Читать книгу Provence Forever - Massimo Cereso - Страница 16

8

The dangers of growth

I pursued all the opportunities that arose to work independently again with an indescribable urge, so that I could once again live my life completely according to my ideas and in absolute independence. During the boom years, as a result of my good business relations with Eastern Europe, I had received a request from a major Swiss industrial company for the supply of large quantities of light metal castings. At that time, however, it was very costly and time-consuming to realize such projects with Eastern European countries, and there were also very large discrepancies as far as quality requirements were concerned. For these and other reasons, my employer was no longer interested in this matter, and so I began to make every effort to implement this business myself. After lengthy negotiations involving the Ministry of Foreign Trade, a Hungarian foundry company was finally found that was in a position to produce the aluminum castings at extremely favorable prices. I immediately realized that this was a million-dollar business; these aluminum castings had to be brought out from behind the then iron curtain under all circumstances and despite the difficult conditions. This venture had to succeed, because there was an immense demand for such castings, which could not be satisfied due to major delivery problems of the Swiss aluminum foundries. In addition, the Western foundry companies were selling their products to the industry at outrageously high prices. So what could be more obvious than to try to supply the market with larger quantities of cheaper products. My business trips to Hungary, of which my employer was of course unaware, were successful, for the long and highly complicated discussions at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and at the manufacturing plant finally paved the way for the planned cooperation. Completely convinced of this promising project and at the same time still working as an employee with a guaranteed income, I again founded my own trading company.

The sales prices at which I was able to offer the castings to my later major customers were far below the competitive prices of the time, although they were several times my purchase price and thus guaranteed me an almost outrageous profit. These prices and my interesting delivery conditions brought me a first trial order in the order of four hundred thousand francs, which was handed over to me personally at a final sales meeting. I remember inviting the purchasing director in charge to a princely lunch following this contract signing. I will never forget this conversation, because the follow-up orders that were promised to me after the perfect delivery of my aluminum castings in the required quality exceeded all my expectations and would have brought me the desired professional success. I was in a trance and could hardly believe my luck. On the way back, I suffered a fainting spell from sheer excitement, so that I had to stop my car immediately. I had to vomit up the sinfully expensive lunch that had cost me a small fortune. I lay down in a meadow off the road and lost consciousness for a brief moment; when I came to, I found that the excellent Bordeaux wine had also found its way out of my body and ended up as urine in my pants. The fulfillment of everything I had dreamed of up to that point had become reality; the emotions triggered by this had finally led to that collapse.

When I had come to myself again and had made myself aware of this new situation in all its consequences, I drove home not particularly fragrant, but full of zest for action. Despite my condition, which at first made my wife Anuschka fear only the worst, Anuschka was at first not particularly enthusiastic about this new situation, because my employment at that time, which meant a solid foundation for our family and thus peace and quiet in orderly circumstances, was once again in the greatest danger. Against the will of my wife and in spite of energetic protests, I subsequently resigned from my promising position as managing director with my employer, and thus the great adventure of working as an independent entrepreneur began anew. I then signed the supply contracts with my Hungarian business partner in person in Budapest, and with the down payment I had received from my customer, I was able to finance the entire order. Accompanied by a foundry technician whom I had hired specifically for this project, I spent several days at a time in Hungary at regular intervals to ensure that the castings were produced to the desired quality, because the quality of the first outturn samples I received from my manufacturer was appallingly poor and in no way met the requirements set.

Further visits to Hungary became necessary, but it was only through special technical advice and the additional supply of cutting tools, which were not available in the East at that time, that the required quality could finally be achieved. Subsequently, this first order to my customer in Switzerland could be delivered with an insignificant delay in delivery, but to the greatest satisfaction of my client.

The foundation for the success of my company was thus laid and I received several follow-up orders, which were also delivered to my customer in perfect quality. My office was still integrated into our four-room apartment and additionally rented car boxes and hobby rooms in our neighborhood served as storage rooms. Every week, castings arrived by rail in several freight cars; these had to be unloaded and then repacked in our warehouse ready for delivery. My wife, Anuschka, and I worked through the night so that deliveries to my customer could be made on time. Each casting weighed about 200 grams; 500 pieces each had to be repacked individually into delivered transport containers. But since we earned two francs on each piece, this hard labor was downright gratifying and beneficial, because for this profit I would also have been prepared to work until complete collapse. Fatigue, backache, and chafed hands meant nothing to me in the face of earning two francs every ten seconds; just thinking about it brought me to a complete ecstasy.

Then further large orders forced me to rent new business premises, and I also had to hire an office employee and an employee for the warehouse and shipping due to work overload. My company developed into a significant enterprise due to additional customers from industry, and in the meantime I had concluded a perennial contract with my Hungarian partner as general agent for Switzerland. Thus, the work I had done up to that point and my very individual entrepreneurial thinking formed the foundation for the success of the next twenty years without any ifs and buts. Despite the great financial gain from my business activities, I remained modest for the time being and we still lived in our four-room apartment in a middle-class neighborhood with many children. However, I then replaced my car with a Jaguar and promptly found that this new acquisition, as well as the much-needed new apartment furnishings, aroused envy among our neighbors. After another successful year, my wife Anuschka was in possession of another car, and we had also bought a small motorboat. Our garage boxes, which we had initially used as storage rooms for my business, were provided with another Porsche. My company developed into a real goldmine within only three years and my fortune had far exceeded the million mark. Considering a professional success, my circle of friends expanded accordingly and therefore we had social obligations to fulfill. At that time I did not realize that this so-called good society consists, with only a few exceptions, of the very worst human specimens on this earth.

These are almost exclusively unscrupulous, greedy profiteers who never become true friends, because when success runs out, these rats leave the sinking ship and tear you apart in the air. They feast on the fate of others and this satisfaction can be compared to an orgasm during lovemaking. However, I got to know the worst facet of this fine society only a few years later as a member of an exclusive golf club.

I was no longer able to fulfill my social obligations in our apartment in an apartment building at the time. In addition, I no longer wanted to endure my guilty conscience that had developed towards my neighbors because of my luxury goods and upscale standard of living. Although I had employed roommates from our neighborhood in my company as a result of the further expansion of my business, I had to realize to my great regret that these people were becoming estranged despite the good and friendly relations that had existed for years.

My best colleague and later managing director of my company was my then neighbor Peter; he came from that neighborhood and is to this day, my best and only friend. In times of bitterest need and moments of complete despair, Peter and his wife stood by me, always offered me shelter or a meal, and certainly saved me from final neglect through long, comforting conversations and valuable advice. With my wife Anuschka, with whom I still lived in a happy and harmonious marriage, I moved into our new terrace house in an extremely well-kept residential area. Everything I had ever wished for in my life had now come true, but my insatiable greed for money, power, wealth and success did not let me rest even now. My business relationships expanded and since I was now also prepared to pay so-called "forbidden commissions" for large orders under the utmost discretion, the order volume reached astronomical heights.

Although my selling prices were still far below those of the competition, such deals involved a great deal of risk and required strict precautions.