I came to this topic somewhere in 2015. I just returned from Africa, my pocket is empty, my wife is pregnant, I realize that I need to do something urgently.
A few details to understand, because everything in life is interconnected.
I studied in Estonia, in the beautiful city of Tallinn. I remember enjoying life as if it were yesterday. I want to note that everything there is for people: contacting any government agency, no matter what service, is so simple and comfortable that you are surprised. Much is done remotely. I lived there for about four years, I was going to stay, build a career. There is no corruption there, and those who are specialists move up the career ladder.
In the third year, I already completely felt like a member of another society with a different mentality, I took everything there for granted. Yes, I had to work, it is quite difficult for a Russian who has not yet graduated from university to get a job there, but it is possible. Sometimes I had to work on weekdays in a souvenir shop, and on weekends in a nightclub as a bartender. And when all that was left was my diploma thesis, a close relative who had a business in Africa had a terrible experience. I had been helping him with English translations for a long time, but then I needed personal help, so I took an academic leave and flew to Africa, although I had 200 bucks in my pocket.
I lived in Africa for about half a year, was involved in the logistics business and was doing quite well, although it was a completely different continent, different rules, different outlook on life, everything was different. I adapted and everything was going well. But then oops happened again, there was a trial, all the trucks were seized, showdowns, swings.
A few words about this, one of the richest experiences in my life. The people there are completely different. Everything is so corrupt that for money you can do anything: sell 10 kg of gold or a diamond the size of your head, meet with a minister and even the president. Whatever question you ask, almost everyone will say: "yes, yes, no problem at all" and the key phrase is "tomorrow", like everything will happen tomorrow. Of course, nothing happens tomorrow and they start to screw with your head, repeating "tomorrow" again.
I can give you one case. When an embargo was imposed in Russia, there was a way to bypass the import ban, when the goods, according to the papers, were not from Europe, but from Africa, from which it was possible to import. I remember looking for these sheets at the port at the customs service and when I found a contact, one day he brought me a stack of these, let's say, certificates. He says, come on, I'll get a stamp now and ship you as much as you need. To understand, everything is much simpler there. For example, if the police stop a truck, and there are no violations, they can not let it go without reason until they are paid.
So, I return to Russia, really empty, my wife is already in her seventh month. I understand that in two months the baby will be born, and I have no apartment, no car, absolutely nothing. At the same time, I realize that I have a huge responsibility and I need to do something urgently.
So a close person made me an offer, told me that there is such a thing as cashing out. In such a hopeless situation, as they say, for any fuss, well, it all started.
The direction was initially by envelope and I was asked to open a company with tourist services. We submitted the documents. Naturally, I did not understand anything about this, but I tried to do everything correctly. I remember they brought me to the bank (Alfa Bank) and said: go open an account. I go in, hello, I need an account. Then they started pestering me with some wild questions. Instinctively, I put the folder down and say in a human way: “Girls, you understand, I just decided to go into business, I don’t know anything about these documents, a lawyer prepared everything for me, please look.” But then more questions about what I was going to do, where the tours, export, import, etc. were. I thought my head was going to explode. Out of 100 questions, I answered maybe 10 or 15, and to everything else I honestly said: “I don’t know.”
The funny thing is that they opened an account, and by the end the bank manager was fussing over me like I was a small child: here’s your card, there will be money on it, and here’s our cash register, call me if anything happens.
Within a week, the contract was uploaded, a transaction passport was issued for an amount of around €80,000 and transferred to Estonia for tourist services. Naturally, immediately after this operation, the account was blocked, and I was sent to the bank. I try to say something, look at the girl's face, where I see that she understands that I've screwed her. As usual, they say: "upload the documents" and blah blah blah. They uploaded them, but still didn't unblock anything.
The second time I went there with a lawyer. I'll never forget how we were talking about tours to Switzerland, a super-luxury hotel, etc., but then the branch manager comes out and says: "Guys, this is called capital withdrawal, stop telling fairy tales, there's nothing more for you to do here."
That's how it all started.
I studied desperately, took everything seriously, did everything clearly and quickly, grasping it on the fly. I was interested in everything. When I was firmly seated on the envelope, I was already making currency payments myself, learned all these codes of currency transactions, could slap together contracts and documents myself. Everything was going fine in principle, although the envelope was already starting to be squeezed. You could say that I managed to fly in at the very peak, after which they then began to strictly control everything.
