Chapter 14: Getting Down to Buissiness

Getting down to business.

Money. Whether you like it or not, it lies at the centre of people's lives. Some people have none, living in a constant struggle with poverty. Others live such lavish lifestyles, that they almost forget their coin's existence entirely. This can be observed If you take the time to look around. It can be seen all over the streets. People begging for it. People buying frivolously with it; merchants selling goods for it. Most of these people are not aware of its significance and how it shapes the economy around them. It structures the businesses that have entire foundations that rely on it. All of the nations we live in are centred around the currency that is passed on from person to person through our very hands. Coppers, silvers, and gold flowing around our continent, being a part of nearly all the interactions in every  aspect of our daily lives.

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At an economic base, rocks and rare minerals are mined. Trees are cut; sand is turned into glass; gemstones are made into jewellery; iron is smelted into weapons, and houses are built with lumber. Each of these processes requires a person to be paid to work. My father as an example, slaves away in the mines, only to earn a small amount of pocket change in comparison to the value of the resources he unearths. The very slums my family and I live in were built to house such men. Using the wood from trees lumberjacks had cut down, this same wood that was then sold to the carpenters who had been paid to erect this massive expanse of filthy cramped housing. Its only purpose is to create a residence for more workers, that would continue the cycle of labour and waste away, sacrificing their lives to fuel the development of the nation.

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Speeding up the processes and increasing the size of the industry this city was built on, is all anyone at the top ever thought about. We are merely pawns in their game of chess, which is monopolising the population to do their bidding, whilst reaping the profits.

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Working my way up from nothing was no easy task, but I Olive Blackheart would persevere, and build myself a name amongst those who have nothing. I want to give my parents the life they deserve.

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I did just that.

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It all started when I was much younger. I realised doing paperwork for merchants made quite a good income. Taking advantage of this, I got to know the ins and outs of the trade and business in Edgeton. Over time, I began to get to know my 'clients'. These would range from salesmen, wholesalers, adventures and even Innkeepers. They all came to know my name through the grapevine known as gossip. As I did work for them, their businesses grew, and in turn, so did my workload. With such high demand, I could increase my prices, and with the new funds I was receiving from this, further expand my idea. By the age of five, my bedroom was an office, with an efficient filing system, a section for each business or individual I was employed by, followed by the type of paperwork and documents that needed to be completed. With the growth of clientele, I inevitably had to expand.

With approval from my parents, we purchased a property closer to the markets and set up a proper base of operations. 'Black Heart' was the name we had decided upon, taking the idea of 'making a name for ourselves' literally. Paps had quit work in the mines in order to help start up the business and mama too had begun to have a more active role in helping. I was only five after all. I also still worked a few shifts a week at the library as per my arrangement with Mr. Sandon who had helped me massively over the years, acting like a mentor and teacher as well as my boss, helping me take advantage of my intelligence. I owed him a lot. He had taught me magic to a solid level, how to hold down a job, and had helped me master speech, writing and reading for all of the continent's main languages, including a few dialects.

One day, when we were shifting paperwork from my room to the new offices, I had a brilliant idea. 'Why stop at accounting?' The merchants, Innkeepers and adventurers all had to travel around with their money, in order to hand it into the tax office, or their supplier. 'Why not deliver it and collect it for them?'

A week later I had sent my father to numerous suppliers that our clientele used most frequently to pitch the idea. I told him what to say and what questions they would ask, and the appropriate answers. He was good with his tongue, as was I, making him a perfect candidate to make a pitch to investors.

The negotiations went well.  Our clients and new suppliers all seemed to be happy with the idea they could drop payments off with us and pick them up. If they wanted them delivered, a slight fee would be charged on top of the base fee we already had in place.

Having money on site was a slight issue however, without a safe, there was nowhere secure to keep it, we would also need runners and guards.

