RW's perception of entrepreneurs & business men

[Noch1]

The UK differs.

I would have simply refused your business if you insisted on paying that value by card, or added the 3% to your bill. I walk away from any and all dictatorial customers. Why would I be stuffed for a $1110 MC bill so some guy can make $100? Madness.

Here, people negotiate discounts for cash. It likely exceeds any rebate you might get by card usage.

Here you do both! First you do the best deal possible. then if larger company.
You pay, through any means that they accept!

Eg: I fill my car at the shell gas station. I use a bank of Montreal Master card. BMO
Has air miles, shell has air miles. So I get double.

There are many ways to do things.

Manny I suspect you would not tell him to go away.
on a $37000.00 sale, I am quite sure your margins are much more than 100 bucks!
When he explained it, instead of losing the sale over 100 dollars.
you would likely, offer him the 100, versus the 1100 charge back cost.
But of course if your are very  rich, then you can tell anyone to piss off.

[Gator]

My point was that Gator's quote was incorrect. His method is one way; mine is another. Neither are wrong. But not needing/choosing to gamble the family home makes me no less of a businessman than he.


I am not saying Gator's and Doug's methods are wrong, they are merely different to what I choose to do. But I do call Gator's quoted statement above wrong. Often we can blithely make a comment, based only on our own experience, so no harm done.

Manny,

I appreciate the importance of small businesses, particularly sole proprietorships.   They are America's growth engine.   However, I find it remarkable that you never had to borrow money, at least enough money to test your commitment.  You are either a very cautious businessman or have developed a superb business model. 
 
Perhaps if you had borrowed some money you could have used it to attract, support and motivate minority partners  with skill levels surpassing your own.  That way you could have parlayed your superb business model into several people making money for you while you sleep.   And it is leveraged manifold when those people find people just like themselves.  That is a way to make the big bucks.
 
Another way to make the big bucks is, if you indeed felt committed as you state that "... the late 2000's downturn was coming way in advance...," was to buy CDSs (Credit Default Swaps) as did Soros and Bass.  I am an optimist and did not exercise enough caution in 2008 so my portfolio took a hit, but has recovered mostly only to come down again recently.  I could never time the market.
 
Everyone is different, and that is what makes the world go around.  My original statement about being a "real businessman" was a quick comment about commitment and passion as it could be perceived by a RW (at what point would a RW balk), a comment from someone who sweated through some ups and downs of building a business.   
Indeed, a man can have a loving relationship with a woman, yet the level of commitment changes when he marries her.     A man can have a "family" with just a wife, yet it takes on another level of passion and commitment when having children with his wife.
 
I am not being critical, just offering an opinion.

[stef]

I don't understand what you are talking about....
Everybody knows that t if you want to have something achieved in Russia, you have to pay some money under the table....Is that what you call being dishonest?....
It's just the system, corruption is everywhere,  and you need to go with it if you simply want to do business....C'est la vie....
I had a deal with transportation buses for a southern Asia republic, well, I had to double the price on the invoice, half for the bus half for bribes (most of it was going to the president of that republic by the way)....And not so, no deal...
Is it being dishonest? I guess yes and no.....(because I didn't make any money from the overbilled invoice except of my normal cut...and the expenses needed to open a company in a fiscal paradise....(an American one, by the way!!!)
This is only a small example of how life is going over there once you talk about big money....(total amount of the deal was over 50 million $)...

[Eduard]

Where is this American "Fiscal paradise"???

[stef]

You have the choice....Delaware, Caribeans, and other protectorates..........and against Europe, even California is a fiscal paradise!.....

[Eduard]

You have the choice....Delaware, Caribeans, and other protectorates..........and against Europe, even California is a fiscal paradise!.....

LOL, that's a real sad statement for Europe.
I kinda feel that this is the next big Utopian idea at work - the world without boarders, one world government, one language...(read George Soros' world's view). Communism was the idea of the 19Th century that largely shaped the 20Th century. I guess we now move on to the next "great idea" of social engineering. The big boys are pulling the strings, the politicians are doing the dance while enriching themselves and becoming the elite class and the ordinary folk will suffer in the end as always.

