About

Welcome to a very small corner of the Internet.

The aim of this blog will be twofold :

1 - write about operating business in USA and, hopefully, asia from the point of view of a foreigner

2 - include stories, both from the past and as they happen today

Salary Man

I worked as a software engineer from 1992 to 2004 for a variety of large and small companies. My speciality was application programming in C++ over UNIX.

Meanwhile, I had begun holiday travelling in asia from 2000 onward. I had enjoyed visits to Cambodia, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

Thumbnail map of south-east asia

Going solo, first try at financial independence

Tired (a long story) of software engineering, I finally quit that theatre in September 2004. For two years I scraped a living by exporting classic cars from USA to UK. My turnover was impressive, but my profit margin was not.

Thumbnail of a 1958 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

I supplemented my income by doing car transport (I had a rollback truck) and metal recycling, the latter for which I have an enormous passion.

It could not go on, so I sold my UK house and land in January 2007.  I was fortunate.  I had owned the place for 7 years and made a huge profit.

I had always wanted to live in USA - the cars, the life, the American way…

Going solo, second attempt

I searched, beginning long before my house sold, for the right commercial property in USA. In March 2007 I purchased my place in Indiana.

Thumnail map of Indiana

Despite buying right on price, I was handicapped by an existing contract that I had to ride out throughout 2007. Now in 2008, I can finally start earning semi-decent money from my business.

Right move ?

Time will tell whether I made the right move, but I’m interested in business in asia too. I don’t know whether I can do both at the same time, or whether I have to choose one or the other.

Wherever I go from here, I will put the effort into strengthening my business in USA. If I can get that right, I hope to have the option to either sell for a profit, or keep at it.

Trooper

Sai Gon, Viet Nam, 30 January, 2008