them. Well, they are not accustomed to such work. Such people, even in order to replace a light bulb at home, can call an electrician instead of spending five minutes of time and understand the essence of the matter, so that later it is faster and cheaper to change it themselves. Here they need to explain separately, in more detail, how to do business in order to make money and get rich at the expense of this.

It is for such people that Dmitry-a very rich man in the country, probably the richest, left the opportunity for individual communication on the topic of business and wealth. And a fairly decent group of people, including some very smart ones, decided to take advantage of this opportunity. They came to meet him to get a better idea of where to start their business.

— Dmitry, you said at your seminar that if someone has any questions related to business, we can always contact you. Can you give us an extra class?» So far there are seven of us, we have listened to your speech as carefully as possible, we have listened to your every word, but we are probably one of those slow-witted people who need to explain everything on their fingers. And we ask you, for an additional fee, to help us better understand what to do and how to do it. We have come to you just when you are free, so that you can give us your precious time. We are ready to thank you as you say. Please help us understand the first steps in our business.

«Well, since I promised to help in this way, I will. I keep my word. And this is worth a lot in business. And what exactly do you want to know? What are the first steps you don’t understand?

— We all have different professions, everyone knows how to do something different, so, well, I don’t even know how to formulate it, we just can’t start our business in the same way, because for some it’s one thing-it’s a dark forest, and for others it’s another. Many of us have worked in a certain place for half our lives, we don’t know how to do anything else, and it’s hard for us to learn something new.

— I understand your concern. You are used to doing what you have always done and want to start your business with something that is close in meaning, which will not require you to make any significant changes that you may not be able to do. That’s smart, actually. I agree with your arguments. Well, then, it’s probably worth considering specific examples. Is that what you’re doing now? Dmitry said to the person who was talking to him.

— I work as a plumber in the housing department.

— You sound awfully competent for someone in this profession.» No offense meant. But I feel like there’s still something behind you.

— You’re right. I used to work with a lot of people, reading something in my spare time, so the language is more or less tied up. And so fate brought me to where I am now. I have no special education, only vocational schools. And I don’t even know what I can understand to start trading something like you taught me. I don’t know what I can do with my experience.

— OK. Let’s think logically, what is the easiest thing for you to start doing without the help of an employer? Think about working on your own first. Imagine that you throw out of your life the intermediary in the person of the employer, what can you do to feed yourself?

— Well, I can fix the same plumbing, recommend something. I’m so pained. I help those who need it to solve problems.

«It’s a good option. Logical. You can provide services to people. You can help them buy things they need for plumbing repairs. You can sell these items yourself, knowing how to get them at a bargain price and when and to whom to offer them. Can’t you?»

«Yeah, I guess. As a variant of kalym.

— You need to go deep into this, you have plenty of opportunities here. This is an occupation, your kalym, it should turn from a part-time job into your main activity. All the ways to earn money that you know, you need to develop. And you know more than I do what you can make money from. Is not it so? I don’t know a damn thing about fucking plumbing, I just know that it’s needed. It’s just that your brain is still tuned to the old way of life, you don’t think about options, because you’re too lazy. Get rid of your employer, that damned slave owner, and become a free man who makes decisions on his own, not on command.

Feel all this filth of hired labor. Why the fuck do you need this? Some assholes will tell you what to do and how to do it, when to come to work, how much to work, where to work, how to work, when to leave work. You probably have fat-assed, painted-up aunts in your office telling you where to go, what requests to make. They jerk you off every day, don’t they?

— Yes, as many as three pieces are sitting. Two of them are really fat-assed.

— There you go. I can roughly imagine this picture. We’ve been doing this for a long time. All these government offices are bottom-to-bottom. Inefficient, creepy. Think about it. You are now forced to obey women, and even more likely stupid, like traffic jams. And they obey their boss, a higher person who steals money in non-measured quantities, and then you don’t have spare parts to do repairs, you have a beggarly salary, you have to listen from tenants how much they pay for services and at the same time receive so little. And we still have impudent bastards who dare to claim that the people do not pay for 100% of services, that the state still pays something extra for all of us.

No, just think about it, what an impertinence, eh? And you’re in all this shit right now. You ask what to sell, where to start. Do you think you don’t know that yourself? You know everything. You will find something to do, something to trade, you are already kalymit, and you do not know what to do? Do you think I should know that?» The problem is not ignorance, but the fact that you are used to feeding by hand, like a dog on a chain. You put up with all sorts of nits because you’re not sure of yourself. I suggest you get really angry, get angry at the whole rotten system you’re in, at this shop of thieves, at all this rude people who don’t respect you. When you’re really angry, you’ll slam your fist down on the table and say you’ve had enough. And then you will immediately find out what to sell to you, who to sell to, where to sell and do it. Do you understand me?

— Yes, Dmitry, I understand.

— You can turn your experience and skills into a product that is in demand in society and sell it. These are both services and goods. You just need to organize yourself. Get off the chain. Get really mad, damn it! Get angry! Otherwise, your brain won’t work, you’ll be sitting in your swamp, working with drunks, cattle, thinking that you don’t know what else to do. You will submit to aunts with painted faces who will jerk youoff. Come on, get mad, get mad at all this shit. Otherwise, he doesn’t know what to sell. Yes, in our country, people are repaired all the way, this is what their whole life boils down to. Repair, repair, repair, repair, repair again, all their fucking sheds are trying to turn into palaces. Nothing else comes into their heads that they can spend money on. And you don’t know what to sell to such maniacs before repairs? You don’t know what to ask for money in a country where all the pipes are rotten? Oh, fuck it. You know that better than I do. Come on, think for yourself.

You’ve got a lot of money in your niche. And while they’re still stuck in the pockets of thieving bureaucrats, in the pockets of degenerate parasites who make people like you do the dirtiest work, while all they do is drink vodka in the baths, go to whores, and spend money in casinos. Do you want to keep feeding this trash?

— No, I don’t want to.

— Well, cut the crap. And don’t be afraid of anything. At first, things like trading, and even from yourself, seem difficult, because you are not used to them. But it is worth tinkering with one transaction, another, and the third, and you will eventually get used to the new order of actions, and your new business will become like a native one for you. First, you will offer services from yourself, buy goods cheaper, and sell more expensive, what you need to get, what people need, such as Japanese gaskets. Then you will open a company, hire other hard workers and fulfill orders. As long as you have the opportunity to do business, do it. What else is there to know, tell me? Everything is in plain sight. It’s terribly simple.

Legal issues will be solved for you, but what else is there to know? You can take an example from other such companies that already provide services that you can provide. See how they do it, what services they provide, what they sell, and do it yourself. This is the simplest, just take an example from others. Like a monkey, watch and repeat, watch and repeat. Just get off the chain first. As long as you feed by hand, you will always have doubts about what, how, and where. Your head doesn’t want to work while you have a paycheck. Otherwise, you wouldn’t ask me what you can sell in your niche.

— Good, Dmitry! Thank you, I understand everything!

«Well done! Well, what do you do? Dmitry said to another listener, round-faced and rosy-cheeked.

«I, I,» the man began to answer uncertainly, "well, I help carve meat at the market, carry carcasses, chop them.

«Yeah, that’s an interesting job. And by the look of you, it’s filling. I’m just kidding. So how’s the cape trade going?»

— In general, yes, normally the meat goes away. On weekends, we are especially good at negotiating, we have to chop meat all day.

«Okay, I get it. It is clear that you should always eat. This is a question for you: do you know where to get these carcasses cheaper, where you can buy them?

— I know where they’re coming from.

— Would you be able to order them for yourself at the purchase price, formally for yourself?

— I don’t know.

«Well, then, you weren’t interested. Ask around. You need to use the available features. You know something about this whole meat trade, so you can start by selling it. This is your element, right? It is better to start with something familiar. The point is to negotiate the purchase of meat at a favorable price. And then find those who can sell it at a margin that will be slightly lower than the store price. You don’t have to pay taxes, you don’t have to pay rent, and you don’t have to pay for other things.

