Gyroscopic Investing

Posted: **Thu Oct 21, 2010 11:28 pm**

I've been researching this topic for quite some time, now. Months, in fact. And I haven't been able to come up with a good list of depression-proof businesses that aren't dirty, dangerous or extraordinarily difficult.

Anybody have any good ideas?

Even researching the Great Depression, I didn't find any real good examples.

The best I've been able to come up with is: Training drug detection and explosives detection dogs. But I get the impression that it's pretty locked up by the old boy's network.

Posted: **Fri Oct 22, 2010 12:14 am**

If there is another Depression, we can't think it would unfold like the 1930s. The country is much different today than it was then and the outcomes will likely be entirely different. I think the best depression proof asset is to be flexible enough with your skills that you can perform many tasks. Those with a resilient and flexible way of responding to problems usually land with both feet on the ground.

Posted: **Fri Oct 22, 2010 8:38 am**

Nursing
HVAC repair

In general, I think that a person who can sell effectively can do okay in any economic environment.

Posted: **Fri Oct 22, 2010 10:33 am**

I have a colleague whose spouse started a consignment business for ladies business/mid/upper-end attire. They started with 400 sq ft 4 years ago and are now putting the finishing touches on 4000 sq ft. They are also now consigning furniture. My colleague plans on quitting the corporate grind in the next year or 2 and just live off of the store. They are only in their late 30s.

In the beginning, they did a lot of small business research and put together a nice business plan with the help of a local small business organization. It took them about a year of planning before they committed and another 4 months to get the doors open. Their story is as about as picture perfect as it gets.

Wish I would have thought of it !

Posted: **Fri Oct 22, 2010 12:00 pm**

Pretty much any tradeskill like plumber, electrician, appliance repair, etc, is most likely recession proof.

Posted: **Fri Oct 22, 2010 2:16 pm**

I'm a marketing guy and this is a post from one of my favorite "in the trenches" gurus:

http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com/cl ... l#more-612

I think you'll find a lot of ideas in it. Good luck!

Posted: **Fri Oct 22, 2010 3:13 pm**

Coffee wrote: The best I've been able to come up with is: Training drug detection and explosives detection dogs.

Training them to detect pot may soon become unprofitable, if you live in California.

Posted: **Sun Oct 24, 2010 9:58 pm**

MeDebtFree wrote: I have a colleague whose spouse started a consignment business for ladies business/mid/upper-end attire. They started with 400 sq ft 4 years ago and are now putting the finishing touches on 4000 sq ft. They are also now consigning furniture. My colleague plans on quitting the corporate grind in the next year or 2 and just live off of the store. They are only in their late 30s.

In the beginning, they did a lot of small business research and put together a nice business plan with the help of a local small business organization. It took them about a year of planning before they committed and another 4 months to get the doors open. Their story is as about as picture perfect as it gets.

Wish I would have thought of it !

I've thought about the consignment business. I think it's a good one. The only downsides being that it requires employees and retail space. (I'm spoiled by owning an internet-based business, I guess?)

Posted: **Mon Oct 25, 2010 8:04 am**

Coffee wrote:
MeDebtFree wrote: I have a colleague whose spouse started a consignment business for ladies business/mid/upper-end attire. They started with 400 sq ft 4 years ago and are now putting the finishing touches on 4000 sq ft. They are also now consigning furniture. My colleague plans on quitting the corporate grind in the next year or 2 and just live off of the store. They are only in their late 30s.

In the beginning, they did a lot of small business research and put together a nice business plan with the help of a local small business organization. It took them about a year of planning before they committed and another 4 months to get the doors open. Their story is as about as picture perfect as it gets.

Wish I would have thought of it !
I've thought about the consignment business. I think it's a good one. The only downsides being that it requires employees and retail space. (I'm spoiled by owning an internet-based business, I guess?)

Isn't Ebay just a big internet consignment store?

Posted: **Mon Oct 25, 2010 12:42 pm**

There are a lot of people (including "professionals") selling used clothes on ebay. But I think that, with clothes (especially professional clothes) a lot of people want to try them on, before buying.

Here in Vegas, there are a couple of used kids clothing stores that are doing very well. Same with consignment furniture. Neither are businesses I could see myself doing. I just don't have any interest in spending my life in a small store, selling used kids clothing. In fact, I think I'd rather dig cemetery plots. lol.

Posted: **Mon Oct 25, 2010 3:20 pm**

I was thinking about this thread this weekend when I met a marital counselor at a college reunion. At least for him, business is booming.

Posted: **Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:18 pm**

That's very interesting.

Telling people how to talk to their wives is something I do, naturally. I figure getting paid to do it, can't be that hard... can it? lol.

Posted: **Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:02 pm**

A true depression? My parents grew up in a rural farming community during the 1920s and 30s, and they subsequently invested nearly exclusively in small rental properties. "Everyone needs a roof over their head," they would say. What other things do we all need when a large proportion of the population is jobless and destitute? Perhaps wood stoves, basic farming supplies, beans & rice, liquor, kerosene lamps and, for men, perhaps the rare woman interested in an unemployed smokey, sweaty, flatulent, drunk man interested in making love under the lamplight.

Posted: **Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:08 pm**

BearBones wrote: perhaps the rare woman interested in an unemployed smokey, sweaty, flatulent, drunk man interested in making love under the lamplight.

I am picturing a Dorothea Lange-style scene, except pornographic.

Try getting that one out of your head. :)

Posted: **Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:12 pm**

Clearly he's a hopeless romantic!

Posted: **Wed Oct 27, 2010 5:32 pm**

BearBones wrote: A true depression? My parents grew up in a rural farming community during the 1920s and 30s, and they subsequently invested nearly exclusively in small rental properties. "Everyone needs a roof over their head," they would say. What other things do we all need when a large proportion of the population is jobless and destitute? Perhaps wood stoves, basic farming supplies, beans & rice, liquor, kerosene lamps and, for men, perhaps the rare woman interested in an unemployed smokey, sweaty, flatulent, drunk man interested in making love under the lamplight.

Actually, during the Great Depression -- many people lost their shirts trying to hold rental property. Getting tenants wasn't the problem. Getting paying tenants was. And then you needed to have a lot of carrying cash, for maintenance and taxes.

Read Benjamin Roth's "The Great Depression -- A Diary". It's very eye opening. A lot of things that I thought would have been depression-proof -- weren't. (He talks a lot about the stock market in his diary, too!)

Posted: **Wed Oct 27, 2010 5:34 pm**

I don't know why I hadn't thought about this before, but:

When we lived in Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia-- everybody had cell phones. Rich or poor, didn't matter.

I also read some articles last year about people losing their houses, living out of their vans and RVs and not having cable tv. But the one thing they found a way to pay for, come hell or high water was their cell phone.

I gotta research this niche, more....

Gyroscopic Investing

Best Depression-Proof Businesses?

Best Depression-Proof Businesses?

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