Craftsteading 201
In our last article we explained “what is a Craftstead” and why you need to learn a trade for the coming employment meltdown. Today we’re looking at how to take an inventory of the resources and skills needed to launch a successful craftstead. Let’s start with where you live.
I Spy With My Little Eye
This is our yard. You’re looking at a slope going down into the creek. Would it surprise you to know that there’s thousands of dollars of revenue growing here? Or that there is a special bushy tree growing in this forest that a particular niche of people will pay a premium price for? We’ve identified over a dozen in-demand products that can be produced from this single area of our property. And we even discovered that the main ingredient in many big pharma anti-viral drugs comes from a tree that is native to this land.
Where do you live?
Do you have a yard? Public land? A family property out in the country? Don’t give up if you live in an apartment or it seems impossible, life finds a way. If you’re open & patient ideas will begin to flow. Write them down. They’ll evaporate if you don’t.
Taking Inventory
We started a catalogue of ingredients, resources and opportunities available on our property AND on public land in our area. This list is a constantly evolving document available to us for R&D and eventual production of our chosen products.
Make a List
Begin your own catalogue of resources & opportunities. You don’t need anything fancy, a notebook will suffice. We use paper & a spreadsheet.
You’ve Got Skills
Everyone has skills, talents and abilities they never get to use at a job. Imagine a life where you get to build new skills, perfect the ones you have and earn a living doing it. That vision has been our driving force for the last ten years. And we’ve learned some cool things along the way.
You can make money doing just about anything.
The internet is rife with examples of absurdities garnering millions of views (which = $$$ for the creator of that content on many platforms), bizarre trends (ASMR…still don’t get this one), gamers making millions and the thousands of accounts earning huge revenue on cat videos.
You need MULTIPLE streams of income.
The job market is imploding and will continue its mudslide into the coming years. The internet is a fickle place. The grid is fragile. AI is changing everything. It's not wise to have your eggs in one basket. We recommend starting with 3 forms of income — service gigs, products to sell and some form of passive earnings.
Service Gigs
Find a service you can provide to others in your community. There are hundreds of trades and services you could offer. Here are three we predict will be in high demand in the coming years.
Fabrication
Metal, Wood, Plastic, Acrylic and even Glass fabrication will become CRITICAL cogs in a localized supply chain. The cheap Chinese goods era is over. Mass manufacturing is a corpse in most western nations and we’re years, if not decades, away from picking up where we left off before outsourcing. Small, local and adaptive fabricators will have the corner on this market for years to come.
Smithing
Guns, Knives, Leather and General Blacksmithing will also be in high demand. Leathersmithing in particular could become a hot career by the 2030s. There aren’t many left who really know the craft and leather repair will become important to a population unable to get cheap imported goods any longer.
Repair & Restoration
Once society realizes we can’t keep throwing things away and buying more it becomes a priority to repair & restore what we already have. Look for the return of the Maytag repair man, small engine repair, furniture restoration, architectural salvage & restoration and a general shift back to fixing things.
Products to Sell
Develop or improve a product to sell. Millions of new products hit the market every single year. Here are a few we think will be winners for the alt economy.
Local Food & Drink
Healthy, delicious food and drink will become harder & harder to find. This is an evergreen, every economy opportunity maker. Everyone has to eat.
Alternative Health & Wellness
The western health care system is a sham. We all know it. It’s great for a crisis, but it’s often the system that causes the crisis to begin with. Doctors are right there with lawyers on the bottom end of the trust scale. There is an unprecedented demand for another way.
Word of caution — be careful in this area, make sure you’re legal, licensed & practicing within the scope allowed. Every state is different, do your homework if you choose this route.
Raw Material & Tools
The things we’re talking about right now may seem far fetched or a long way off, but there’s a quiet group of people like us that have started to position ourselves for success in the coming economy. This front wave of entrepreneurs will see successes that others will notice and BAM a trend begins. Those that come after us will need raw material and tools to follow in our footsteps.
We’re positioning ourselves to offer advice, raw materials and tools of our trades to others. This will be another income stream, but most importantly, it shares the resources & knowledge with other local economies.
Reverse Course
We’re going to start seeing discussions, headlines and angst in the mainstream about these “regressions” we’re seeing in society. They’ll be aghast. But we won’t. Because we know that the average American wants to reverse course. They want to return to the days we were known as producers, creators & artisans — not constant consumers. If you found value in this article and agree, would you please consider sharing it? We’re a brand new publication and it helps us grow & reach others.
We’ve Ditched the Mainstream. Want to Join Us?