By selling your meat to retail customers, even through friends or through ads, you can take all the revenue for yourself. Especially smart-ass people even manage to pass off such meat as their own, homemade, and drive it even more expensive than in the store, to those cranks who believe that their home-made meat is supposedly better. But I do not advise you to deceive people like that, there is no need for this, with a good reputation you will earn good money without cheating.

— I probably need to register my activities somehow? — a little confused asked the man.

«Not necessarily. To begin with, you can work informally, who will check the small turnover of a single person there. Bought-sold, bought-sold. You need to get involved. Most people fail in business because they want to create an awesome system right away, with high turnover, with all sorts of offices, business cards and other husks. But if you are not used to organizational activities, to solving all the tasks that an entrepreneur should solve, you will have a lot of jambs. And they’ll ruin you. Plus, you need to target the buyer. If you make it official, open a meat shop, or start working at the same market as an entrepreneur, who knows? Why will they have to buy it from you, and not from those who have been buying it for a hundred years?

— Well, if only the price is reduced and this attracts.

«Yeah, to the detriment of your profits. You can work for free, and dump, and also get fucked up with other merchants instead of cooperating with them. And fuck it. Why act clumsily? Start small, take your time, and build connections so that when you officially work with large volumes, you will be known by everyone who needs to know. And then you will register your activity, as it should be, you will become an entrepreneur. By then, you’ll have built up a customer base, and there won’t be any problems with customers. The main thing for you is to establish strong contacts with suppliers in order to get meat at a favorable price. And then, bam, you have your own business in this niche. Understood?

«Yes, I think I understand.

— OK. The issue is closed. Go ahead. Stop chopping meat, start chopping loot. Hey, hey, what are you doing inthe corner? Come here!» Dimitri turned to the man standing behind them, near the wall. «Come on, come on, don’t be afraid. Once you’ve come and paid, then tell me what you’re doing.» Otherwise, after the meeting, you will say that you have not learned anything and have not learned anything. And you won’t start doing anything.

«I work as an accountant,» the man said timidly.

«Yeah, an accountant, then. You count your money. Don’t be shy, come on, this isn’t a school for you, they don’t call you to the blackboard, they won’t give you a grade. Everything is simple here, you will either create a business and earn good money or you will not create it and will continue to mess with your numbers. Well, come on, think about what you could do yourself, without the help of an employer? What can you offer people?

«I don’t know, I can’t think of anything.

— Well, if you don’t know, you can start anywhere. Even from trading tomatoes on the market, even from trading real estate, stocks, software, medical equipment, women’s underwear. If you don’t want to do something specific, you can do anything. So you will only be guided by money. Buy cheaper, sell more expensive. You can calculate your profit, since you’re an accountant. You can start with mediation, if there is no initial capital to start your own business fully, if there is no money to buy something for the purpose of subsequent resale. However, if you start with, say, real estate, then there is not much need for capital. You can also organize accounting outsourcing if you don’t want to move away from the familiar occupation. What do you think?

«Yes, but I don’t really know where to start.»

— What’s there to know?» Let’s say you are an intermediary in the real estate trade, for example, let’s look at it. You find a person who has something that needs to be sold — an apartment, a room, a house, a share, or other property that cannot be moved, which is why it is real estate, and you offer him help in selling his property for a modest fee or without it at all. And then you put your interest on his property and look for a buyer to convince him to buy this property. Well, when you can, conditionally throw off 10% from the seller’s price and throw in interest for the buyer to fuck with the transaction from both. But it is so, details. And the main thing is what?

«Negotiate?»

«Well, you see, you know everything. Well done! Why did you come here then, you should already be doing business. Yes, the main thing is negotiations. The main thing is to convince the seller of the need for your services and convince the buyer to buy what you offer them. And so in any case. You don’t have to sell your own stuff. If you know how to communicate with people, convey information to them, you can sell other people’s goods as an intermediary, and you can sell anything you want. This is a simple type of business, very simple. But if it is more difficult to consider something that works on the same principles, then do you have an understanding of where to go next?

— Probably, it is necessary to expand the scope of activity?

— So, these are all common words. Be more specific. What should I do to move from such mediation to a more complex business?

— Should I open my own real estate agency?

— In general, yes, that’s right. Well done. You can think. If we consider this issue on the example of real estate trading, then this is exactly what it is: you can switch from working as a free realtor to your own real estate agency. The point is to attract other people to work for you, so that they already sell for you, so that you don’t personally run to each transaction, but send your own people. To do this, you need the skills of a manager. Then you can find a manager, delegate the necessary powers to him, in short, develop the business, which means building a pyramid, establishing new connections. And it all comes down to working with people. This is what a business looks like. It starts with simple work with people, when you negotiate with them to buy something from them or sell something to them.

And then everything becomes more complicated when you start hiring people, motivating them to work, delegating some of your powers to them, controlling their work, finding new business partners, and expanding sales markets. The highest level here is when you have everything set up, everything works automatically, when you control only a few people who manage everything. That is, it is managing a complex system. And the first step for you is to go out and sell something, something you haven’t sold yet. You can buy something for this purpose on favorable terms. You can, as I said, sell someone else’s property as an intermediary. In general, negotiate a deal with people. Start with the small deals that you can make.

«And then?»

— And then make a more complicated deal, more expensive, as the same intermediary. Join the chain of intermediaries if you see such an opportunity. Work with people, communicate with them, sell them yourself and your services. Here’s your first step. Don’t you realize that where there’s more money, it’s harder to work with people? Go in that direction. Negotiate with serious people, make more and more expensive contracts, and make sure that your language makes you rich. Not everyone can be negotiated and not everything, but you try. Go to people and offer yourself to them, offer yourself until they agree to cooperate with you. And so on from simple transactions to complex ones, then to even more complex ones, and again, and again.

Deals are both simple and complex, so that’s what you need to tune in to. See if your neighbor wants to sell his old car, help him do it, sell it a little more expensive, take the difference for yourself. And then someone wants to sell a yacht or sign a contract for the construction of airplanes, and you have to help them in this, you have to move towards making more complex deals. You have to sell. Tell me, do you know how to sell?»

— I’ve never done much of this before. So, in general terms, only if.

«Damn it, accountant, what are you babbling about? Are we born merchants or something? Books, articles, seminars, trainings, lectures, whatever else we have, go and study this topic using all the materials available to you. See how other salespeople work and observe their experience. Take the best from them and use it in your work. Write down your experience so that you can push all successful actions to one side in order to use them in the future, and unsuccessful ones to the other to avoid them.

One day, some experienced trader or just a smart person will collect all the successful trading techniques, relying on both their own and other people’s experience, deduce important laws from them and describe them in one book, so that every novice and experienced trader will master this great art with its help. I think such a book could be called something like this: «The Great Laws of Trade | Important Laws of Trade | Golden Laws of Trade». This book would become a real bible of the merchant, and therefore of the businessman, entrepreneur. But so far there is nothing like this. Therefore, you need to collect knowledge from different sources. Learn and practice.

At this point, Dmitry decided to end his communication with people, suggesting that everyone else, whose situations he did not understand, think about what they can start systematically selling right now, on their own.

«Think, my friends, think! Dmitry said finally. — In business, you need to think. The goal is clear to you, I’ve already chewed it well enough. Now think about how to achieve it. Here in business, everything changes very often. There are no rules that are valid for all times and have no exceptions. Today one approach to people works, tomorrow another, the day after tomorrow the third, and then again the one that was the very first will work. Use different approaches to making deals, and with experience, you will be able to separate useful techniques of communicating with people from harmful ones. And learn to approach many people. You will make a lot of profitable deals and become rich. What I wish you from the bottom of my heart.