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This is where papa came in use yet again. Lots of his friends in the mines and around the city, were always looking for better paid work, which is exactly what we were able to offer. Before I knew it, we had six runners, six guards and another few people who were well written, to help with accounts. Business was booming, we had more people reaching out to us, asking for our services. An added bonus I had initiated on top of our previous services, was promotion. Suppliers, producers and merchants would be recommended on a board in our lobby, as 'Top traders' and anyone doing business with us would be offered discounted pricing, to entice a greater flow of trade. Our paper running soon expanded further into goods running. This increasingly reduced the costs businesses had, as instead of hiring individuals or private carts to run goods, It was included within our services. In this time, I had turned nine, we now lived in a nicer area of town away from the slums, and our original office had expanded. We had bought buildings on the high street nearest to the markets, and we also had a warehouse where carts and goods were flowing in and out at a steady rate.

My original idea had expanded into a massive guild, we did the accounts and paperwork; delivery and promotion for all of our clients, whilst simultaneously reducing their overheads. Effectively creating a trading guild.

I'd come to notice, that across the city, everything felt different. It may have just been my imagination, but people seemed happier. Stern faces roaming the bustling streets had more smiles scattered amongst them, and a calmer air seemed to envelop the surroundings, opposed to the stressful atmosphere I was used to.

The flow of money im our local economy seemed to have increased tremendously, likely due to our conglomerate of self-employed locals, merchants, partners and investors we had, all profiting off of each other.

Furthermore, the people we employed were also receiving the plethora of benefits we had available. We provided a more suitable living wage for them as our employees, earning a considerable amount more than they would earn elsewhere. We encouraged those who did business alongside us to do the same. As it were, this promoted spending. With each passing day, our wage earners lives improved. I had gotten to know a few of them quite well, and their standards of living were certainly looking better. One of our first employees, Tom, a very good friend of my father's, had started a family with his wife, and managed to purchase a property in a more middle class area of town. Before he had lived alone in the slums alongside us. Money spent is money earned as they say. Each penny that was exchanged from our hands to our employees, would then end up paying someone else's wages in the city. This was what I liked to call 'The Multiplier Effect." Or in other words, the theory that 'our success leads to the success of others, as wealth is spread'.

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The best part about how our guild functioned, was that the rich didn't directly make any prophet from the money we earned. Everything was kept as local as possible, even the trade with other towns and cities was built around the local market and people. This, as it suggests, meant that big companies and pre-existing guilds ran by wealthy nobles were rejected when applying to join our trading community, despite being much larger than us.  They were charged normal rates, and couldn't use any of the services we had as benefits for our clientele. You may have thought that they would be angry or irritated at this, but be that as it may, this wasn't the case. They were themselves benefiting from the small multiplier effect we had created, they let us continue our work, without bothering us or trying to elbow us out of the market. I doubt they saw us as competition.They used the independent traders and goods transporters that we hadn't let join our group. I had never intended to put anyone out of work, so this was ideal. There was no conflict, everyone was content with how the city's infrastructure was changing, and people's quality of life was improving. There honestly wasn't much more we could ask for.

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At this point the guild practically ran itself, I had appointed trustworthy individuals in charge of managing each aspect of our service. I was only needed when large deals were being signed or something significant came up, which was pretty much never.

In truth, I was fed up with this city, I wanted adventure and fun, to travel and experience the world. Yet somehow I was still stuck here.

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I was now ten. The last few years hadn't exactly flown by with all of the stress associated with setting up our business. However now I felt at least more content with how I was living. Getting out of bed, I gazed around my room, appreciating the large space I now had all to myself. It was mid summer, my windows were open. Walking over to the window, I looked out at the view from above the city that sprawled across the valleys ahead. It was a beautiful vista, plumes of smoke rose into the sky, fading away into the rich blue that loomed far above the peaks of the mountains. Smiling to myself, I turned around and gazed at my room again, my shadow casting itself in front of me, creating an Olive sized shade across my bookshelves that lined each wall of the room.

A knock on the door sounded, before immediately being pushed open. "ah, Ms Olive, you're awake. Breakfast is prepared downstairs for you, your parents asked me to come and wake you."

"I'll be right down" I replied to Synthia. When the door had closed, I got changed into my usual comfortable choice of clothes, just a t-shirt and trousers, before making my way down the stairs to join mama and paps for breakfast.

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