Making Money in a Post-Collapse World: Here’s What I Learned in Venezuela
By Jose G. Martinez
Note: Jose Martinez is an upper middle class professional in Venezuela. He is a former worker of the oil state company with a Bachelor’s degree from one of the best national Universities.
Today I want to talk about something essential: Making money in a post-collapse world.
I am the kind of person that makes plans… and EXECUTES them. This is something that has been keeping me ahead of many people I know. This localized collapse opened the windows for really profitable business operations that could be useful if a similar situation presents someday in the part of the world you are living in.
I had to limit the selection to easy-to-learn stuff, not especially advanced skills but producing processes that are all over the internet and anyone with some technical knowledge could safely perform. Part of our starvation is because people have not gone massively to the country or cultivated every available meter with something to eat.
The main failure was, the way I see it, I planned for an event too short. Won’t go on that though.
There are ways to make money in a post-collapse society.
Let’s see how (in an ideal world where the right to NOT be imprisoned and your products seized, though) we could make some income in an economy like the mess is in my country right now.
One of the first and very important items that are scarce is energy. With the excess of energy (oversizing everything in the designs) available we could put to work some hours a day a small freezer and make some ice for sale. Pricing will depend on each one. Other products, if you have milk to spare and one of the neighbors produces honey, could be ice cream or some other dairy-derived without too much complication. Just make yourself a name and people will come to buy or trade.
With enough space and some knowledge, a walk-in refrigerator with a proper unit can be set up, in a basement or similar facility. Renting a small space for medications that need refrigeration, or perhaps blood, plasma, albumin, you name it.
If you’re lucky enough to have a permanent stream, and can redirect and makeshift something similar to a dam and can install some turbines for hydropower generation, the energy excess could be very beneficial if sold. If the collapse was a good one (pun intended) there will be no authorities left to mess with you. And hopefully no politicians either.
What kind of equipment do you and your neighbors have?
Perhaps one of your neighbors owns a workshop and needs to run the machines, or some other is an MD with hospitalization facilities. How this could be done, is something that technicians and engineers will have to deal with.
Energy provision as a business is not only electrical. There is plenty of innovation that perhaps has been laying around for some time, but with the abundance of oil and derivatives just had not kicked in. As an example, I have always trusted in the power of the tangerine peelings flammable liquid. Just see how that little droplets burn if you press one of those peelings close to a flame. I have to research but I am sure that good quality fuel can be extracted from this, and perhaps other natural products. I remember that the quality of that liquid as a solvent is so good that it was used for crude tank cleaning! Environmentally safe, and the raw material is practically endless. Just the equipment for the extraction is needed, and it shouldn´t be so complicated.
Perhaps your thing is gasifying wood. Do you have a pickup with a genset that both run on gas wood? Great. You could ride it to the place of someone who needs to charge their battery racks, and trade for some goods. Oh, the collapse was a good one and your 4 years old tires are busted? Install a tracks system and keep riding! Homemade, easy to repair, but practical, and will take you everywhere. Forget about getting stuck in the mud again.
I’m tropical, so I don’t know about snow because I never drove on it. But I do know about mud and river. Long term collapse or something similar and one lives in a secluded place? Tires too expensive and scarce? Tracks for me, please. I know enough about metals for a good debate with any polymers specialist that wants to comment. If the terrain is hostile enough, perhaps makeshifting a tracked vehicle could be an option or pay someone to do it for you. I have seen some interesting ones that can float. If you have the means, and the time, it would be a nice addition. Of course, diesel engines are preferred because of the biodiesel capability. Auto transmissions too. Charging someone else’s battery pack or vehicle is a good business if things go to heck.
They are charging 1$ for 10 minutes for your cellphone in Venezuela. It’s all over Twitter. And many people are mad about this, too. They have offered to charge phones for free because it’s highly abusive to ask so much money for such a little time. Solidarity is a value that crisis has enhanced in many people.
Now please pay attention to this.
Health-related products are in demand after collapse
One of the main products to be sold in any kind of long term disruption of the chain supply is soap. Those of you who know how to make soap and have access to the ingredients make one step forward and your troubles will be much less than with any other income. This is basic. Soap avoids us to get sick and allows us to remain comfortable. For plenty of us, truth be said. The scarcity has led to the appearance of all kinds of DIY soaps.
This is a first need product. Cleaning wounds and burnings are going to be the main issue if antibiotics are not readily available. Foods and herbs that boost your immune system are going to be a first need product too. I have been eating so much garlic (one of the most powerful antibiotics in nature) that I could kill Dracula and a few vampiresses just with a smile from two meters away.
Sanitary products are a great post collapse business. If you have access to a small mill, you could learn how to make toothpaste with coal. You can find recipes on the internet.
Cleaning up is very important for boosting morale. Someone sweaty, smelly, starving and thirsty hardly will make good choices. And bad choices could hurt you or those you love.
Of course, producing lubricants require a much more complete specialized knowledge, but I don’t doubt this can be made at small, local scale.
Even a small plant with recycled oil industry materials like pipes, flanges, and vessels can be made. This could be used to both produce derivatives or recycling used oil. There is already plenty of experience with this worldwide.
Post-collapse businesses are best started before the chaos emerges
Engineering skills are needed for a safe operation, though, but the benefits for a long term recovery of the local economy is huge. And the moment to invest in such setup is before the event happens. Not after. Putting everything together while there is no power from the grid is going to be ten times more difficult.
Just imagine a moving oil recycling plant, installed in an overland semi that runs in biodiesel. Assuming there’s a proper supply of tires and spare parts for the semi, this could be a business that could bring along lots of benefits for a small community, say in an area of 400 or 500 kms around. Everyone could bring their used oil and substitute it for the same amount and grade, only that new.
Farmers could extend their usage of machines incredibly with this. I am sure that, nowadays, it would be possible to run small farming machinery just with solar. I have not done too much research about this, but modern panels and engines are much more efficient than those built a decade or two ago. There are generators that are now installed in a kite. There are plenty of possibilities. Thinking outside the box is what we need. You have energy to spare? Sell it to your neighbor so he can plow his field next to yours. Or use your equipment as it has been done since ages ago, and make some trade.
These ideas have been for some time in my mind. Let’s contribute for our kids. It’s all about them. We are just fighting for their future.
yogaesoteric
May 25, 2019