(small) business ideas after peak

PrairieMule

We have amazing clay deposits 2-3 ft underground near our pond. I have actually kicked around the idea of a pottery class or two.
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Hair in my eyes like a highland steer, spring in my step like a white tailed deer. Hitch in my hip like an old sheep dog, puff up my chest like a big bull frog.-Corb Lund

daniel347 · Coal Joined: Aug 13, 2005 Posts: 16

truecougarblue · Heavy Crude Joined: Dec 21, 2005 Posts: 480

My great, great, great, grandfather made charcoal as a starter operation to raise capital every time he moved to a new homestead.

It turns out that charcoal is much cheaper than coal, and much more convenient to use than wood. There are various articles online as to how it's made.
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Cougar

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." - Brigham Young

mikeh433 · Heavy Crude Joined: Jan 25, 2006 Posts: 201

Fix/mend clothing - buttons, zippers, patches. Fixing just about anything, should cheap imports and most imports stop/slow way down.

RonMN

A flip-side to this topic should be discussed...what if people can't "pay" you for your product?

you should set up your business model so that they can work for you making more of the product you're selling.

Let's take clean water for instance.

I would need somebody making charcoal, somebody digging up sand, somebody chopping wood & somebody hauling & boiling water.

I could say for 1 hour of work I could give you half a gallon of drinking water (when their 1 hour of work adds 1.5 gallons of water to the pot).
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Quis custodiet ipsos custodes.

Blacksmith

Blacksmithing is not an easily mastered skill, it takes a while to just get the hammer control.

For every 100 carpenters and potters there is one blacksmith and in every 3 blacksmiths there is one moderately proficient smith.

Also we must realize in a PO world there will be a need for charcoal and welding ( except for forge welding ) will probably be a thing of the past.
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Appuis ait fabrum esse suae quemque fortunae.
Alias Redneck

RedStateGreen

Propagating and selling food plants will become a big business, all local of course.

People who know how to card, spin, weave, knit, crochet or otherwise make cloth will be in high demand as the current stock of new and used cloth wears out. No more will be forthcoming once the transportation system winds down. No more 'made in China' for you!
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Conservation is conservative

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change. -- Charles Darwin

threadbear · Expert Joined: Jan 22, 2005 Posts: 7783

Please someone move to my island and be the local chimney sweep. There is only one person who does this job, presently, and he has to commute from a neighbouring island. He has the worst personality of ANYONE I have ever met. Seriously--hates people. Anyway the chimney creep charges about 100.00 per hour, he may charge me less if I let him sock me really hard in the jaw. I am not kidding, this dude should not be loose on the streets, let alone up anyone's chimney. Laughing

Thanks for listening, and if you're young, and agile, please consider it.

denverdave · Tar Sands Joined: Aug 09, 2005 Posts: 84

Here are a few ideas i've had:

-Pedicab owner/operator.

-With a bike trailer or cargo trike, you could be a personal shopper for the elderly, infirm, or lazy cornucopians who know that recovery is right around the corner Laughing

-raising rabbits or guinea pigs for food. Yes, thats what guinea pigs were originally domesticated for in Peru.

-scavenging and reselling stuff.

-Laundry service.

As oil production declines, most of the trends of the last century or so are going to go into reverse, including the trend towards more automation. There will be plenty of work to do, it just won't pay well.
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'If a ruler hearkens to lies, all his officials become wicked.'

TheDude

Cobbler.

Learn about wild plants. Maybe brewing/hooch. A friend brought over some of his homemade white lightnin' and was saying how the poison in denatured alcohol is actually an additive - they add it to keep people from realizing how easy it is to make simple grain alcohol!

He gets his ideas out of the Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible, which is chock full of funky recipes, like making dandelion wine out of a bleach bottle.
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Cogito, ergo non satis bibivi
C'mon man, who're you gonna believe?

rumble · Tar Sands Joined: Oct 04, 2007 Posts: 44

Deleted until I figure out how to post a banner.

TheDude

A banner? An image file, like this one?

Copy the URL of an image, then click on the Insert Image button -

You'll be asked to paste in that URL, and voila.
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Cogito, ergo non satis bibivi
C'mon man, who're you gonna believe?

rumble · Tar Sands Joined: Oct 04, 2007 Posts: 44

Nah, a banner (image) that is a link. I can create a link with other words. I can create an image. However, I haven't figured out how to create an image that leads to a link, yet.

Thanks for trying to help me. That was nice of you!

rumble · Tar Sands Joined: Oct 04, 2007 Posts: 44

Here is the link

This will have to do for now. Rolling Eyes

Whatcha think about this as a business? I was impressed with the idea, but I am not sure how it will work a little later. Aren't the components for solar systems going to increase in cost and become harder to get? I am not sure, but I was thinking that without cheap energy to build the systems....

Please correct me if I am wrong about this.

steam_cannon · Expert Joined: Dec 28, 2006 Posts: 2560 Location: MA