Recession-proof skill / trade to make a little income. Ideas?

jamesgregory · #1 10/25/12, 11:21 PM

I am planning to transition from the city to a rural area a few years from now and I am trying to think of a skill / trade that I could set about learning before I make the leap. The hope will be that I could then sell my services in order to generate a little income once I move there. Note that It doesn't need to be able to provide work full-time...I'm thinking even just a skill people need from time-to-time would suffice. I'm also trying to think along the lines of something that would be *relatively* recession-proof and likely to still be in the demand some years down the track.

Some of the obvious ones that come to mind:

Mechanic
Plumber
Carpenter
Electrician
Builder

But I'd love to hear some other suggestions...not matter how obscure, specialised or wacky!

E.g.
Gunsmith (people will always need their firearms to be tuned, repaired, etc)
Washing-machine repair man (I suppose many people will always have these into the future, and they will need repair)

I know there is the whole bunch of farming enterprises to consider that would be fairly recession-proof, but for the purposes of this thread I'd like to talk about skills other than food production.

Oh! And I know it will depend a little on the type of person doing it, their skills & interests....but lets just say I'm a fairly fast learner, pretty practical, and interested in everything

Raeven · #2 10/25/12, 11:33 PM

I was just going to suggest gunsmithing. It's always hard to find a good one, and they pretty much name their price. Plan to be really busy during hunting season!

Big Dave · #3 10/26/12, 12:19 AM

Small engine repair, Chain saw sahrpener. Sharpen Clipper blades, Sharpen saw blades. Sell firewood, Recycle old buildings, Chimney cleaner. Snow cone seller, Fish monger, tour guide of your area???, Bed & breakfast, Baby sitting farms while folks go on vacation. Whew that is enough. I am having a brain spasm from too much supervising.

Micheal · #4 10/26/12, 05:22 AM

Haven't seen "welder" on anyone's post yet.......
What about custom farming - not food production - but baling hay, putting in other farmers crops, etc.

MushCreek · #5 10/26/12, 05:58 AM

Undertaker?

ai731 · #6 10/26/12, 06:05 AM

I'd definitely go with plumber. In rural areas, people are on wells & septic, rather than city water, which means a lot more work for plumbers. Our local plumbers also service furnaces. We have the plumber in at least once-a-year for something or other (well pump, pressure tank, sump pump, sewage pump, oil tank, furnace...) , and our village's family-run plumbing business is always doing very well.

geo in mi · #7 10/26/12, 06:06 AM

Welder.

geo

simi-steading · #8 10/26/12, 06:10 AM

I'm moving from te city to the country in a couple years myself... but I'm lucky and have the skills from my former life before we moved to the city and I got into IT work..

I used to be a heavy equipment, and a small engine mechanic. This isn't something you learn in a couple years without working that job full time. And if you're not learning daily after working that kind of job for 10 years, you're not doing something right.

I used to do the hiring for the shop, and there would be no way I wouldn't hire anyone that hadn't been doing the job for at least a year or two full time. There are just so many brands and idiosyncrasies to each brand that without full time exposure to them, you're going to be more a hindrance than good to a decent shop.

I'm not trying to be negative here, but I'm just saying there is a lot more skill that goes into being a small engine mechanic than you could imagine.. I was planning on trying to get back into wrenching, but I know most shop owners won't want to talk to me because I've been out for so long that they know I will be so rusty it's not worth their effort.

I also used to do a lot of welding, and still do some, but super rusty there too. I also did all the maintenance work for several apartment complexes, and did emergency plumbing, heating and electrical for base housing where my father was stationed. Yep, way beynd rusty there..

I hope I can find something with all that and more behind me, but I've been out of all of those for so long I feel no one will be that interested. I'm figuring I might have to do my own thing and find work on the side for people until I can get brushed up on my skills, and word gets out that I'm not too bad at what I can do.

Like I said, not trying to be negative, but some of these you are talking about are a lot more involved than just learning and not working full time will be able to get you a job.. I was heavily trained by quite a few factories and was a Briggs master service tech.... I just hope that being out of the field for 12 years hasn't been too long to get someone's attention. I couldn't imagine trying to get someone to invest in you if you are new to the field..

Old John · #9 10/26/12, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MushCreek

Undertaker?

