What will you do when you lose your job?
Assuming we are in for hard times many of us here will lose our jobs or have our businesses fail. Unemployment compensation doesn't pay much and the self employed won't even get that. Meanwhile our bills will continue to pour in and many will be a risk risk ofdefaulting on car and house loans. Some of us will likely be homeless if we don't develop other sources of income.
Darwin wrote, " It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but those most responsive to change". Every change brings new opportunities. Our challenge is to find and capitalize on these new opportunities.
So what opportunities can we reasonably expect to open up as a result of the economic grief we expect to visit us shortly? What newly vital needs can we predict from economic collapse and what can we do now that will enable us to serve these needs? I can think of a few. Perhaps you can add others.
Cheap shelter
The freshly foreclosed who still have some income will look for low-cost housing and may be willing to pay you rent if you have room for them. Consider getting that room you have loaded with clutter ready for a paying house guest or two.
Cheap storage
This is another need of the freshly foreclosed. If you have an unused outbuilding, consider getting it ready to hold furniture, etc. that belongs to a foreclosure victim. Sign a contract with them so that if they miss rent payments for a set number of months (4?), you take legal possession of the stored items.
Security
When news of hungry looters overrunning private homes gets around there will be a mad dash to bar the doors and windows. If you can weld, your services will be in great demand. Consider practicing on your own house so it will be done when the rush orders swamp you. If you have police or military experience, you might plan to offer yourself for hire as security detail. In Quito Ecuador I recall shotgun-armed guards stationed outside major stores and patrolling the streets of the better neighborhoods. The same needs will likely exist in the US soon.
Remote land sales
Private land parcels where owners can take emergency refuge might be much in demand. If you are a land speculator or are in real estate sales, look hard for deals a hundred miles or more from the nearest urban area and get ready to pitch worried homeowners. You could form an adjunct business of helping them stock these sites with buried caches of shelter materials, food, weapons, etc.
Can you teach survival skills?
If so, you can get ready now to offer courses in defense, hunting, food storage, gardening, alternative medicine, solar power systems, etc. Many will likely be desperate to learn.
Firearms
If you are a licensed dealer or a gunsmith or even have ammo reloading equipment and supplies, you could be very, very busy after TSHTF. If you are none of the above, try to get a job -- any job -- working for a gun dealer.
Get a job at a junkyard
I suppose the PC term is auto recycler's. Nobody will be buying new cars but they'll sure be trying to fix the clunker.
Alternative power & water systems
Become a dealer/installer of alternative power and/or water systems, including hard-wired generators and rainwater retrieval. When utilities are unreliable alternatives become paramount.
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