The headman in Elbashï and one or two of the wealthier villagers in the next village had shares in a hotel in Ankara; and in another village near Sakaltutan the leading households, two brothers, had inherited a small hotel in Kayseri from their father. One of the itinerant carpenters and his plumber brother talked of setting up a workshop in Sakaltutan and actually began excavations, but did not pursue the matter. There was also talk of a small textile mill. Köse Mehmet in Elbashï had made, so he claimed, a success of sheep breeding, and discussed establishing with his savings a `scientific-modern' grocery shop in Kayseri, or alternatively, a poultry farm. But he knew that he lacked the necessary knowledge to make either thrive.
It is often said at many different levels that, like other so-called under-developed low-income countries, Turkey lacks capital. Yet the rate of economic development in these villages was restricted far more by inexperience and technical ignorance than by shortage of capital, and also perhaps by fear of regulation and bureaucratic interference. If there had been clear opportunities for profit, in enterprises in which villagers felt they had the necessary experience, then a much higher rate of investment would have been forthcoming. On the other hand their expectations of profit are high. People do not think in terms of investing money and drawing a modest percentage as a permanent income. They expect to recover invested capital, and reckon as profit any surplus over and above this which eventually accrues. A probable rate of return of less than thirty-three per cent gross is unlikely to attract investment.