E-Mail 'Investing in Businesses and Schools as Well as Preps?, by Captswife' To A Friend

Email a copy of 'Investing in Businesses and Schools as Well as Preps?, by Captswife' to a friend

* Required Field






Separate multiple entries with a comma. Maximum 5 entries.



Separate multiple entries with a comma. Maximum 5 entries.


E-Mail Image Verification

Loading ... Loading ...

10 Comments

  1. Good thoughts here. My 1st reaction is wondering how fast the market changes how business is run.

    The internet has caused massive damage to Mom and Pop brick shops. The intenet allows the user to access materials from far away. Vs. the local store which stocks the item to be sold. If the local orders from same company, they mark it up. So the shopper eliminates the middle person, saving them the cost. Even the mighty beast Wal-Mart is facing stiff competition from internet selling companies and they are facing ruin as well.

    It will take a cataclysmic event to make shopping only a local event. So for this to work and make enough profit, timing will have be accurate. Even indoor flea markets have a tough time of it. One of those open air covered warehouse type of structures will be a gold mine in the future, allowing many vendors to gather so that nearby citizens can come for barter.

    Thank you again for beginning this discussion – I look forward to the feedback and thoughts. I do agree that too much ‘green backs’ can be a bad thing. Tangibles are needed too.

  2. Most small businesses fail, a simple fact. Also like many countries, America has recessions. Right now America is due for another recession. During a recession more businesses fail than the normal amount. Seems to be a poor choice for an investment right now to me.

  4. I had to read this twice. So the premise is be prepared by “investing” in a business because more than likely you won’t use your preps? So I buy insurance but don’t file claims so I should stop buying insurance and instead invest in an insurance company?

    I started up my own prepper related small business about a decade ago. It was very profitable from the get go due to the unique business model. I was still working a full time job and once they realized I was about to jump ship they offered me a promotion and a raise that I could not refuse. I quickly sold off all the inventory I had. It was a great experience. I know several folks who own small businesses including my wife’s family. The Internet and just in time delivery is are impacting their business. So just because a “mom and pop” business has been “profitable” over the course of their lifetime doesn’t mean that it will remain profitable in an ever quickly changing business environment.

    As far as a private school being a sound prepper investment I would have to ask for some proof. How did these schools fare during the Obama depression? Did enrollment go up or down or stay the same? If enrollment went down is it truely a “prepper” investment? I would expect a true “prepper” business to have increased demand hence profits when a disaster or emergency strikes not less.

    One other issue I have is with something the author pointed out about Millennials and debt load. So will the debt laden Millennials, whose children will be the ones attending the private schools be able to afford private schools for their kids?

    Also if you are “destroying” preps you are prepping wrong. And I will answer the question about all the “material” goods I have purchased over the years- if nothing else they are a hedge against inflation. I have [500-round] bricks of 22 LR with $7.99 price tags on them. A few short years ago I could have sold 100 rounds for that price. Hardware is also another area where I have saved money. I have sets of utility hinges with 59 cent price tags on them. To replace them cost me over $2.

    I don’t doubt the value of the education offered by the private schools but I do doubt their value as a “prepping investment”.

    As for other business my friend who has been trying to sell his gun shop for the last few years has pretty much stopped looking for a buyer. His kids want nothing to do with it. Most people can’t buy it since banks view it as a bad investment given the political climate. The paperwork and rule changes are also ever-challenging. Oh and once again let’s look at the millennial generation. Fix something? no just buy a new one since it will give me instant gratification.

    As for quilting I have to laugh. I live by an Amish enclave and just about every yard has a sign advertising quilting services and quilts for sale. That market is kinda saturated around here.

    1. Just to clarify, the point was not that you shouldn’t prep, or that helping establish a school or buying a business was the strongest “investment.” It was that those types of investments do, indeed, have an important and vital use in communities where preppers live, and should be seriously considered. It does, however, take a positive attitude and long-term commitment to the community rather than just self.

  5. I can relate to the “retiree” not being able to sell their business. I have a small screen print and sign shop operation and have been modestly profitable with for 20+ years all the while working for someone else until retirement in 2006. Except for 2010 & 2011. Fortunately I had cash reserves to get thru those times.

    My point being that in trying to “sell my business” I have found most of the younger folks sort of want you to give them the biz and then teach them how to run it. Even my children have no interest in taking it part time. All the equipment is paid for, old but well maintained and is currently making me a profit whenever I start it up.

    Learning from 2009 where I was primarily dependent on the real estate industry I have since “diversified” into several other market niches that don’t require as much physical exertion and stamina due to age and physical limitations (ie: I don’t climb ladders anymore).

    There are so many ways one can make a few hundred dollars a week or month to supplement your income the hard part is deciding which one would make your desired income level and then staying focused on it. Check out your local library for books like “100 Part Time Incomes”. I have a friend who repairs tree root damage on concrete driveways and another with a pickup truck that does odd jobs for friends, neighbors, and others from referrals. Both indicate they average $40-50 per hour for jobs.

    While the author is an advocate of buying existing businesses I suppose you could find one ready to call it quits and then go into competition with them without having to lay out a lot of money up front. If at some point that business does decide to fold their tent you would be positioned to step into the void.

    A mentor from long ago taught me to never “moralize, hypothesize, theorize, or pontificate” just open your eyes, figure out what a potential customer wants/needs and then make it easy for them to get.

    Sorry to have digressed from the excellent theme of the article but the need to keep busy gets me up every morning and out to my shop….

  6. I honestly do not mean to be negative, but I have to say, I completely disagree with the positions in this article. Investing in a B&M of the small variety is a poor use of capital at this point. The business model is dying-rapidly. This is an environment of e-commerce, and small B&M’s are no longer limber or reflexive enough to compete with major retailers. You cannot invest in expansive inventory that you cannot reliably move en-masse, so you cannot compete on price. You do not have the volume to affordably provide the (at minimum) 2 day shipping American consumers now expect, so you cannot compete on availability (side note: Amazon bled money for the first 5 years of its “Prime” service bc of the cost of shipping, and they allegedly still operate at a loss). And if you’re buying a business banking on a societal collapse and being first to market in that new environment, well, I suppose I have a bridge for sale, you could buy it and try charging a toll.

    As for investing in a school – you know, I don’t even have time to go into the folly of that idea. I mean no disrespect whatsoever, but the advise posited here is not good advice. If you feel you just HAVE to invest in a business, keep it small, keep it niche, keep it a product you manufacture yourself (so you can control your inventory), and for gosh sakes, keep it mail-order or e-commerce!

Comments are closed.