[stef]

if you want a little idea of how the government rips off people here....
business incoming taxes are around 45% of netto income....plus 21% VAT on your retail price....
On my salary I pay around 60% insurance (unemployment , medical...)plus end of the year another 30% of my income (when your wife and you are working, they cumulate the two salary and make you fall in a higher tax rate.(the higher the income,the higher the tax rate)..Some people just
made up that we are working for the state until september before we make our first private penny. tax evasion is becoming a national "sport" here...
On top of all of that, you have to pay city taxes, taxes on TV (yes, owning a TV is a tax reason!) and others....
When you talk about communism, we call the Europen commission "the European soviet"....Gives you an idea....
Our company is set in Luxembourg, (for his bankers discretion) and w have another one in Cyprus's. (the washing machine of Russian dirty money) and one un Russia, run by rrussians. We are planning to open also a new one in Gibraltar....(tax paradise under English laws...)
So as you can see, In Europe if you want to make some profits, you need to have really competent people able to do tax engineering, but they also take a cut of your benefits because the good ones are expensive....
I lived eight years in California and it was kind of paradise against Europe on that point of vue....

[stef]

this is not the subject here, but you must Goggle "the trans Atlantic treaty" (no borders between the US and Europe in 2015 (!) Not a lot of people are aware of this, and now i read in a Russian newspaper that Russia is close to an agreement to open borders between Europe and the formal CIS.....Next year, no visa needed anymore for a Russian wanting to come to Europe, a single passport will be enough....
those politicians are running on their idea of a global (white, christian) world....
Jacques Attali, counsellor of formal president Mitterrand and of the new one (Hollande) and listened to person in the international political world,  said in an interview that the capital of this new world definition will be......Jerusalem!!!
believe it or not,  those people are crazy.....

[Eduard]

if you want a little idea of how the government rips off people here....
business incoming taxes are around 45% of netto income....plus 21% VAT on your retail price....
On my salary I pay around 60% insurance (unemployment , medical...)plus end of the year another 30% of my income (when your wife and you are working, they cumulate the two salary and make you fall in a higher tax rate...Some people just
made up that we are working for the state until september before we make our first private penny.
On top of all of that, you have to pay city taxes, taxes on TV (yes, owning a TV is a tax reason!) and others....
When you talk about communism, we call the Europen commission "the European soviet"....Gives you an idea....
My company is set in Luxembourg, (for his bankers discretion) and I have another one in Cyprus's. (the washing machine of Russian black money) We are planning to have also a new one in Gibraltar....(fiscal paradise under English laws...)
So as you can see, In Europe if you want to make some profits, you need to have really competent people able to do fiscal engineering, but they also take a cut of your benefits because the good ones are expensive....
I lived eight years in California and it was kind of paradise against Europe on that point of vue....

it looks like our government decided that the people are making too much money and living too good... so let's become more like Europe! Thanks for sharing your info, it's very educational!

[stef]

You're still far away from what's Europe is becoming....
Now, with the "euro crisis", politicians, listening to the european commission (which are unelected technocratic gangsters!) are making huge cuts into uneplyment benefits (for witch we have paid!), medical reimboursments, and all kind of "social benefits"...So, at the moment, the sate takes is all the money possible, but doesn't give us any service back....(they want to make all public services private, and proof was made that it doesn't work....It began with electricity companies....and in one year, +30% on the bill....
just for fun....
The truth:




and this will give you an idea of what's going on in Europe....
greece




Spain:

And in Ireland, Portugal, Italy, same thing....Now it's coming to France....
Uneployment rates in theses countries are above 30%, with no benefits or replacment salary at all....How will do people to survive?.........

[stef]

And some questions are raising....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zwpmekvPkwE#!

[ECOCKS]

I'll be very interested to see this supposed new, no-visa system for Russians coming to Europe.


Still myth as far as I know although I keep seeing and hearing people swearing that it's scheduled. Have you something definitive on this topic? Anything more than one person (hopefully not a politician making a speech) saying that it is being discussed or a roadmap is being designed? Or a non-Russian source (as in NOT Pravda or one of the Russian news services) which supports this claim?

[stef]

This topic is coming back on a regulary schedule in Pravda and Voice of Russia, last time, it was an interview of the minister of foreign policy....(same job as Hilary)
It isn't a joke, it's real....
My Russian friends are talking about it too, because to come over to Europe, it's a real bummer and it will chnage thier lifes....
They program it for 2014...and maybe before...

[ECOCKS]

Saying it is real doesn't make it so.