Overcoming the crisis

Any economy of any country can at one point face a crisis. Constant growth is impossible, and there will always be a downturn in one of these periods, because the economy is cyclical. Economic cycles are periodic fluctuations in business activity ranging from boom to bust. So, whatever one may say, the crisis cannot be avoided. The causes of the crisis vary, but it can be particularly hard for a non-flexible economy, for example, based only on the sale of natural resources. This is exactly what happened in one large country that was facing a severe economic crisis that arose for a number of reasons, both internal and external.

The President of this country gathered his best advisers from various fields of activity, especially from the field of economics, in order to use them to understand the reasons for what is happening and find a way out of this difficult situation. When the main meeting was over, he dismissed them all, leaving only one, the most reliable and loyal adviser, whom he could fully trust, knowing that he would not pour honey in his ears to appease, but would tell everything as it is. With him, he decided to continue communicating on this topic in order to decide on the final decision on how to get out of the crisis.

— Well, my loyal adviser, only you can enlighten me on the true reasons for what is happening and help me find really correct solutions to solve our economic problems — " the president said hopefully to the man he had known for many years as a dedicated specialist.

— Mr. President, I’ll tell you everything I know. Over the past few months, I have been collecting various information about the state of affairs in our economy, as well as in the world, in order to properly analyze everything and provide you with the most realistic picture of what is happening. Although the whole world is shaking now, it is quite obvious that our situation is much worse than that of most other countries in the world.

— Damn it, well, just started to build up fat, selling resources at high prices, investing this money in various internal projects and on you, the crisis, and even the default is planned. Why did this happen? Why can’t all our projects that we have invested in generate additional income, and why are they unprofitable? Why are we still so dependent on selling resources?

«There is no order, Mr. President. They drink, steal, everything, as always. The money actually went to the treasury, and we used it to pay for many promising projects in the country, but most of this money was stolen, as a result of which the effectiveness of projects was extremely low. And some of them were never implemented. All high-tech and high-tech projects have stalled and, in fact, remained only on paper. Infrastructure projects have also proved ineffective. Suffice it to say that our roads are golden, as are our bridges and much more. As a result of such monstrous theft and inefficient spending of funds, only very few people, including those close to you, were able to fill their pockets. While all the others, the same ordinary hard workers, as well as small and medium-sized businesses have not gone far. Some people have cheap salaries, while others are now going broke, which is why the supply of goods and services in the market is even more reduced and prices are growing even faster.

— Well, let’s not touch the entourage yet. You know, these are all respected people who helped us get back on our feet. Of course, they have big appetites, but there are not so many of them to rake everything under themselves and because of this worsen the situation in the country. I’ll talk to them separately. And as for the rest of us, who have lost all their banks, including people from natural monopolies who have become too much of a thief, тоwhere are our valiant organs, of which we have a great many? Why don’t they keep order, because we pay them well?

— You see, for a long time there was negative selection, which led to their high corruption. After all, we needed the loyalty of the law enforcement agencies, maximum loyalty, as you yourself said, so that everything worked smoothly, and no one was against your policy. And we were given this food by the most, frankly, black sheep, just to get to a warm place. Such and native mother will sell for various indulgences. As a result, they began to surround themselves with the same sycophants who do not know how to work at all and do not want to, but they perfectly curry favor with their superiors. The mechanism worked smoothly, but not in the right direction.

And all those who honestly performed their duty, they simply survived. Why should they catch criminals, corrupt officials, thieves, when you can steal and profit with them? And corruption, as we know — is the enemy of order. So much for the mess. Now we have a herd of mostly black sheep, which, if you’re lucky, you can find a couple of normal light heads that you can rely on. But this is clearly not enough. So thieves of different ranks feel very comfortable now.

— How did all this work before? They used to steal too, but something was done about it.

— You see, when it rained gold on us by selling resources at a high price, the low efficiency was offset by a huge waste. Two-thirds of the incoming funds were actually stolen, but at least one-third was done. Everyone who could, ate too much, but at the same time did something so as not to lose their place. Now that their incomes have declined several times, their appetites have remained the same, and their greed has overwhelmed their instinct for self-preservation. They began to steal godlessly, so as not to reduce their standard of living, the habit is a terrible force, and the fear of losing their place or slaughtering a hen laying golden eggs receded.

Greed makes a person mad. Habit robs him of flexibility. They also continue to work inefficiently, continue to steal and take bribes, not wanting to lower their standard of living, but the economy is no longer able to satisfy their incredible appetites. They’re like locusts eating up everything. As a result, we have «Potemkin villages» instead of real cases. Well, the impoverished population, unemployment, bankruptcy. The system stopped working properly. The country is being eaten away by thieves and corrupt officials, like an apple by worms. In difficult times, you can’t swim with such people, because they don’t want to row at all.

— What about the oligarchs? Do they make any investments within the country? We have given them a lot to keep order in individual industries.

— Unfortunately, Mr. President, no. Although they promised you that they would develop everything, in fact, all their investments are modest investments in the most necessary things to maintain the efficiency of the enterprises under their control. In fact, they exploit what they have got, without building anything new. And they withdraw huge amounts of money abroad, because they believe that they will be better preserved there.

«Those bastards. Oh, my gosh, friends. At least through one hang up. It seems that he gave many large assets into the hands of his people who can be trusted, but it turns out that they are just as unreliable as those from whom we previously took these assets.

— It turns out so, Mr. President.

— What can you advise me to do to stabilize the situation? — with sadness in his eyes, the president asked, realizing the tragedy of the situation.

— Personnel changes are needed. It is necessary to remove loyal, but harmful and useless dogs, and put in their places those who know what to do and who will work on their conscience, and not on their own pocket. Not just for your own pocket. Not a single state institution really works in our country — the courts are all corrupt, the investigation is corrupt, and law enforcement officers, along with bandits, are engaged in protecting businesses. Nothing really works anywhere. Either you have to solve problems manually, or you don’t solve them at all.

Mr. President, thieves are not capable of creativity in principle. And now people in the country do not feel safe, business is not sure about the future, so no development, no investment. In such a clearing, nothing worthwhile can be grown. It is necessary to remove destroyers and looters, no matter how loyal they are, and put business managers. There is no other way. It may be harder to negotiate with the latter, but they will do the job.

— And what do we get?» What exactly is different from such permutations?

— First of all, order. More order. State institutions will start working, there will be certainty, everyone will play by clear and clear rules that will not be revised to please individuals. Compliance with these rules will be monitored by decent personnel who will punish anyone who does not comply with them, and not make allowances for bribes. The society will have confidence in the future and an understanding of what can be done and what can not be done. And not like now, when you can do anything if you have money. This is a barbaric way of life. When people know that if they start playing by the rules, then everything will be fine for them, no one will do anything to them and no one will take anything away from them. Their property will be protected. And if they break the rules, they will definitely be punished, they will not agree with anyone. Then your own business will come to life, and investors will reach out with their money and projects.

«Investors?» Do we need them? Can you support your own business, set up your own production facilities, so as not to depend so much on resources and prevent similar crises in the future? Investors come and go, but their own production facilities remain.

— This is a very wise decision, Mr. President. And this idea should definitely be implemented. But we also need investors. And it’s not just about their money, not just about the projects that they can implement here, as they say, on their own responsibility. These people will also keep our business and our production in suspense, so that they do not relax here. We now have weak competition within the market, as the rich have practically crushed all profitable niches, they have monopolized everything, as a result of which the quality of their products and the price are extremely unprofitable for customers. And at the same time, if it were not for imports, all these things would cost much more, which means they would be inaccessible to the majority of the population.

You can see for yourself that our production, what little there is, is practically incapable of offering anything smart to the world about foreign markets. And if we want our business to compete on an equal footing with the global business, and not lag somewhere behind, collecting crumbs, we need them to learn how to compete at least in the domestic market, first of all. This requires foreign investors, foreign companies that will create competition in the domestic market.

