Stuck Entrepreneurs

Prologue

Don’t Play Where You Don’t Belong

For a short while I did business in Russia, until the Capone-style mafia decided I was a fair target for extortion, and I decided I wanted to enjoy my golden years.

One of my ventures was importing consumer goods from Scandinavia into Moscow via St Petersburg. These consisted of decent clothing, kitchen supplies, and health care products. Nothing terribly exciting but all in short supply in Russia. Sounds pretty safe, right?

My first test shipment of three truckloads went very smoothly and produced a decent profit. I was now pumped, confident beyond reason, greedy and reckless beyond cautious.

I upped the stakes.

My next shipment consisted of a 25-truck convoy packed with kitchenware. It was stopped ...