The business world is the greatest adventure. I remember it like it was yesterday, those words my grandpa often repeated, now engraved in my memory. It's thanks to him that I am where I am today.

Some dream of exploring mysterious caves or fighting savages. But grandpa's dream, his battle, was entrepreneurship. Let me tell you about it.

It all starts with Edward Linderberg, my grandfather. He was a modest merchant from a commoner family in Lyubeck. The only luck he had in life was inheriting a piece of land well-positioned in the downtown, right across from the town hall, a stone's throw from the inn, and most importantly, not far from the city's market. And I can tell you that some merchants would have sold their mothers to even get a piece of land as well-situated.

Though his skills as a craftsman didn't point him in any specific direction, my grandfather nonetheless decided to venture into the blacksmithing trade, a simple strategy.

The forge eventually allowed him to forge his own armor. You've probably heard that old saying, "knowledge is power." Hmm, nonsense! That's the argument of people who don't have power. Weapons, now that's real power.

And very quickly, grandpa Edward realized that the world of entrepreneurship wasn't all flowers and little birds, you know. He lost count of the swine and scoundrels who wanted to make a name for themselves.

But for now, that kind of rivalry wasn't for him. His modest forge had just started out.

At the beginning, he didn't have much: just a few small iron bars, some pieces of wood, and one employee. A somewhat dim-witted and not very competent commoner, and as the only means of transport for his goods, he had only an old cart pulled by a fool.

Sure, that somewhat limited his sales points, but you have to understand that back then, the roads were dangerous, more so than now, and grandpa feared that his poor employee might get attacked on his way to the factory. Well, knowing grandpa, he didn't want his cart to be attacked, especially.

First rule of entrepreneurship: always start small.

At the beginning, he started with the production of tools, easy to make, easy to produce, but the profit margin wasn't huge.

He had to secure new stocks to avoid running out. Moreover, these adventures taught him several lessons, which he often shared with me. The first was to always buy stock where it’s cheapest to increase profits, and too bad for the local farmer; he should sell it cheaper.

To increase his margin, grandpa regularly sent his cart to Essen, where iron was cheap. He also hired an escort because the road to the mining town of Essen was dangerous, and it would be a shame if something happened to his only employee.

So, the cart quickly returned full of iron and coal, which allowed him to move up a gear: the production of daggers, thereby generating better profit margins.

Now that business was starting to take off, he took the opportunity to hire a new employee because, ultimately, being a boss means having people work for you. Otherwise, there would be no point in being a boss, let alone a queen.

Now that the machine was up and running and the business was starting to flourish, it was time for grandpa Edward to start a family.

I’m not talking about love here, no sir. Grandpa Edward didn't believe in love, no, he left that to the poets.

I'm talking about succession, family businesses, because to have power, money alone is not enough. Money is just a means to power. To have power, you need a powerful family, and to have a family, well, you need a wench.

As a poor commoner with a small business, no woman of good standing would want him. To begin with, he had to aim low, as he put it, “go for the low-hanging fruit.”

Sure, they're not very smart, not very beautiful, but they're as sturdy as draft horses with wide hips for easy childbearing.

His future bride, my grandmother, was named Sabrina Lamb. A sturdy 19-year-old girl who limped at the time. Grandfather found it charming. It was easier for him to catch her that way.

Once he chose his wench, grandpa focused on courting the damsel. His business was running on its own now, thanks to his three employees. He just stopped by to make sure the stocks didn’t run out and that there were no accidents because the war among the competitors had already begun.

The house and businesses of a guild in town, the Tricorno, had burned down early that morning. It was a bold business strategy that had already proven itself in the market.

You know, there are two schools of thought: either you commercially ruin your competitors by lowering your prices, or you burn down their business, which is faster and more effective, provided, of course, that you don't get caught.

In the meantime, grandpa chose to stay discreet. He would only get involved in inter-guild affairs later, once he had weapons, of course.

And then, in the meantime, grandpa had a lot on his plate. Between taking care of his forge and wooing his bride, he was very busy, but apparently, his skills as a blacksmith seemed to impair his ability as a charmer, which made the courtship last a bit longer than expected. But well, we Linderbergs, we don't let our prey go that easily.

Day and night, he pestered the wench until she finally gave in. It's true, he could have also bought her perfume, given her gifts, but that costs money. Compliments cost nothing, it just takes a bit longer.

No church or ceremony, the lady would have to be content with a ring and a nice kiss. After all, they had more important things to do. They had heirs to produce, and grandpa had already wasted a lot of time, so, off to bed to honor his wife, and after the sex, the money.

Very quickly, a new problem arose: they had no iron left. Iron ore was running out in the markets of Lyubeck and the surrounding hamlets. Production stopped, and the employees couldn't work. They had to open a second business.

Second lesson for you: never put all your eggs in one basket. The key to success is investment. If you have multiple businesses, sacrifice one or two so that the most profitable ones can thrive.

First, he had to climb the social ladder. As a poor commoner, to hope to open a second business, he first had to become a citizen.

Fortunately, the world is well made because everything revolves around money. He just had to shell out a good amount of gold coins, and there he was, a citizen. After all, the ascent to power begins well with a little bit of corruption, doesn't it?

Once a citizen, the next step was to decide what business to open. For that, nothing simpler than consulting the list of the most expensive materials. Iron was still overpriced, but fabric was worth nothing, perfect. Thus, the tailoring shop was launched, right next to the main house.

Ah! His second venture. Grandpa told me it was the second most important thing that happened to him that year, that and also the birth of my father.

Sabrina gave birth to a boy, young Henry. A sturdy boy who would fight for the family. Meanwhile, no question of letting his blonde rest; as soon as she got out of bed, he put her back in, pregnant again.

And then, you know, kids, even in our time, even with the advances in medicine, are a bit like horses: it's better to have two in case the first one doesn't reach adulthood.

And then, I must admit, grandpa would have liked to have a little girl, to see her smile, to marry her off to a rich old man. That was his secret dream.

In the meantime, the tailor shop was up and running. The employees immediately got to work, making peasant clothes, wool blankets... It was profitable since cotton cost almost nothing. They're lucky, too; outside, peasants were freezing to death; it was winter.

This year ended well, after all. Not only had he managed to diversify his business, but his wife gave birth to their second son, Charles. Well, it wasn't a girl, but it's always useful to have boys for fighting.

That said, not everything was rosy. They had narrowly avoided disaster with the forge. They had come within an inch of a total shutdown of the forge. Ah, can you imagine that, employees paid to do nothing? But that's the vision of hell.

But finally, iron was abundant again in the stalls, and prices were plummeting. It had been a close call. The market is fickle, so there's no question of getting caught off guard a second time.

Grandpa took the initiative by taking on debt from the chamber of commerce. He needed to manufacture something else because his daggers were so flooding the market that people were now using them to scratch their backs. So, he had to borrow to expand his forge and offer other products.

I know debt is scary, but that's how the world works. You go into debt to expand your business and make profits to pay off your debts. And if you can't pay off your debts, you take another loan to pay off the previous debt. I don't see what could go wrong there, really.

So, the expansion of the company was underway, and thanks to this loan, he could make everything from helmets to armor to long swords.

Weapons, they sell well. And even in a thousand years, people will still need to wage war. You might find it crude, but grandpa didn't see himself as a jerk; that's just how the world is, he couldn't help it.