This is Planet Money from NPR.

In 2011, Lariat Alhasan had a paint business in Abu Jainai, Syria.

She sold house paint, she sold industrial paint, she sold textured paint, she sold paint

that fills in the cracks in your wall.

The paint company was called Larklux Paint and it was really, really small.

The employee I had was just me.

I was the production manager.

I was the marketer.

I was the delivery person.

I was everything.

Except the security.

That was the whole company, her and a security guard.

And being so small was a problem because customers would try out her paint and they would

say, this seems great.

I want to place a big order.

How about I come down to your office and we'll sign the papers.

Which is where things would get awkward because she didn't have an office.

And I kept telling them, no, no, no, you call me whenever you want that.

I will just be there, I will be there.

She just had her car.

And when clients would see that, they would say, I'm sorry and that's when they would

back out.

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