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Foreign Investors In Estonia | BELLUS
Bellus: the Future of Furniture Turning 15 Finnish Marks into 300 million EEK
There are plenty of tales about a boy who built a business empire starting with only two hamsters. These stories are likely apocryphal. But Rolf and Rikard Relander started a furniture company which today does over 330 million kroons (about 20 million euros) per year in turnover from capital accumulated by the youngest brother saving 15 Finnish marks per week from his parents. This story is not apocryphal; it’s not even an exaggeration. “My parents had given me 15 marks per week for a long time,” says Rolf Relander, “and I saved every bit of it. I asked my father if buying stock was a good idea, and he replied that maybe it was, but that I should also be prepared to lose everything.” Knowing the risks, Relander decided to buy, and he spent his entire savings on Sonera. “Then it went public and its price went through the roof. I sold it all at its peak and had about 40,000 Finnish marks.” Relander invested the marks (less than 7,000 euros) in their furniture enterprise, “and,” he notes with a smile, “that’s all the capital we ever put into the company.”