Jim:
I thought the point was to have a home-based business that could survive in the boonies…?
I don’t see much need for a locksmith, gunsmith, or alarm installer in the boonies where most structures are on huge acres of land with fences and who knows how many dogs on the property, let alone a cantankerous old coot with a heavily worn double-barrel shotgun… <grin>
Even repairs are pushing it when neighbors may be a mile or more away… that is a SMALL customer base.
How many guns near you in the boonies that need custom gunsmithing? Another small customer base. Only the BEST gunsmiths get guns shipped to them for work…, then shipped out when finished.
The truly promising home-based businesses are either MAIL / UPS / FEDEX based, such as mail order and Internet sales, or home based businesses over the internet, such as accounting, med. Transcription (now mostly foreign cheap labor), etc…
Just some thoughts and possible target realignment. – Robert
Jim-
Here’s some to home based businesses to consider:
Professional Genealogist. See http://www.apgen.org/ . If it sounds interesting, do research on your own family to see if it’s your kind of thing. Start by going to http://www.familysearch.org/ , click on “Order/Download Products”, click on “Software Downloads–free”, download the first Personal Ancestral File (PAF) in the listing. PAF is as robust as any program that you’d pay money for–plus all genealogists know it well. You can offer your services to search in your local area. If you like being a detective you can have a lot of fun/make a bit of money.
JWR Adds: The Memsahib and I have used PAF for organizing our genealogical research since about 1988. However, we recently switched to Reunion for our Apple Macintosh computers. We find that Reunion is easier to use, has more features, and most importantly it produces “clean” GEDCOM format files for export for use with other genealogy programs and word processing programs. (With the Mac version of PAF we had numerous file corruption problems with GEDCOM export files. But we’ve heard that the PC versions of PAF are less glitchy.)
Indexer. You receive manuscripts electronically and use special software to set up indexed words, concepts. If you are a careful reader (and especially if you smirk when you find a typo!) this may be for you. http://www.asindexing.org/site/indfaq.shtml. Hey, index “Patriots” so we can find all those cool ideas without having to read the thing nine times!
Scopist. A scopist takes a court reporter’s dictation and transcribe it via special software into appropriate format for attorneys. Very interesting work–I suggest doing civil work rather than criminal because it can get pretty gruesome. Find scopists on the internet. Don’t spend bucks on a “school.” Instead, find a scopist who needs help (they like to go on vacations, too!) and volunteer to work for free to get trained. You’ll need a transcription machine to transfer info into the computer. Check your favorite attorney to find who the local scopists are and what the typical rates are for your area.
Grow and dry wild flowers. Search the web to see what’s hot, what’s not. One of my daughters worked for a man with a piddly 1?2 acre lot who sold his stuff by mail throughout the country. Can you grow Baby Breath? I remember teenagers in my Church going to Eastern Washington to pick Baby’s Breath (your wife will know what this is) for florists. Here in Hawaii, you can buy a lei made from about 25 tennis-ball size orchids for $3!! Too bad they can’t be shipped stateside. But here’s a clever graduation tradition–use Saran Wrap and twist in bite-size candy to make a candy lei (for graduation from 6th grade?). Advertise in the PTA.
Grow Lavender–it’s a big deal for growers in Washington State; if your climate can support it, give it a look.
I know a guy who has a multi-acre rose-growing operation–he sells rose plants at Farmer’s markets, and he must be making money because he’s there every weekend.
Which reminds me–check out the possibility of growing plants used in spices–do you know what you pay per pound for spices–Yikes!
Look into Square Foot Gardening, http://www.squarefootgardening.com/ , especially to become a supplier of garden-fresh produce for up-scale (or wanna-be upscale) restaurants. His book/DVD has good stuff and he tells you exactly how to pitch the produce to local places. And a plus–you get to learn all about intensive gardening.
Can you set yourself up to treat discarded food oil to make it useable in diesel engines and then supply the locals? It’s going to be more and more popular–but you’ll need a willing bunch of sources–maybe those same upscale restaurants?!
Bake whole wheat specialty breads for local outlets (organic food stores, chic restaurants). Hey, that reminds me–timbales. You’ll have to hunt to find the ones that are saucer-sized. When I was a kid, the little concession stands had them hung all lined up on a horizontal stick–you plunked down your money (in those days a dime) and DaMan took one off, sifted powder sugar on it and away you went. Looks like a lot, but it’s mostly air. Easy to do; try it at home first, of course–start with the little timbale forms.
Okay, some of these aren’t quite home-based, but think outside the box. Maybe for a relatively small investment you can involve your kinds in a free-enterprise business effort. Like a little concession trailer outside the high school ball game where you’ll sell “shave-ice” (not sno-cones!!!–and NOT “shaveD ice!!!”). Then move it around town to all the public events. Get license, pay the fees, taxes–it makes America great!
Did you see the Hostess wedding cake? http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh/images/05/weddingtwinkie.htm . Sure, it’s silly, but if you’d like to get into cake decorating, you can get noticed by offering one of these babies for laughs. Of course, you’d better learn how to do serious decorating.
Have you got a nice rural setting? People pay big bucks for wedding receptions in “different” (but not dirty) sites. Also, Public schools have money for taking kids on field trips–can you organize a ride on a hay wagon pulled by your tractor? Develop a maze. How about a couple of those dorky wood characters with a hole for a face, so people can get their picture taken as Ma/Pa Kettle–do it digitally and sell them a photo hot off your photo printer.
This reminds me; many people do very well by visiting schools and putting on assemblies–do you have/know/do something that can entertain/involve students? I’ve seen some very mediocre paid-for assemblies in my teaching days, so think about it.
Do you live in an interesting area? Do the locals know about places the casual visitors never see? Write up a must-see list and sell it on the Internet.
Does your hometown (or nearby town) have curbs in residential areas? Make a cardboard mask so you can block out an area of curb in front of a house and spray a black background; then use stencils to spray the house address on the blackened curb–firemen and cops love this idea–at $2 per sign, you can make quite a few bucks on a Saturday. Get the license! Pay the fees! Don’t harass the homeowner–get permission first.
Well, come to think of it, don’t just think outside the box–use the box itself! – B.B. In Hawaii
Mr. Rawles,
One comment on your recommendations for cottage industry jobs. I highly encourage people to learn as much about gunsmithing as possible, but it is very difficult to make a living at this trade. I worked five years part time for a self employed gunsmith who could not have made ends meet if he had not had another skill (made dentures for dentists) and a wife who worked. Our business always suffered when the economy dipped. Having a gun fixed is not a priority in non-SHTF times. And being a small time gunsmith means that you can’t afford to invest in expensive machinery, so most work is very labor intensive. Keeping a stock of parts for most common repairs is costly. There are probably more different kinds of guns than cars. Of course most of these problems can be circumvented with some time, work, and creativity, but only the sharpest and most experienced gunsmiths make a good living.
Another minor problem is that lots of people who come into your shop like guns and want to talk to you about them. You need to be courteous and encouraging about gun ownership, but this time spent talking pays zero per hour.
And of course to legally work on other people’s guns, you have to apply for and pay fees to get an FFL. That means that an ATF agent can come by and examine your records and inventory. Gunsmiths and FFL holders who work out of their homes are rapidly disappearing because of the general bias by the ATF against anyone who does not (or even who does) have a storefront with regular hours.
Gunsmithing is a great skill, and a wonderful hobby, but it’s not a very good way to make money I’m afraid. I hope others have had a more positive experience. – C.G. in NC
JWR Replies: I recommend gunsmithing only if you can develop a specialty and eventually a reputation for expertise in the specialty that will attract mail order business from clients all over the country.