«Yes, you are right, my wise adviser. We need competition. The business must be strong. And to support it, we will then support it with tax breaks and soft loans. So that they have at least some advantage in the domestic market. But without wiping your ass. Otherwise, the oligarchs have already been wiped out, and they are taking everything they earn over the hill.

— That’s right, support is needed, but you should not get involved in protectionism, at least until it is necessary. First, you need to grow world-class companies, and only then, if necessary, then cover them up to prevent them from dying. And let them gain strength with minimal help, otherwise they will never learn how to work.

— Well, what about thieves and corrupt officials? How to deal with them, how best to change frames? Start planting?

— Mr. President, rigidity can be harmful. All these fat cats, all these big officials, they, of course, have appropriated a lot of things for themselves and allow themselves a lot. But if we start to shake them up, start punishing them harshly, it may drag on. Violence provokes new violence; the desire to take does not lead to the desire to create. It is always easy to take away and divide. But then no one will be sure that tomorrow everything will not be taken away from them and divided. People who live in fear become passive. And we just need activity, we need people to work, create, create. We will intimidate people, they will steal even more and withdraw money more actively abroad. And this will be done by quite normal people who have nothing to fear, but because of the confusion they will get scared and run. No one wants to link their life with a country where everything can be taken away from them, and they can put them in jail.

— What’s the best course of action?»

— In order to get off the resource needle painlessly and without serious shocks and at the same time pacify fat cats who shamelessly steal, we need to smoothly create new forces in the country for internal, first of all, competition and struggle. We need to create an environment in which corrupt officials, thieves, and bandits simply cannot exist normally. To do this, you need to weaken your own positions, giving active people the opportunity to fight with those in whose places they are aiming.

— what? I don’t understand you, dear Councilman.

— Mr. President, if you read the history, which I have been doing for a long time, in order to provide you with the most practical advice, we will learn that the stronger and stronger the state, the more power it has, the more it is concentrated in certain hands, the higher the level of corruption in this state. There are no opposing forces inside the country that would limit each other. So thrive on such a soil thieves and bandits who have attached themselves to the vertical of power you have built. Without the development of political competition and civil society, we will not be able to create conditions for the emergence of those forces that will themselves suppress these thieves and corrupt officials.

— Are you suggesting that I create a political competitor for myself, share power with him, so that he fights against corrupt officials who are eating away at our society?

«Not exactly. I do not in any way allow the idea of weakening your power in any way, dear President. I propose to create an illusion of political struggle, an illusion of freedom, human rights, and democracy, so that people, believing in their own capabilities, begin to fight for the places that corrupt officials are currently doing, fighting them. There should be forces that will fight for power, which will expose thieves and corrupt officials, which we will then punish, as it should be, according to the law. If you’ve been caught stealing, answer me. You were not discovered by us, you were discovered by the same people, only politically active, who, fighting evil, strive for popularity in society in order to gain political weight at the expense of it.

People will understand that there are no repressions in the country, no purges, no monopoly on power, they will understand that the fight against breaking the law is carried out according to the law, that no one can steal, that corruption is punishable. Free journalists will dig under all those who break the law, will monitor the work of law enforcement agencies, which we will slowly begin to clean up from those who condone lawlessness and lawlessness. If you get caught, you’ll be punished. Let them squabble with each other, let them clean up state institutions from each other. Only to do this, people must belong to different political forces. And we need to create them.

— Well, if this political opponent of mine gains strength and makes me a real competitor, what should I do?

— We’ll frame him. And remove it. Everyone has sins. And if they don’t exist, they can be arranged. People are vicious. Therefore, when he does his job, we will simply remove him from the political arena, discrediting his activities. We’ll collect dirt on him, put it up, and remove it. And in his place we will put a new fighter for justice.

«Wise. Well, I trust you, my adviser, and I find your advice wise. Where do we start?

— Let’s start creating competition in business for now. We need to attract new people to it, as well as strengthen those who already compete with the current monopolies.

— Who will we attract to the business?

— Yes, in general, the entire active population. It’s time to teach people to feed themselves, and not to climb on the neck of the state. We have a lot of state employees in the country, many of whom just sit on their pants on a robot, doing a completely meaningless task. And sometimes harmful. They are not only a burden on the budget, but also breed like rabbits, in a figurative sense, of course. They drag their children to public positions, who may have a purchased education, who can’t do a damn thing and don’t know it. They put a bum in there, they put a bum in here, and as a result, there are more drones, and there are few hard workers, and even more so entrepreneurs. Of course, they can provide us with political support, but they don’t feed us. They are like hungry chicks — they open their mouths and ask, ask, ask. After the previous regime, there are a lot of such people left. They don’t work, they go to work. Let them start their own business, we will give them all the necessary freedoms and privileges for this.

— Yes, but how can you set them all up for such a thing, it’s like teaching an old dog new tricks?

— We probably won’t retrain old dogs, of course. When people in their twenties don’t turn on their heads, they completely lose their ability to learn. However, this is a controversial statement. Because if you want to eat, you’ll start thinking and moving. But this is not a fundamental point, old people can live modestly if they do not want to change. But we have to deal with young people. They don’t need to go to budget places. We have a lot of people from twenty to thirty-five or forty who can form a new army of entrepreneurs who will not only cause a stir inside the country, bringing monopolists from heaven to earth, but will also go to capture world markets. You just need to teach them the art of trading, so that they know how to win the market, how to sell what talented people can produce here.

— And who will teach them that?»

— There is a person in our country who successfully implements his projects, especially his most important project — a financial pyramid, which he calls an investment fund. He manages to collect huge amounts of money from people, promising them untold riches in return. Of course, the idea itself, although legitimate, is rather fraudulent and we don’t need it as such. But his ability to convince people of different status to give him their money is impressive. He definitely has a lot to teach our future army of entrepreneurs. If they can also influence people, both inside and outside the country, we can sell a lot of the best we create. Our country will follow the path of entrepreneurship, when people will be able to decide for themselves what to produce, in what quantities and where to sell it. We have a lot to offer the world. But we don’t know how to sell at all. We need to learn.

«Oh, that’s the one, Dmitri Ivanovich, I think his name is, right?» Is he the one who is so adept at trading his obligations?

«Yes, he is. According to some sources, he is the richest man in the country, or certainly one of the richest. And the lion’s share of wealth is brought to him by his pyramid, and not by trading resources, as is the case with other oligarchs. He even attracted foreign investors to his pyramid scheme. A vivid example of how to sell. Otherwise, our peasant has grown potatoes, but he is not smart enough to sell them correctly. Because of this, he does not receive a profit, does not invest in his business, does not increase the harvest. And here a person sells air and very successfully.

«All right, get him over here. Let’s talk to him.

The next day, the adviser personally went to meet with Dmitry Ivanovich in order to promptly deliver him to the president. After apologizing in advance for distracting a business person from business, he suggested that he arrive at the specified place in the evening. In the evening of the next day, Dmitry appeared before the president, who shook his hand and offered to talk about his future business.

— Dmitry Ivanovich, judging by our data, you are one of the richest people in the country, if not the richest. And although you have shares in resource companies, the lion’s share of your wealth was brought to you by your company «AI», according to our data, which is not so much an investment fund as you imagine it, but a financial pyramid. Is this correct?

— That’s right, Mr. President. Just let me say that this is my brainchild absolutely legal, I do not violate anything. I do attract investments, but I manage them in a way that is not quite familiar, but quite legal.

— We know, we know. You’re all clear. But we have invited you here not to discuss the purity of your business, but to understand how you manage to attract people’s attention to it and use this ability in the interests of the state.

— I am always ready to help the Motherland, Mr. President!

