(Seems like some players are getting all the luck! Toaster actually got a third successive 1 on the first roll, but I rerolled it for mercy's sake - even though the second roll wasn't much better. Hopefully, things will swing around for the less fortunate soon.)
Current date: 1st July, 1870 (Start of 3rd fiscal quarter)
Notable events in past quarter: None
There's got to be another shale mine in the area. Go find it and try to bluff my way into a management position.
[2] Unfortunately, there's very little global demand for oil at the moment, which means equally little demand for shale and little demand for shale miners. You manage to keep yourself alive by doing odd jobs and begging, but it might be time to start looking into other avenues of work if you want to get somewhere.
Damned frenchies, polacks and austrains. Should have known they would be traitorous. Nations of servants and thieves.
I shall instead hire a reputable gunsmith to design me that sidearm I talked about. This time I will personally look into buying a plot of land near a train station, near a city, preferably in the Ruhr area so that I can get cheap steel. Also, if I get said plot of land I shall build a small factory on it.
[3] Your personal touch pays off modestly. The pistol your gunsmith presents to you is nothing to yell about, but it looks nice enough and there's a good chance it'll be picked up by cavalrymen with more money than sense. You manage to locate a few plots of land that local farmers are willing to part with, but none of them are really ideal. You eventually settle for one next to the city of Dortmund, and construction of a small arms manufactory begins in earnest. If all goes to plan, you should be able to pay back this quarter's investments by the end of the year.
Start making garments! Also look for wealthy investors
[6] Your garments are a surprise hit with the retailer who picked them up, with the stock they purchased from you running out in less than a week. Your small cadre of workers clearly won't suffice to meet the demand for your quality linens - and on top of that, a number of local aristocrats and statesmen are eager to buy shares in your fledgling industry. By the time you finish cutting deals with them, you're a few thousand dollars richer, but you've also signed off a good deal of your company to the investors.
Bring in some merchandise (clothing, slow-to-expire snacks, and some unchilled water) and open for business. the sooner I make some cash, the sooner I can start worrying about how I will expand.
[5] You manage to buy a good deal of inexpensive, high-demand merch that'll keep you afloat until the next quarter. The grand opening of Dustan's General Goods attracts a significant portion of the local community, and you shift your cheap stock far faster than you expected. You've got more than enough cash from your profits to buy the same amount of stock more than twice over, if you want, but there's also room for you to beautify the store a little or buy in a higher class of merchandise.
Hey, everyone has got to start somewhere. I look for a tire distributor or manufacturer to buy stock for my store.
[5] As fortune would have it, a nearby rubber tycoon went bust quite recently, and he's selling everything he can at cut-throat rates to avoid total bankruptcy. Though the news bodes poorly for the tire industry as a whole, you manage to secure a significant amount of solid rubber wheels, as well as some tire maintenance equipment and scrap rubber. At the rate that wheels usually sell at, you'll be able to stay in business on this stock alone for over a year - not to mention the tidy profit you'll make, too.
I'm assuming I have enough cattle to start meat production, so I get my butchers to work killing the non-breeding stock, and preparing them for mass consumption.
[3] Your modestly-sized herd is hardly able to sustain its current numbers, but you round up the older bulls nevertheless and send them to the chopping block. Your skilled butchers work to a high standard, but ultimately, there's just not much at all for them to work with. You make a little profit peddling your unimpressive amount of ready-to-eat beef, but you'll have to look into buying in some breeding cattle if you want to really sell big.