In parallel, a cash direction appeared. I remember that the stupidest scheme worked then: money comes to the company, which is issued in huge amounts, as a loan repayment to individuals and individual entrepreneurs. Despite the fact that they also began to block something, it was a fairy tale. I remember there was such a card Orange premium Club, it had a daily limit of 500,000. Every day, exactly this amount was thrown from the account - 500,000 rubles, and then it was withdrawn. And everything worked without a hitch.
The volumes of cash were growing exponentially, I started studying this area and recruiting people. By the way, looking back, I can say that the main problems arose precisely because of people. I remember there were already 50-60 people, and each of them always had some crazy story for the day. Someone got into an accident, someone got drunk, someone was beaten up, an advance payment was lost, money was urgently needed, etc. It was an endless stream of shit that had to be thrown out from morning to evening, I would even say, from dawn to dusk.
Often I left for work when my wife and son were sleeping, and returned when they were already asleep, and so on day after day. Of course, my nerves were greatly spent during that time, but the drive was simply crazy. I will never forget how you begin to feel that you are really working hard, but you are making huge amounts of money. At the same time, you remember your past financial problems, when you sat with zero in your pocket, hungry and wondered what to buy: a banana or milk. As a result, when money started pouring in, your eyes start to light up, new and new needs appear, you often do not control your finances and spend more than you have. In fact, this is long and hard work. And in order to clearly handle money, you need to learn this.
As I gained experience, I began to think about how to disconnect and become independent. In addition, that site began to have problems, they began to press, in short, it became uncomfortable to work. And I have long realized that I understand the whole mechanism, perhaps except for VAT, although I constantly heard this phrase: close VAT.
Initially, I knew nothing about VAT, I had an idea that everything was transferred from one company to another and it was lost somewhere there. Nevertheless, I began to organize my "mini-site" and set up work. Sometimes crazy ideas appear. I can remember how I came up with the idea of replenishing Yandex.Money and Qiwi e-wallets from a business card, and from there draining them to individuals. By the way, it worked out pretty well.
I began to equip the office. I remember this feeling when millions pass by and you constantly estimate how much you should earn, but do not take into account various fixed and variable costs, as a result of which you begin to squander money. And then for the first time I encountered a cash gap. 600,000 was missing. I remember how I started doing this terrible thing - shifting money, blocking, etc. As a result, the flow stopped, shit happened and everyone ran away, leaving me with this debt of 600k. I had to work hard and long to earn this money to cover my obligations.
Global changes occurred when I moved to Moscow. Then the screws were really tightened and failures happened more and more often, which is why turnover fell. But there was another side to the coin. Before, when everything was simple, everyone who was not lazy did it. At one time, it seemed to me that half of the population were directors, and the other half were those who worked through them. With restrictions on the market, there were fewer and fewer players, but they were all smart. In principle, to this day it is really clear that the segment is falling, but those who remain are becoming more and more specialists.
In Moscow, I was given the contact of one person who supposedly resolved any issues in banks. 90% of his words turned out to be bullshit, but he could always present and distort the information so that it was not his fault, or force majeure occurred. I believed and hoped for a miracle for a long time, but then a turning point happened.
I realized that everything is logical, there are no fairy tales, no gulfs and straits and super-schemes either. As a result, I resigned myself and understood: either I do everything myself by trial and error, or not at all. Yes, I had to raise something, remember, experiment. I began to understand the most subtle aspects of the profession more deeply.
I definitely agree that if you do something else for six months, especially at the beginning, you really become incompetent. But, on the other hand, if you do it constantly, then in six months you will understand the basics and mechanisms. After 2-3 years, you are already an experienced and rich owner of a portfolio of different cases, and after about 4-5 years, you can call yourself an expert. Unfortunately, all this time you need to make huge efforts.
Looking back, I can say that I worked like a dog. I took 500 calls a day, sorted out crazy swings, a real mess and tons of shit. I had to sort it all out myself, and sometimes even drag others along with me. For those who have no experience in business at all, but are thinking of getting involved, I can say that you can just blow your mind. If it seems like easy money, I will say that it is not so, and you pay for money in blood and huge amounts of screw-ups.
If you are an employee, the amount of a mistake can be, well, 50,000 rubles, for something serious they will simply fire you. A novice entrepreneur can have a screw-up, say, for 0.5-1 million. So here the price of one mistake can easily cost 5-10 million. And if you think that you are ready for this, I will definitely say that you are not. And you will be ready when you go through it and decide. At the same time, when you find yourself in difficult situations, the main thing is not to cry and run away, saying "I made a mistake, sorry", but to keep your words and fulfill your obligations, no matter how difficult it is and no matter how impossible it seems. Only then will you build long-term relationships and you will be considered a "man of your word".
