Over the past couple of months, I’ve been chatting with people, specifically surveying business ideas for local economy rebuilding. Here are some of the more interesting ones.
Tire Sandals — recycled auto tire casings. While there are some patterns on the Net, those are the hobby type. For genuine durable footwear, you’re going to need some kind of pattern for soles, cutting the tire casings with a jigsaw. I recommend recycled auto seat belts for straps, probably riveted in place. Consider attaching them at an angle so they conform to the shape of the foot. For cold climate, stitch a heavy sock inside the sandal, made of leather, canvas, or other water-resistant materials. Experiment until you come up with a working pattern.
Bicycle Delivery — It will require at least one good, solid bicycle. You’ll need various kinds of frame augmentations, like racks front and rear. Also, you’ll need to create different kinds of luggage depending on the loads. The safest load rides down close to the axles. It means you need a strong frame, fatter tires are better, and you’ll need to invest in extra tires. Also, consider learning ways to minimize puncture flats: thicker inner tubes, puncture resistant straps (liners), solid rubber tires, etc. Oh, it would also require a good pair of legs.
Lunch Cart — Sandwiches, wraps, meat pies, burritos, etc. Make it cheap, but make it filling. Frankly, there’s nothing like good animal fat to make someone feel full for quite a while. You’ll obviously need to find a location under-served by local snack bars, etc., particularly at the lower price range. As long as you aren’t fighting a mass of regulation, you can afford to be very competitive. Bonus points if you mount the food container on a bicycle frame of some sort, or hitch it behind.
Essential Services — There are some things we have done so cheaply for so long, no one remembers how to do it for themselves. Do you know how to wash clothes with a rub-board and tub? Learn how to fix washing machines, or how to do large amounts of laundry cheaply. Learn how to make and repair clothing. Learn plumbing and electricity. Learn how to turn junk into spare materials and parts.
Packaged Vices — I do not recommend this, but felt it was only fair the mention it: alcohol and tobacco. If you know how to distill spirits or brew beer, and have the supplies and equipment, all you need to do is avoid regulation to make a fortune in bad times. Tobacco is quite a bit harder. You’ll have to research how to grow it, dry it, and store it. Learn how to make cigarettes cheaper than other local sources and you’ll never lack for customers. Or simply make them accessible in locations closer to the users.
Import Replacement — This is more of a general principle. Keep an eye on businesses which exist only because they import their stuff cheaply by the boatload. As the global economy slows down, shipping is one of the first things to either die or become horribly expensive. Cheap import stuff will go away. Some of that stuff people will buy only because it is cheap. Other things are fairly essential, and they’ll buy at much higher prices when necessary. If you can replace anything in high demand with a local product, they’ll pay the higher prices you’ll probably have to charge.
