Marello chuckled. "Eighty-five it is, kid. You drive a hard bargain." He pulled a thick wad of bills from his pocket, counted out $255, and handed it over. Theo quickly boxed up two more enhanced knives from his remaining stock when he got back home. The butcher transaction felt solid, real, in a way the anonymous online clicks didn't.
The positive rating and perhaps Marello spreading the word seemed to prime the pump. Over the next few days, sales became steady. Two or three orders a day. More 5-star reviews popped up: "Cuts like a dream!" "Seriously sharp, great value." "My new favourite knife."
Theo quickly enhanced the rest of his initial batch. With the cash from Marello and the steady online income (minus platform fees), his bank balance crept upwards. He felt confident enough to buy another batch of ten knives ($250), his earlier terror replaced by the buzz of burgeoning success. The power recharged reliably every 24 hours, and he fell into a rhythm. Wake up, check orders, enhance ten knives, pack, ship, update ledger.
His apartment remained a mess, but the pile of shipping supplies grew. His spreadsheet showed a clear positive trend. He was out of immediate danger. He could breathe.
But breathing wasn't enough. Theo started looking at the numbers more critically. Each knife cost $25. Listing/transaction fees averaged $10. Shipping materials/postage, maybe $15 if he was careful. Total cost per knife: ~$50. Selling for $99.99 meant roughly $50 profit per knife. $500 profit per day, maximum, dictated by his 10-use limit.
It sounded good compared to being broke, but compared to his ambitions? $500 a day was pocket change. It wouldn't make him rich, let alone a billionaire. The grind of packing and shipping was tedious. And the 10-use limit was a hard ceiling. This wasn't scalable. Eversharp Edge was successful on its small scale, but it was a dead end for his real goals. Dissatisfaction began to fester beneath the surface success. He needed something bigger, better margins, higher impact per +1 use.
Then, demand spiked. A popular foodie blog mentioned "an incredible new knife from an unknown maker called Eversharp Edge" in a roundup review. Orders surged. Suddenly, Theo had fifteen orders pending, then twenty. His 10-enhancements-per-day limit felt like shackles. Customers were messaging, asking about shipping times.
He looked at his inventory. He had purchased a total of 50 knives so far and still had plenty of the base $25 knives stockpiled. He looked at his power, ten uses available today, ten more tomorrow. He could enhance ten today, ship them, enhance ten tomorrow… but that meant delaying a third of the current orders by at least a day, maybe more if the surge continued. Delay meant potential cancellations, bad reviews, hassle.
Or…
He looked at the un-enhanced knives. They looked almost identical to the enhanced ones. Only an expert user like Marello, under heavy use, would likely notice the difference immediately. These online buyers? They were probably home cooks impressed by the initial sharpness (which even the base knives had, briefly) and the idea of enhancement.
The calculation was cold, instant, and devoid of ethical friction. Ship all twenty orders now. Enhance the first ten knives today as usual. For the next ten orders, ship the standard, un-enhanced $25 knives. Pocket the full $99.99 (minus costs) for knives he hadn't used his precious, limited power on. That was an extra ~$50 profit per knife, an immediate $500 boost. Who would know? By the time any complaints trickled in, if they ever did, he planned to be long gone from the knife business. Eversharp Edge was just a stepping stone, a way to build capital for the real venture. Reputation for this minor gig was utterly disposable. Money came first. Always.
He spent the next cycle enhancing ten knives as usual. Then, methodically, he began packing the next ten orders. He took ten plain knives from his stock, boxed them up, printed the labels. There was no hesitation, no pang of conscience. Just the cold, calculating assessment of risk versus reward. He was taking a shortcut, leveraging the reputation built by his actual enhanced products to squeeze extra profit from inferior ones. It felt… efficient.
He shipped all twenty packages. Later that day, watching his bank balance swell significantly from the influx of payments for both genuine and fake enhanced knives, a grim, cynical satisfaction settled over him. He'd beaten the system, optimized the situation to his immediate advantage. The potential future complaints, the burned customers, the trashed reputation of Eversharp Edge – those were distant, abstract concerns. The crisp, growing number in his bank account was real.
He leaned back, already scanning business news sites on his laptop, his mind churning with possibilities far beyond butcher knives. He had capital now, a proven (if misused) unique selling proposition, and a renewed, ruthless focus. The terrifying desperation of three weeks ago felt like a lifetime away, replaced by the familiar, cold fire of ambition. Eversharp Edge had served its purpose. It was time to find something bigger to enhance.
Theodore Sterling - Financial Ledger (Approx. End of Week 3.5)
Starting Balance (from Ch1): $1580.09
Income:
Butcher Sales (3 knives @ $85.00): +$255.00
Online Sales (47 knives @ $99.99): +$4699.53
Total Income: +$4954.53
Expenses:
Rent Paid (covering 2 weeks @ $450/wk): -$900.00
Living Expenses (covering 2 weeks @ $300/wk): -$600.00
Knife Stock Purchases (Additional 40 knives @ $25/ea): -$1000.00
Online Sales Costs (Est. Fees/Shipping - 47 sales @ ~$25/ea): -$1175.00
Misc. Business Setup (Butcher prep, initial shipping and materials): -$34.00
Total Expenses: -$3709.00
Net Change During Period: +$1245.53
Ending Balance:$2825.62
Status: Short-term financial stability achieved. Rent covered with buffer. Business generated solid positive cash flow but margins/scalability deemed insufficient by Theo.
Note: Shipped 10 un-enhanced knives as part of the 47 online sales to maximize short-term profit, knowingly risking future 'Eversharp Edge' reputation. Actively planning pivot to a more profitable venture. Current Runway (after next rent): ~3.1 weeks based on balance.