«That’s commendable. As you can see, Dmitry Ivanovich, the country is in crisis right now. Prices for the resources we trade have fallen, but budget expenditures have remained the same. The dependence of our economy on resources was and remains very high. Such an economy is, of course, yesterday’s day, if not the day before yesterday, let’s put it bluntly. But what is, is. However, as we now understand, things should be different. The instinct of self-preservation forces us to start living in a new way, making our economy more modern.

We will try to get off the resource needle. To do this, we need to create more entrepreneurs in the country who will be able to create competitive products and sell them successfully inside and outside the country. We will discuss production with our production staff. But we want to ask you to teach the first batch of future entrepreneurs the basics of trading. Since you’re selling air to people, then teach this skill to those who will sell something more useful and tangible. And don’t tell me anything about your business. Just tell me, can you teach people how to trade?

— Yes, Mr. President, I can. Whatever you say, I’ll do it. All I have to do is reach out to a wide audience, and I will do everything in my power to help the country.

— OK. We will provide you with access to people. But let’s start small-with a consultation of existing entrepreneurs in our meeting room. First, explain to them how to attract people to your business and how to properly market your products and services. And then we’ll see.

That was settled. A week later, Dmitry Ivanovich was supposed to consult business representatives in the presidential hall.

New business

A week later, as agreed, active representatives of small, medium — sized businesses and even a few people from large businesses gathered in the presidential palace, where the president usually holds meetings with his ministers. All of them were mainly manufacturing workers, some of whom exported their products abroad, while others worked in the domestic market. There were also young ambitious people who wanted to start their own business, whom the president himself selected for future large-scale projects.

Some of the older entrepreneurs looked less than happy and whispered to each other that some financial con artist would teach them how to do their job. So Dmitry Ivanovich entered the hall, greeted everyone in a friendly manner, and began his speech.

«Gentlemen, my compliments! Many of you are smart and respected people in our country, professionals in your field, and good managers. Others of you are just starting out on the path of entrepreneurship, thinking about how to create something that will make them rich in such conditions. I’m not going to encroach on your professionalism and competence in any way with my performance, I’m not going to teach you how to do your job. You know more about your business than I do. But since I happen to be the richest person in our country at the moment, and I achieved this mainly by attracting people’s money to my investment fund, in fact, by trading air, I believe that it will not be superfluous for you to learn how else you can sell what you have. what you create to have the same great success.

You need to create a decent competition for our monopolists within the country and, if possible, capture foreign markets in order to expand your economic influence. Since our country is in a crisis, we will learn how to get out of it together, sharing useful experience with each other. And with your permission, I will share with you my experience of working with people, my sales experience.

The audience nodded approvingly, seeing such a respectful attitude.

— My idea to create an investment fund came to me not by chance. I read a lot about how people raised money for their projects in the past and realized that asking is a great art. It’s not about what you ask people for money, it’s about how you do it. As the famous scripture says: ask and it will be given to you. It’s also a way to sell people everything they can sell. You give me money, I give you something in return, in this case, the dream of wealth, the dream of big money, the dream of protecting your savings. I promised people that, and they believed me. Most of us have always had a desire to save and increase our money. But how? So I gave people this opportunity. In words. I’ve learned that if you get rid of the fear of giving up their money for something, they’ll be happy to give it to you in return for what you offer them. People want to spend money, but sometimes they are afraid, very afraid. We need to rid them of this fear. Then it will be much easier for them to buy something from you.

I did this by simply explaining the logic of investing in my company to people. To those who are simpler, I explained this emotionally, repeating it many times, so that their money would not disappear anywhere, but only multiply. I described a beautiful life to them, very, very simply. I told them that there was nothing to be afraid of. And for those who are smarter, I explained the principle of my pyramid so that they understand that this is not some kind of vacuum cleaner that sucks in their money, but a very complex intellectual system that redistributes funds in society in a certain way, and does not steal them. There are many countries in the world that live in debt. Some of them simply have a monstrous national debt, but they nevertheless pay it off perfectly, mainly by attracting new funds and feel great. Their economy is developing, they produce a lot of things and they are not afraid to lend money, because they know that this money will be returned, along with interest. People believe that. And so it happens. Let’s not go into all the subtleties of such debts, in which there is nothing terrible, this is not an economics lesson.

I’m just showing you that you need to take people out of their fear of working with you by telling them anything so long as they’re not afraid of anything. Then it will be easier for them to start working with you. This applies to both ordinary consumers and large business partners. Why is our country not given money in debt in the same amount as it is given to developed countries? Because they don’t believe that this money will be returned. The activities of our country do not inspire confidence, our economy looks primitive, inefficient and unpromising. It’s scary to invest in it. So I suggest that you think about why the people you work with might be afraid to pay you money. You also have your own scaring factors.

Think about how to neutralize their impact, how to instill in people the belief that working with you first of all is not scary, and only then it is profitable. What they may not be sure about, what they may be confused about, what they may not understand. Find the right words to smooth it all out. Can anyone share their experience of dealing with this fear of their customers? I’ll use an example to explain what can be done here and how.

One bearded man held up two fingers to indicate that he wanted to speak. And when Dmitry nodded his approval of this wish, the man said the following:

— Our company produces refrigerating equipment, both for domestic needs and for export. Our quality is acceptable, and the price seems to be the same. Although the buyer is always haggling, especially when it comes to large lots. But this is not a problem for us, we agree. But what is really a problem, one of the problems that we face and that causes fear among our customers, which you are talking about, is the problem with deliveries. And it doesn’t depend on us. Our logistics chains are well established, but as soon as we send a batch of our products abroad, problems arise with customs. The goods are partially paid for, the customer is waiting for them, and customs detains these goods under various pretexts until the circumstances are clarified.

As a result, people abroad are afraid to deal with us, because they are not sure that the goods will be delivered on time or at all. One party was delayed, two were delayed, well, who needs such nerves? Do you need to explain why our product is delayed and what can be done here? And this problem is also present in the domestic market in a slightly different form.

— I understand you. They demand money from you for the movement of goods. A corrupt bureaucracy creates supply problems for you to make you pay. And you need to pay bribes to make everything work.

— And note that each time the amount is different. There is no certainty here. They are taken literally from the ceiling. Give them the money and that’s it. As much as they want. The people who do this mess don’t even want to know how our business works and that we don’t have a gold mine to satisfy all their desires every time. Just imagine how we have to include all these additional costs in the price of the product. How will we compete in the foreign market if we need to feed so many racketeers? I can’t call them anything else.

— Let’s put it bluntly, to date, state feudalism has been formed in our country. All these local tsars who have their own fief, they, of course, create a lot of problems. I know I have the same leeches. But now they will work with it. And all these issues will be resolved. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have gathered us here. The system will change. So, discuss this issue with the person who invited you here, he will explain everything.

In this case, I will help you learn how to neutralize this fear of cooperation with you that your clients experience, for any reason. This is the problem that you mentioned, and you don’t need to discuss it with your clients, just as a problem that partially does not depend on you. Yes, there are and may be delays, all this, you can say that you are in control, you will deal with all this, and it is not necessary to draw conclusions about working with you because of individual cases. Promise to solve all these problems. It’s part of your job. Yes, you never know what can happen, the war will start tomorrow, a meteorite will fall to earth, the sun will go out, then no guarantees will help. Even without the problems you described, you can’t guarantee your customers anything 100%.

But you need to create the illusion of such a guarantee, assuring people that everything will be fine, that you will solve all the problems if they arise. Even if you mess up ten deliveries out of ten, still say that this time everything will be fine, and if any unforeseen, precisely unforeseen, fucking circumstances arise, you will deal with them. Show your clients that you take responsibility for yourself, and do not refer to the problems of the state, customs, or other things that are beyond your control. This is what scares people the most — the seller’s withdrawal of responsibility for their work, for their obligations. You know what I mean.

