cottage industry 2

COTTAGE INDUSTRY 2

*
note: an article on the economic considerations behind Lincoln's War Of Aggression and why he is one of America's biggest douchebags click here
*

So, the avoidance of retail where all your profits go to the banking whores is a no-brainer.  And you don’t necessarily want to have a business that is reliant on a middle class demographic that is shrinking all the time ( if the numbers aren’t exactly shrinking, you can be sure other monopoly businesses have already got their sticky paws on those peoples wallets and are extracting more all the time, so no matter what you are seeing that customer base with shrinking disposable income ).  You want a business that sells something that makes people money or saves people money.

*

Not vanity items, luxury items, and certainly I would be leery of entertainment items ( stupid levels of saturated market.  Try writing an e-book novel and see if it makes you any money.  The market is already sequel heavy relying on a small residual income base.  Perhaps being an author was never meant to earn much of a living, the blockbuster novel being a historic aberration, but it is still a tough row to hoe under the best of times, which these ain’t ).  Good gravy, I’m surprised I’m making money here.  I mean, I’m good.  But it certainly is a mystery to me J

*

If you already have a business that violates the above guidelines, at least always move forward with the thought that your customers will be able to spend less as time goes on.  Make their indulgent spending as near necessary as you can.  They say that in the last Depression folks wanted escapism, and that is certainly true.  But escapism was still strictly budgeted and the entertainers had to keep costs down to get even the limited sales available.  I would argue that Kindle Unlimited and Netflix are the equivalent of pulp fiction or Saturday matinee films back then, but the issue on the provider end is that their low cost is artificial.  Net Neutrality is keeping the streaming channels artificially cheap and just like YouTube, you have to wonder how many content providers will stop contributing if the payday remains illusive.

*

But, enough about what to offer.  You know better than I, having an intimate grasp on your market I’ve probably not even heard of.  Let’s talk about competition.  You are competing against Chinese factories.  Which is no competition.  You are economically defeated before the race ever starts.  And all this hoopla over Fabricators.  What is that about that I’m missing?  How can plastic doodads ever take over the economy?  At most, on the design side, sure.  But on the manufacturing side?  I’m not seeing it.  It seems like a pipedream for lost American factories coming home.  The reality will most likely be business as usual with China offering economics of scale you can’t come close to.

*

So you need to go back to the quality side of things.  China offers quality, and you can easily get it from the Big Box industry ( for instance, they offer very decent computers at decent prices.  Then we shove an American made POS operating system in there and completely gay it up.  I’m talking to you Bill Gates, you asswhore ).  So, your niche product is safe.  The Chinese won’t offer quality in small quantities as their entire infrastructure is economics of scale.  It won’t be hard to beat American sellers of Chinese crap.  You can’t beat Japanese sellers of quality, but you also don’t have to worry about them in most markets.

*

Plus, they are overseas.  That WAS a good business model but it cannot last long.  When the global oil production of conventional oil ( as opposed to Fake Fuel-fracking oil and tar sands and ultra deep wells under the ocean ) is dropping six to eight percent a year, it is inevitable overseas manufacturing eventually becomes non-viable.  To say nothing of the coming petro-dollar collapse which almost kills the import market due to lack of a viable currency.  You just need to survive until then.  I think we are already at a point where quality in mass produced items is so poor, overall, due to constricting resource supplies and the banker/debt model collapsing, that customer demand for quality is assured, regardless of decreasing income.

*

A sixty five dollar shirt is a hideously expensive investment.  But it will literally last a lifetime whereas the $15 shirt at Wal-Mart will literally fall apart being washed once a week after about six months, if that.  In two years, the expensive shirt pays for itself.  And there are already plenty of name brands you know you can count on to sell these types of quality ( shoes seem to be a little different.  Outside a $300 pair, you don’t know which brand is okay and which WAS okay but is now cheapening quality.  I’m mostly just wearing shoes for a bike ride and going shopping [ which is once or twice a month-the freezer is so full I can’t buy $10 worth of meat all that often ] and wearing wool socks and soccer slides the rest of the time.  For me, the shoe industry priced me out of their market for all other footwear ).

*

Not to say you can compete with quality clothing companies.  Just the sizes and colors inventory is quite capital intensive.  And there are alternatives, such as a lot of military surplus over at Sportsman’s Guide.  But everywhere you look, there seems to be craftsmen offering quality.  There is a market for it, and that won’t change.  If anything, it will grow larger as people can no longer afford disposable items ( a minion reports dwindling quality for the Bic lighter, another reports high end German manufactures cutting quality on expensive industry grade items, a bellweather to me as now debt and economics of scale are backfiring.

*

You obviously can’t charge “prototype” prices.  You must be ballpark competitive ( going back to the crossbow company, his $300 bow compared to a Chinese $100 seems to not compete.  Except that the Ornamental bow has a fiberglass prod.  NOT a quality item by its nature.  If I would consider the more expensive bow a bargain, the world’s cheapest bastard, you can bet most other people see the value in the quality item ).  The difference is that to buy quality, you need to accept the lack of quantity ( cough, cough, bolt actions verses semi-auto’s ).  We have been living with the expectation of quantity for too long.  At least thirty-five years.  Both customers and especially manufactures and merchants.  And that paradigm is changing.

*

You should be able to profit from this change.  Most advice on starting a second business to weather the economic contraction is off in that is assumes plenty of income flush customers.  Focus on quality that is must have ( makes or saves money ) and you’ll be fine until the bitter end.  Then, you’ll still have inventory for post-apocalypse.

END ( today's related link http://amzn.to/2k94ojQ )

 

Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon ad graphics at the top of the page. ***You can make donations or book purchases through PayPal ( www.paypal.me/jimd303 )

*** Unless you are in extreme poverty, spend a buck a month here, by the above donation methods or buy a book. If you don't do Kindle, send me a buck and I'll e-mail it to you in a PDF file.  If you donated, you may request books no charge.   My e-mail is: jimd303@reagan.com  My address is: James M Dakin, 181 W Bullion Rd #12, Elko NV 89801-4184

*** Pay your author-no one works for free.  I’m nice enough to publish for barely above Mere Book Money, so do your part.***   Land In Elko*  Lord Bison* my bio & biblio*   my web site is www.bisonprepper.com *** Wal-Mart wheat***Amazon Author Page
* By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there