A few details to understand, because everything in life is interconnected.
I studied in Estonia, in the beautiful city of Tallinn. I remember enjoying life as if it were yesterday. I want to note that everything there is for people: contacting any government agency, no matter what service, is so simple and comfortable that you are surprised. Much is done remotely. I lived there for about four years, I was going to stay, build a career. There is no corruption there, and those who are specialists move up the career ladder.
In the third year, I already completely felt like a member of another society with a different mentality, I took everything there for granted. Yes, I had to work, it is quite difficult for a Russian who has not yet graduated from university to get a job there, but it is possible. Sometimes I had to work on weekdays in a souvenir shop, and on weekends in a nightclub as a bartender. And when all that was left was my diploma thesis, a close relative who had a business in Africa had a terrible experience. I had been helping him with English translations for a long time, but then I needed personal help, so I took an academic leave and flew to Africa, although I had 200 bucks in my pocket.
I lived in Africa for about half a year, was involved in the logistics business and was doing quite well, although it was a completely different continent, different rules, different outlook on life, everything was different. I adapted and everything was going well. But then oops happened again, there was a trial, all the trucks were seized, showdowns, swings.
A few words about this, one of the richest experiences in my life. The people there are completely different. Everything is so corrupt that for money you can do anything: sell 10 kg of gold or a diamond the size of your head, meet with a minister and even the president. Whatever question you ask, almost everyone will say: "yes, yes, no problem at all" and the key phrase is "tomorrow", like everything will happen tomorrow. Of course, nothing happens tomorrow and they start to screw with your head, repeating "tomorrow" again.
I can give you one case. When an embargo was imposed in Russia, there was a way to bypass the import ban, when the goods, according to the papers, were not from Europe, but from Africa, from which it was possible to import. I remember looking for these sheets at the port at the customs service and when I found a contact, one day he brought me a stack of these, let's say, certificates. He says, come on, I'll get a stamp now and ship you as much as you need. To understand, everything is much simpler there. For example, if the police stop a truck, and there are no violations, they can not let it go without reason until they are paid.
So, I return to Russia, really empty, my wife is already in her seventh month. I understand that in two months the baby will be born, and I have no apartment, no car, absolutely nothing. At the same time, I realize that I have a huge responsibility and I need to do something urgently.
So a close person made me an offer, told me that there is such a thing as cashing out. In such a hopeless situation, as they say, for any fuss, well, it all started.
The direction was initially by envelope and I was asked to open a company with tourist services. We submitted the documents. Naturally, I did not understand anything about this, but I tried to do everything correctly. I remember they brought me to the bank (Alfa Bank) and said: go open an account. I go in, hello, I need an account. Then they started pestering me with some wild questions. Instinctively, I put the folder down and say in a human way: “Girls, you understand, I just decided to go into business, I don’t know anything about these documents, a lawyer prepared everything for me, please look.” But then more questions about what I was going to do, where the tours, export, import, etc. were. I thought my head was going to explode. Out of 100 questions, I answered maybe 10 or 15, and to everything else I honestly said: “I don’t know.”
The funny thing is that they opened an account, and by the end the bank manager was fussing over me like I was a small child: here’s your card, there will be money on it, and here’s our cash register, call me if anything happens.
Within a week, the contract was uploaded, a transaction passport was issued for an amount of around €80,000 and transferred to Estonia for tourist services. Naturally, immediately after this operation, the account was blocked, and I was sent to the bank. I try to say something, look at the girl's face, where I see that she understands that I've screwed her. As usual, they say: "upload the documents" and blah blah blah. They uploaded them, but still didn't unblock anything.
The second time I went there with a lawyer. I'll never forget how we were talking about tours to Switzerland, a super-luxury hotel, etc., but then the branch manager comes out and says: "Guys, this is called capital withdrawal, stop telling fairy tales, there's nothing more for you to do here."
That's how it all started.
I studied desperately, took everything seriously, did everything clearly and quickly, grasping it on the fly. I was interested in everything. When I was firmly seated on the envelope, I was already making currency payments myself, learned all these codes of currency transactions, could slap together contracts and documents myself. Everything was going fine in principle, although the envelope was already starting to be squeezed. You could say that I managed to fly in at the very peak, after which they then began to strictly control everything.