«Look, what a thimble game this is. We work with serious people who draw conclusions about cooperation with us not from our words, but by looking at our actions, how we fulfill our obligations. And you suggest to me to hang noodles on their ears, a sort of NewVasyuki to offer them, instead of specific guarantees. This isn’t serious, I’m sorry.

«Well, I see you don’t understand me yet. Then let’s go from the other side. What’s your name?»

— Sergey Valeryevich.

— OK. This is a question for you, Sergey Valeryevich: you are an experienced, serious, pragmatic person, and neither an ordinary layman who believes in all sorts of fairy tales will be able to talk to you so easily. And yet, you are doing business in a country that has hitherto been guilty of such things as these. And this is not her only sin. And bandits, and the law enforcement system, completely corrupt, and corrupt courts and even manual courts, and an unstable national currency, what do you call it? Is this a guarantee for you? But you still work, run a business, didn’t sell your company and didn’t go somewhere where there is more order. You even invest something in your company, don’t you? So you believe in something, hope for something?

— I’m working while it’s working. Naturally, I will close if it is impossible to work at all.

— Wait a second, but you can’t guarantee that tomorrow you won’t be, say, jailed on a far-fetched case and your business won’t be taken away? Why aren’t you afraid of this?

— I hope it doesn’t come to that. It’s not exactly bad here. And you say that everything will be different now.

«Exactly. I’m talking. And I’m not even the president, and I have nothing to do with the government at all. But you are already referring to my words. You see them as a guarantee for yourself, a guarantee that you can still do business here. You hope because you have been given such hope. Others are running like hell. And you hope. And that’s what I’m talking about. All our guarantees are not real. We invent them ourselves and believe in them. Even our esteemed president, when he speaks to the country, tells people like you and me that everything will be fine, that life will improve. And we, so reasonable and pragmatic, believe in it. For what else can we do but believe? He’ll press us down, we’ll leave, but for now we believe in him. Here I am telling you about this faith. You need to create it in the minds of your customers, so that they are not afraid of anything.

What the hell guarantees can there be if the business itself is risky. We invent them, these guarantees, to reassure ourselves and others, and to act, and not to sit idly by. Be afraid of wolves — do not go to the forest. We buy and sell at risk, but if we believe that everything will be fine, we do not think about this risk. Think about it again. No need for these explanations — customs, officials, law enforcement officers, bandits, you never know who interferes with doing business. Radiate confidence, optimism, take responsibility for yourself and promise that everything will be fine. Calm people down and relieve their fear by reassuring them that you have everything under control and that they will trust you. They will not be afraid, they will start to trust. I hope you understand me now.

— I’ll have to think about what you’re saying.» I can see that this is pure psychology, but I’m not very familiar with it. You need to think carefully about everything in order to tune in to such a wave. Thank you for your help!

«Please!» So the fear was dealt with. People should not be afraid to cooperate with you, take care of it. Less verbal problems and more optimism.

Now let’s move on to the culture of collaboration. We still have big problems with this. I see this both as an entrepreneur, just like you, and as a consumer. Let’s face it, you gentlemen have been used to working with cattle for a long time. No competition, no noble and demanding buyer who demands to be treated with respect, you are simply not accustomed to working with people.

I don’t speak for everyone, but anyone who knows such a sin will understand. As a result, according to the law of feedback, you yourself have turned, sorry, into a redneck. At least when it comes to working with non-cultural people. You respond to aggression with aggression, to rudeness with rudeness. You have developed a corresponding psychology due to working with low-quality clients. And to compete, especially in the international arena, to win markets, you must be able to find a way to the heart of both those people who own attractive markets for you, so that they let you in, and those who graze in these markets, that is, consumers. Tell me, how do you see your work with clients and partners? And how do you think we should behave with them?

«The way they behave to us! The thin man said confidently, glaring at Dimitri to show that he didn’t like what he was hearing. — You’re teaching us how to lick the ass of our clients and partners so that they can completely crush us later. You are like not from this life. It is necessary to show weakness and immediately everyone will pounce. Reduce prices for some, provide guarantees for others, and do something else for others. Yes, we should be doing charity work, not business, if we listen to you.

— That’s exactly what I’m talking about. This kind of militaristic rhetoric is a distinctive feature of our mentality. Not only ours, of course, but in this case we are interested in our people and you in particular. You don’t know how to resolve conflict and pre-conflict situations in a non-aggressive way. You’re not much of a diplomat. Let’s face it. What do you do?

— Trade in construction materials, mainly building mixes, which are manufactured under patents. We sell the same cement not only within the country, but also in the nearest foreign countries we supply it in quite large quantities. And without any diplomacy, I want to note, we are coping, having been increasing production for the third year now.

«Good, good. I do not deny your merits. No need to defend yourself that you immediately cringe. I’m just pointing out what you can improve. In vain that I carry this knowledge in myself. Let’s look at your case this way. Here you say that customers themselves are good, so they deserve to be treated accordingly. Tell me, did your deals break down due to such conflicts with customers?

— Yes, of course, it has happened and happens. Those who want too much end up with nothing. We don’t make deals with too problematic customers.

— Then think about what would happen if these transactions took place, how much money you would earn and how this would affect the development of your business. Think about the opportunities that were missed due to such conflicts. And answer my question: do you agree that it would be better to conclude a deal with these people, of course, on mutually beneficial terms, than not to conclude it at all?

— On mutually beneficial terms, yes. It is clear that it would be better to reach an agreement if they were not so problematic.

«I see. Did you personally have conflicts with these people, or did your employees try their best first, the same managers?

— It started with the employees, continued with me, and ended with me. Serious issues are always decided by me personally. Naturally, I will take the side of my employee if he comes across an aggressive client. Money is money, but we are all one team, protecting and supporting each other, protecting our business. As they say, those who come to us in peace, we behave normally and work normally with them. And whoever comes with a sword, we punish him with a sword.

— Have you personally checked how your managers work, how they communicate with customers, how they respond to aggression, how they respond in general? Spying on them?

— We do this selectively. As part of the professional development of employees. And in problematic cases, they didn’t really communicate with clients, just stopped communicating if the client started to get angry or sent him to me when it was a serious client. And I was convinced that they were inadequate people, aggressive. And treated them accordingly.

«I understand. This means that you don’t constantly monitor the work of your salespeople. And you don’t always know what they say to their customers. Well, I can say that you may not know much about it. I personally regularly check the work of my salespeople. I check their communication with people for aggressiveness and hostility. I can’t trust anyone with such a check, only myself. Because our people are so used to hostile rhetoric that they don’t even notice it, either for themselves or for others. And normal people are scared off by it, they feel it and they feel bad from communicating with hostile sellers.

Do you know what’s most important? I study the work of salespeople in other companies. I call them and ask them questions, including provocative ones, and see what they answer. Don’t ask me why I’m doing this, it’s a trade secret. So, you know what I see every time? Aggression, anger, rudeness, ridicule, ignoring the opinions of customers — this is, if not in an obvious way, then it is felt in the work of many sellers. It’s as if they’re on pins and needles and want to go for the customer’s throat because deep down they hate them. But they are restraining themselves, they also need to look polite.

I repeat, aggression and violence are a distinctive feature of our culture. You may not agree with me on this, but I think so. We are an aggressive people, and we love to commit violence against anyone we can. That’s why this shit is spreading to businesses. And you can feel it. You know, I feel it. Out of ten companies, seven will definitely be aggressive. Someone obviously lashes out at you, and someone creates tension in communication and this leaves a heavy residue. This is a serious problem, gentlemen, believe me. I wouldn’t be as successful as I am if I were the same. I am kind to people, even if I communicate with outright cattle. And this is bearing fruit.

«But we’re trading here, too,» one of the listeners remarked. — If we with our clients and partners understand each other, communicating in the language of aggression, as you say, is it such a problem if there is a result?

