Wool manufacturers and other traders

Chapter XVII W ool manufacturers and other traders W ool manufacturers and traders and artisans who manufacture wool, above all, need to be meticulous and diligent and must participate in the manufacture, despite the fact that they might hire young apprentices. If such a trader displays indolence, you may perceive him to be as good as an utter failure. On the other hand, profit is almost forever secured for the one who is committed to this trade heartily and industriously and enjoys a fine reputation among his colleagues. It is usually said that the craftsman who runs his business in an orderly fashion cannot but succeed. This is why a wool manufacturer must never completely rely on his apprentices, but instead examine the wool himself, fathom by fathom. He needs to see the wool, sort it, touch it with his own fingers, straighten it and categorize it. He must observe and oversee the wool being washed, thrashed, combed, carded and spun, the cloth being produced, woven, cleaned, rolled, knitted, dyed, ironed, clipped and displayed because, as you might know yourself, whether good cloth will look like bad cloth or vice versa is a matter highly dependent on each of these operations. The cloth must also be well known based on the name of the artisan, so that the customers would be willing to purchase it even with their eyes closed when they are told the name of the man who produced it. Such a status is enjoyed by V endramini’s soap and Buonmaestra sugar in V enice. These two traders became immensely rich, mostly on the account of their good names.

T raders must aim to sell and distribute their merchandise in the shortest possible period, be kind and polite and keep themselves occupied. Idle, indolent men should be not only excommunicated from the circle of traders, but also from the country so they are not a bad example for others. The artisan must be organized and regular in settling debts with his creditors, and know how to devise firm plans which must prove successful and timely and should neither be too general in nature nor too perfunctory.