In parallel, a cash direction appeared. I remember that the stupidest scheme worked then: money comes to the company, which is issued in huge amounts, as a loan repayment to individuals and individual entrepreneurs. Despite the fact that they also began to block something, it was a fairy tale. I remember there was such a card Orange premium Club, it had a daily limit of 500,000. Every day, exactly this amount was thrown from the account - 500,000 rubles, and then it was withdrawn. And everything worked without a hitch.
The volumes of cash were growing exponentially, I started studying this area and recruiting people. By the way, looking back, I can say that the main problems arose precisely because of people. I remember there were already 50-60 people, and each of them always had some crazy story for the day. Someone got into an accident, someone got drunk, someone was beaten up, an advance payment was lost, money was urgently needed, etc. It was an endless stream of shit that had to be thrown out from morning to evening, I would even say, from dawn to dusk.
Often I left for work when my wife and son were sleeping, and returned when they were already asleep, and so on day after day. Of course, my nerves were greatly spent during that time, but the drive was simply crazy. I will never forget how you begin to feel that you are really working hard, but you are making huge amounts of money. At the same time, you remember your past financial problems, when you sat with zero in your pocket, hungry and wondered what to buy: a banana or milk. As a result, when money started pouring in, your eyes start to light up, new and new needs appear, you often do not control your finances and spend more than you have. In fact, this is long and hard work. And in order to clearly handle money, you need to learn this.
As I gained experience, I began to think about how to disconnect and become independent. In addition, that site began to have problems, they began to press, in short, it became uncomfortable to work. And I have long realized that I understand the whole mechanism, perhaps except for VAT, although I constantly heard this phrase: close VAT.
Initially, I knew nothing about VAT, I had an idea that everything was transferred from one company to another and it was lost somewhere there. Nevertheless, I began to organize my "mini-site" and set up work. Sometimes crazy ideas appear. I can remember how I came up with the idea of replenishing Yandex.Money and Qiwi e-wallets from a business card, and from there draining them to individuals. By the way, it worked out pretty well.
I began to equip the office. I remember this feeling when millions pass by and you constantly estimate how much you should earn, but do not take into account various fixed and variable costs, as a result of which you begin to squander money. And then for the first time I encountered a cash gap. 600,000 was missing. I remember how I started doing this terrible thing - shifting money, blocking, etc. As a result, the flow stopped, shit happened and everyone ran away, leaving me with this debt of 600k. I had to work hard and long to earn this money to cover my obligations.
Global changes occurred when I moved to Moscow. Then the screws were really tightened and failures happened more and more often, which is why turnover fell. But there was another side to the coin. Before, when everything was simple, everyone who was not lazy did it. At one time, it seemed to me that half of the population were directors, and the other half were those who worked through them. With restrictions on the market, there were fewer and fewer players, but they were all smart. In principle, to this day it is really clear that the segment is falling, but those who remain are becoming more and more specialists.
In Moscow, I was given the contact of one person who supposedly resolved any issues in banks. 90% of his words turned out to be bullshit, but he could always present and distort the information so that it was not his fault, or force majeure occurred. I believed and hoped for a miracle for a long time, but then a turning point happened.
I realized that everything is logical, there are no fairy tales, no gulfs and straits and super-schemes either. As a result, I resigned myself and understood: either I do everything myself by trial and error, or not at all. Yes, I had to raise something, remember, experiment. I began to understand the most subtle aspects of the profession more deeply.
I definitely agree that if you do something else for six months, especially at the beginning, you really become incompetent. But, on the other hand, if you do it constantly, then in six months you will understand the basics and mechanisms. After 2-3 years, you are already an experienced and rich owner of a portfolio of different cases, and after about 4-5 years, you can call yourself an expert. Unfortunately, all this time you need to make huge efforts.
Looking back, I can say that I worked like a dog. I took 500 calls a day, sorted out crazy swings, a real mess and tons of shit. I had to sort it all out myself, and sometimes even drag others along with me. For those who have no experience in business at all, but are thinking of getting involved, I can say that you can just blow your mind. If it seems like easy money, I will say that it is not so, and you pay for money in blood and huge amounts of screw-ups.
If you are an employee, the amount of a mistake can be, well, 50,000 rubles, for something serious they will simply fire you. A novice entrepreneur can have a screw-up, say, for 0.5-1 million. So here the price of one mistake can easily cost 5-10 million. And if you think that you are ready for this, I will definitely say that you are not. And you will be ready when you go through it and decide. At the same time, when you find yourself in difficult situations, the main thing is not to cry and run away, saying "I made a mistake, sorry", but to keep your words and fulfill your obligations, no matter how difficult it is and no matter how impossible it seems. Only then will you build long-term relationships and you will be considered a "man of your word".