— If it wasn’t a problem that affects trading, and therefore profits, I wouldn’t talk about it. Even if you are used to such communication, even if other people are used to it, but there are also those who do not want such an attitude towards themselves. You scare them off. And you can’t even imagine how much money you’re losing out on it. Yes, you sell, but you can sell many times more if you learn to communicate in a more diplomatic and friendly way. And what about the foreign market that I need to prepare you for? There is such aggression, such hostility is very noticeable. Even if the price is low, you will not compensate for this negative radiation. Many people who grew up in a free society, who have a sense of self-esteem, who respect themselves, they will simply refuse to cooperate with you. Therefore, if you know such a sin behind you, you need to stop with it.

Do you know why I see and feel all this, all this aggressiveness of our business? I grew up in a good family, kind and loving. We didn’t live very well, but we had a very peaceful family, apart from distant relatives. I don’t know why, but that’s exactly how it turned out. And I was imbued with this peaceful family culture, a culture of kindness and mutual respect, love and understanding, I was terribly used to it and thought that the whole world lives like this. Even the anger I encountered at school did not neutralize this expectation of good from the whole world, which I saw through the prism of my family.

And then, as I grew up and became more and more exposed to the culture of our entire society, I saw this aggressiveness of our people. I had something to compare it with. I noticed that we are not so much able to persuade, interest and want, not so much trying to find common ground, but rather to suppress, humiliate, intimidate, bend, or even completely crush, destroy a person. They strive to do everything through force, everything through violence, like animals. And this is so common. This has become the norm for us.

And that’s how people in the trade work. You, as managers, may not be aware of this, but your staff, your managers, cashiers, salespeople of various levels, and the support service can work exactly as I say, with a hostile attitude towards people. But someone deliberately teaches their staff to defend the interests of the company through rigidity, aggression, pressure, rudeness. And people think it’s the right thing to do. That’s the way it should be. Because they don’t know anything else. So I want to ask you, do you now understand what you can do with this problem, can you tell me what you need to learn in order to solve this problem?

«Probably good, as you say,» came the reply from the audience. — Like: love your client like yourself.

«That’s a good idea. But it’s abstract. More specifically, you need to study diplomacy, diplomacy. I’m not talking about the kind of diplomacy that deals with foreign policy and often snarls or sneers at representatives of the other side. God forbid you should be such diplomats. Turn everyone against you. I’m talking about normal diplomacy, when conflict situations can be resolved with the help of words, when negotiators try to understand each other, and not bull and banter. I advise you to devote your time to this art. Diplomacy is an alternative to aggression and hostility. And at the same time, if you personally notice a chronic aggressiveness, then be sure to go to a psychologist’s appointment and work with him on this problem. Believe me, there will be a lot of benefits.

I occasionally arrange group therapy sessions for my salespeople so that they can learn to maintain their composure in stressful situations. We invite the best specialists for this purpose. And this is bearing fruit. People think of us as kind and sympathetic. And mind you, the rednecks haven’t eaten us yet for our kindness. But he is willing to give us his money.

Taking a small pause to allow the audience time to digest the information, Dmitry continued his speech.

— Well, now, gentlemen, let’s talk with you about another national problem that prevents us from making serious money, but it also helps people to move up the career ladder and occupy high positions, not only in business, but also in politics, in any hierarchical structure of our system in general. This is about unprofessionalism. Yes, yes, you heard right. Non-professionals are now held in high esteem. Let’s not deceive ourselves, we have many responsible positions in business and not only in it occupied by such unprofessional people, I would even say, gray personalities, which sometimes do more harm than good. What do they bribe with? Sycophancy, of course. And you can even say its squalor.

These are the people we love, but the smart ones we fear, hate, and envy, so we keep them away from us. Whereas a wise leader should surround himself with just the same more intelligent people than himself and use their intelligence for the benefit of his business. But you’re afraid of that. Come on, admit it to me. You are surrounded by non-professionals because you are more comfortable with them.

The hall was silent. No one tried to challenge Dmitry’s statement, but at the same time, it was clear from the faces of people that they did not agree with him. Without waiting for any questions or comments, Dmitry explained his words.

— You see, we are a complex nation. We are not sure of ourselves. This explains, among other things, our aggressiveness, which we also demonstrate for self-defense. It’s like we’re telling other nations that if they try to get in our way, we’ll kill them all. Because we consider ourselves worse than them, because we can’t put things in order, so we intimidate them. Because of our insecurities, we are not so much focused on ourselves, not on our own affairs, as on the people around us, to whom we want to prove something, about whose lives we think more than about our own. This affects both politics and the personal lives of the majority of our citizens.

Now we will show the West how to put it in its place, let them be afraid. We can’t get respect through our creative actions, but we try to get it through intimidation. We intimidate them because we are afraid of them. This childishness, when you want to look cool, it is a consequence of our complexities.

And this inferiority complex affects our business qualities. Because of the national complexion, we strive to bring weak people closer to us, we want to be surrounded by all sorts of greyness, and we push away, push, and persecute the strong, smart, and talented. If one of us climbs out somewhere, we want not so much to get out after him, but to pull him back. We want to see non-professionals around us so that we can only feel better about them. And the fact that they will mess up wildly, fuck up mistakes left and right, so this is nonsense.

Just think, we will miss out on millions and billions due to the lack of professionalism of our employees, but we will not feel like shit next to smart and strong-willed people. The main thing is that our ego does not suffer, and money can be lost. It’s like show-offs, but they are more important for flawed people than money.

— Listen, our company employs professionals, what are you even talking about, what kind of unprofessionalism is this? If the state structures suffer from this, then in business, whether you want it or not, you will keep professionals so that everything works, "one of the outraged listeners said emotionally.

— Well, finally one of you got hooked! Well, finally! This is an important topic, gentlemen. Come on, speak out on it. So what do you say, do professionals work for you? Exactly? Are you sure about this? Have you compared them with others? Let’s look at it this way. If in the elite English universities where some of my friends studied, people were told that in order to build a successful career, it is important to be able to curry favor with your superiors, so that you are brought closer and promoted, and you can not overshadow the master, so as not to fall out of favor with him, then how can you say that you are It’s not all right in the relatively free West, but it’s all right in your country? Gentlemen, think carefully.

— So why do you tell us that this is our distinctive feature, since it is also found in the West, since professionals are not always appreciated there, but sycophants are appreciated?

— Because I don’t care about the West! I live here and talk about our problems. And I talk about them in such a way that you will notice them and begin to eliminate them. And you, with your comment, confirm my words about our inferiority complex. Will it make you feel better that this problem exists everywhere, including in developed countries? Do you care what they do? Do you want your business to be successful and make a lot of money, or do you want others to be just as bad or even worse?

No one said anything.

— In short, there is a problem, and it is serious. And it must be solved. Otherwise, there can be no question of any qualitative breakthrough, for which we are all gathered here. This is a frame problem, one of its facets. And businessmen create it for themselves, if they are not aware of their own insecurities and inferiority. You don’t need sycophants in responsible positions, but professionals. To win the domestic market and thoroughly put down roots in other people’s clearings, where there is also enough smudge in business that brings mongrels closer to itself, and not smart people. You must overcome yourself and stop bringing people you like closer to you, and these are usually non-professionals, and, even if gritting your teeth, let those who are really strong in this or that business get closer to you. Don’t be afraid of them, all these brave and confident professionals. They are smart, they will not agree with everything, they will take the initiative, but it is necessary.

Good motivation of smart and strong-willed people will make them no less loyal to you. Just share with them generously and show them respect. Yes, it is more difficult to negotiate with them, but these are the chickens that lay golden eggs, so sometimes you have to put up with their antics. They should be treated as human beings, not seen as errand boys and girls. And forget about the fact that this problem exists not only in our country. Think only about yourself, how you are doing, and not about who else is as incomplete as you are. If necessary, solve your internal problems with the help of specialists, but do not meddle in someone else’s life to justify your shoals. Otherwise, you will perish along with our dying antediluvian economy.

