Business and wealth in the 'Shepherd'

The questions I want to foreground in this article are, what was Hermas' business, who were Hermas' 'rich' to whom the 'Shepherd' is directed, and who were the 'poor'? I will begin by drawing inferences as far as possible about Hermas' own business, which seems (from the exchange in Mandate 3) to have depended on Hermas' integrity and credibility. He had become rich, but then lost his wealth again, as Vision 3 says - a loss which had made him useful 'for the life', in contrast to his earlier uselessness. Hermas was, then, probably not a tinker like John Bunyan, or a shoemaker like George Fox - nor yet a tent-maker like Paul of Tarsus: occupations which could make it possible to earn a living, but which would not normally make a man rich.