Cite a source from Europe or outside Russia which definitively says this or makes statements when it takes effect. Russia doesn't control Europe's visa regime. You are simply saying that Russia and their politicians keep saying this will happen someday.


Myth and wishful thinking so far.

[stef]

No, there was question of it in a discussion in the European parlament, and the vid was posted on the site, but it such a mess...
I will try to find the link .....

[ECOCKS]

No, there was question of it in a discussion in the European parlament, and the vid was posted on the site, but it such a mess...
I will try to find the link .....

Exactly. Nothing definitive. No plan. No date. No agreement. Just rhetoric and distraction from more important matters.


The fact is that almost half of the EU is against this measure until the EU partner nations (such as Ukraine and Azerbaijan for instance) receive visa-free status.


Countries like the partners are still years away and Russia is even further.


On another note, I was looking at that Russian three-year tourist visa setup and was curious how you obtain an invitation for it. I mean how do you invite someone to be a tourist for three years?


I am going to look into this in the coming week and see how they logically expect this to happen.

[stef]

Ies that kind of visa not specificaly made for travel expeditions or scientists who want to explore some unknown place?....
just an idea ....

[ECOCKS]

Hmmmmm......


From the Russian Consulate (.org) website:


http://www.ruscon.org/visa_dep_eng.html


In accordance with the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the United States of America on the simplification of visa formalities for nationals of the Russian Federation and nationals of the United States of Americaeffective September 9, 2012 the US citizens shall as a rule be issued multiple-entry business, private, humanitarian and tourist visas for a stay of no more than 6 months starting from the date of each entry that are valid for three years (36 months) from the date of issue of the visa.


Reported via Interfax:


http://rbth.ru/articles/2012/08/31/us_embassy_in_russia_reports_reduction_of_visa_fees_17854.html



"Thanks to an agreement coming into force on September 9, three-year, multiple-entry visas will become the standard "default" terms for U.S. citizens visiting Russia and Russian citizens visiting the United States, the embassy says.
"No formal invitation will be required to apply for a business or tourism visa, although applicants seeking Russian tourist visas must continue to hold advance lodging reservations and arrangements with a tour operator. Both sides have also committed to keep standard visa processing times under 15 days, although the circumstances of individual cases may require additional processing," the embassy website says."

Tourist Visa - To apply for a three year Tourist visa, an applicant should submit a completed visa application form, national passport, two standard passport pictures, Money Order (see points 1-4 of General Information), as well as:

- Confirmation of the hotel reservation, a contract for provision of tourist services, confirmation of reception of the tourist, and register number from the Uniform Federal Register of the Tour Operators of the Federal Tourism Agency.
SO, it reads that a three-year visa will be issued but you need an invitation for the first visit. Guess that makes sense...in a Russian sort of way. Guess that means I may have to find a reason to visit Russia in the future.

Still going to look into this with the local Embassy in the next week or so and confirm.

[stef]

I had a look on the Brussel's russian embassy web site, and there it says that you can have a visa with multiple entries but your stay may not exeed 180 days in a year in TOTAL...Iin one or several times.....
It is more suitable for business visas with several stays in Russia in a year, or a (rich) tourist who wants to be able to get in and out....

[ECOCKS]

I can certainly see that this visa will be a Godsend for most of those seeking a relationship with a Russian woman. By the time you search the field, find a few possibles and build a relationship or two, you will have several trips under your belt. Then there's the trips back home to visit in-laws and friends that will be coming up if you were truly successful.


Bravo to Russia and the US for getting this part of the re-set done! I think I'll pick one up just in case I finally decide to visit St. P or do the Golden Circle tour.

[2tallbill]

Not a RW but here is the general idea.
You can be a successful businessman or an honest businessman.
But not both.

It's like a list of oxymorons,
Honest politician
Jumbo Shrimp
Bittersweet
Clearly misunderstood

[ML]

Quote from: Shadow on November 08, 2012, 08:20:32 AM

   
    You can be a successful businessman or an honest businessman.
    But not both.

- - - - - - - -

Totally false.

I personally know many, many successful business persons who are totally honest.

[2tallbill]

Quote from: Shadow on November 08, 2012, 08:20:32 AM

   
    You can be a successful businessman or an honest businessman.
    But not both.

- - - - - - - -

Totally false.

I personally know many, many successful business persons who are totally honest.

I believe Shadow was saying that there is a perception among FSUW of that
sentiment.