And yes, here’s another thing, relatives. They should also be kept out of their own business. They often do nothing and allow themselves too much, due to their privileged position. Learn to understand people so that you can entrust important positions to those who are suitable for them, and not push your relatives everywhere for fear of distrusting others. Relatives can be even worse than strangers, with their low productivity and sloppiness. In short, you need professionals in important jobs. The idea is terribly simple, but to implement it-the task, as life shows, is incredibly difficult. Therefore, I am ready to conduct separate individual consultations for everyone who will contact me to help solve this problem.

In my company, it is solved, and completely. We have nothing but professionals, no sycophants, no nice-looking employees, like sexy secretaries that we haven’t needed for a hundred years. There are only professionals around. And if necessary, we also exchange them for better specialists in their field. So, if someone has relaxed and scored for work, then welcome to the exit. We are not afraid to change horses at the crossing, as this is a necessity. We have a psychologically healthy team, so we can afford to work with people like this. If you also want to recover from internal complexes, please contact specialists or me personally. Unless you have professionals sitting in your seats everywhere, and not those you think are professionals because you want them to be, your business won’t be ready for serious battles.

Again, after giving people a little time to think, Dmitry moved on to the next important point, on which the work and profitability of the business depends.

— The last thing I will tell you today and what you will need to work with in order to create a completely new business from the existing business, which will bring many times more money, is cooperation with competitors. Not fighting them, but looking for opportunities for cooperation. This is also something that many entrepreneurs don’t know how to do. Why, entrepreneurs, even politicians and diplomats are lame on this issue, and sometimes on both feet. And not only here.

Competitors must be crushed, they must be fought, enmity, fight, they must be destroyed! Isn’t that what they teach us? And how many people believe that? How many people follow this attitude? But the monopolists who have crushed everything here and who now need to be pushed off the hill in a civilized way, they often cooperate with each other, and do not quarrel. They, like politicians, have a higher degree of organization, so they cooperate with each other against everyone else.

Cartel agreements, backroom agreements, organized fooling of the masses — all this they do together. Why should they bite each other when they can push everyone else together? They cooperate, and you are invited to fight with each other. So that you are weak. So that they are not united. Just think of the power you would have if you did everything together with each other, if you tried to win the market together with competitors, squeezing out those who have squeezed out too big chunks for themselves and do not want to share instead of bickering with each other to share crumbs. Of course, it is more difficult to agree when there are too many companies in a certain niche, but you can agree with someone about something in order to make money on customers in a harmonious way, and not spend your energy fighting with each other.

— Allow me, Dmitry Ivanovich, but how do you imagine that, for example, when we are engaged in furniture production, we cooperate with other furniture manufacturers in its subsequent implementation, — a thin elderly man with a goatee asked.

— I can imagine how a few nights of thoughtful work on a plan for such cooperation, involving the best heads that you have in your company, and also, perhaps, from the outside, you can attract specialists to use them to find the best options for working together, and then prepare a speech for negotiations with competitors in order to realize this opportunity. Do you think there is a general universal recipe for all occasions? I can only give you a rough idea of what such cooperation might look like for you. For example, you produce one type of furniture, and your competitors another, you complement each other, selling people different products, but together. Look for solutions, I have to think for you. Every business can have its own ideas.

I can give you an example of writers who advertise each other in their books. They agree on cooperation with each other and then share information about each other with their readers, I recommend each other’s books. As a result, people who read a book by one writer can learn from it about some useful work of another writer and buy his book. And the wider such cooperation, the more readers, who are also clients, will know about you. Look for options. And feud with competitors, belittle them, criticize, saying that all around the freaks who sell shit and only you are so white and fluffy, sell high-quality goods, and even cheap, well, it only works on idiots.

People are already tired of this approach, when competitors drown each other. In this case, they do not trust anyone and are less willing to buy. In the face of tough competition, which I am preparing you for, you need to enter into alliances with competitors on different terms. You won’t agree with all of them, but you will definitely do it with some of them. To capture new territories and gain new customers, you need to develop new abilities. Working with those you’ve been taught to antagonize is a new ability that you need to develop.

— Tell me, does this mean that we can try to start capturing foreign markets by offering various options for cooperation to foreign competitors?

«That’s a great question. You are already starting to think in a new way, in the right way to turn the current state of affairs around. Of course, this can be an excellent entry point into someone else’s market. In fact, the authorities will support you in this, the president personally gave an order to promote exports in every possible way. A whole range of support measures is being implemented. But you need to look for ways to enter someone else’s market yourself. And the option of cooperation with foreign competitors is a great idea. However, it may be necessary to negotiate not only with the local business, but also with the authorities. It is not so easy to get a ticket to serious markets. This again suggests that you need to develop your diplomatic skills, or hire good negotiators who will represent your business abroad.

You will need to interest the local viewers in many ways. You may just have to buy a ticket to someone else’s market, or you may have to do something else to get them to let you in. One thing I can say for sure is that you will not be able to get there using the classical methods for a market economy. To come here like this and offer the best product at the best price, it doesn’t work. More precisely, it doesn’t always work. It’s not that easy for you to open someone else’s market, no matter what favorable conditions you offer. On small things, maybe, but something serious, here it will be necessary to negotiate with certain people. Look for various opportunities to get in there, including through a local business — your potential competitors.

The point is simple, gentlemen-it is more profitable to cooperate than to fight. And the reasons for cooperation, even with their fierce enemies, can always be found. The main thing is to strive for it. Do not take the example of the foreign policy of some countries that only know how to make enemies. To quarrel with many, you don’t have to be smart. To be friends with many people, you really need to have a great mind. Smart-ass oligarchs, who until now enjoyed the support of the authorities, in order to gain strength and get fat, it is profitable for you to fight with each other here. But now, when the policy towards the economy will change and your own, in the same form, will no longer exist, you, all together, together, can tear the monopolists to shreds and then divide their customers among themselves.

— What can you say about other important points regarding competitive advantages? There are also production costs, taxes, the cost of raw materials, the cost of labor, the qualifications of this labor force, all of which affect our ability to compete with those who have already captured different niches. How will we compete with cheap goods from the east and high-quality goods from the West, whether on the domestic or foreign markets? It’s one thing to correct your behavior, as you suggest, correct your shortcomings, and quite another to really create something competitive in such conditions as now. And I’m not talking about innovations, technologies that have no analogues in the world, which may be in demand. We mostly do simple things here. How can I sell them in such conditions?

— Conditions will change! All other issues will be resolved with the President or his representatives. I told you that the approach to modernizing our economy will be comprehensive. I help you with one thing, other people will help you with another. Naturally, there will be tax breaks, and special loans for business development will appear, and the cost of raw materials will be negotiated, now it is incredibly overestimated by monopolists, and the cost of energy carriers, everything will be adjusted so that you can create competition in the domestic market for those who have crushed everything for themselves, because the authorities are going to change, you can to say, by cultural methods, to limit the appetites of some gentlemen who have lost all their banks.

No dekulakization, everything will be done beautifully, carefully, everyone will be smoothly lowered from heaven to earth. Yesterday’s friends, today are no longer friends, because they served in such a way that it is no longer possible to tolerate their insolence. The same applies to the foreign market, and they will also help you master it, as they do in other countries. Therefore, they will help you in everything, as it should be in a normal state, everything should and will work for the development of the country’s economic power. The issue will be resolved with the labor force, and with the qualification of employees, there are people, they just need to be prepared for work in the new conditions. Don’t worry, you will be able to compete with both cheap and high-quality production, even if not in everything, you will not be able to break into some niches, at least quickly, but over time everything is possible, there are no unsolvable tasks.