My 3rd brother, began a career as a Teacher, in Highschool. He moved up to Principal, over the years. There's always a need for Teachers.

As a career change he became an Undertaker, working for a large Funeral Home. E/A There's always a need for an Undertaker.
Now, several years later, he is a Funeral Director and owns a Funeral Home. He's making a bit of money. And he is in another profession that is always in need, by regular folks.

wharton · #10 10/26/12, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ai731

I'd definitely go with plumber. In rural areas, people are on wells & septic, rather than city water, which means a lot more work for plumbers. Our local plumbers also service furnaces. We have the plumber in at least once-a-year for something or other (well pump, pressure tank, sump pump, sewage pump, oil tank, furnace...) , and our village's family-run plumbing business is always doing very well.

This post covers an issue that was the first thing that popped into my head, while reading the OP's. I'm a builder in a rural area. I'm referred to as a "move-in", or "flatlander" by the locals. I am one giant step up from the typical "move in trash", in their minds, as I employ their own folk and originate in another rural area in the same state. I also lack the city accent and attitude they despise. When it comes to my products, the local building inspectors, and my customers, will tell you that you aren't going to find anything better by hiring a local good ole' boy. That said, in the twenty five years of living and doing business here, I have done millions upon millions of dollars worth of work. ( While making money that stayed in the local community, and employing local craftsmen) yet I have NEVER been asked to do a significant project for a local here. I have done extensive repairs to other's work. I have testified in court as to the damage done by at least one good ole' boy who screwed many of his neighbors before permanently disappearing, five states away. (BTW, THAT scenario is actually pretty common here. ) The reason I don't get asked to build for the locals? I wasn't born here, my last name isn't from here, and you are not my daddy's uncle's second cousin's barber, from back in the day. I'm not bitter in the least, just stating the facts that are pretty typical to rural living.

The mindset is so screwed up, that there are times that all you can do is laugh, and be amazed at the self inflicted wounds some folks give themselves. I once worked for a hard core local who owned a custom millwork and stair shop. He has a family name that goes back more than a hundred years. He is a heroin addict, he has the morals of a crack addicted prostitute, and he made a fortune screwing the other locals, and laughing about it. If a builder got a 20% discount, and the walk-in trade was sold at list, a local who came in "because we know you will take care of us" ended up at list plus 15-20%. Over two decades of business, 99% never had a clue that they got robbed, and wouldn't think of shopping around. In their minds, there is nothing more sacred that the great deal you get from another trusted member of their little society. It was facinating.

My point is the comment about the sucessful, "family run village plumbing business". I can guarantee that 99% of these success stories involve a family that is about as local as it gets, and that dad and grandad were plumbers in the same community for the last 60-80 years. Nothing wrong with that, it's part of the fabric that binds and stabilizes our country, and keeps rural America strong. However, thinking you are going to move to a rural community from a big city, with no existing skill set, no track record of a decade of experience, and become a self employeed tradesmen...........well, good luck. I know of two very sucessful local good ole' boy plumbers who have nothing identifying themselves as being a plumber on their truck, in any advertisement, on a t-shirt, or anywhere else except their tax returns. They are from old families and every local knows who to call when you need them. If you are a move-in who doesn't take the time establish a relationship with your neighbors, you could spend your whole life here and not know you live within a 1/4 mile of a plumber, electrician, trim carpenter, etc... who is not only talented, sucessful, can do the work well and at a fair price, but couldn't care less if you never call them.

It is what it is, and my experience over the last few decades. I live in the Northeast, and I have been told repeatedly, that this situation is FAR worse as you head up into rural New England.

blooba · #11 10/26/12, 07:17 AM

Actually the 2 best recession jobs listed so far are undertaker, never can put off dying and with a long recession people put off their health and live in larger groups, so more disease. tow truck, people wouldnt be buying new cars and driving their old ones breaking down all the time.so these 2 jobs would do better in a recession.

Custom farming wouldnt do the greatest in a recession because the farmer would let it go or do it himself, sno-cone stand,B&B, and tour guide would be slower,

but chainsaw sharpener/shop would be better, alotta ppl(like me) just buy new chains when things are good. Welder would be good also, stuff breaks and ppl need it fixed instead of buying new.

Teachers dont get cut in a recession but they do in a depression, and appliance repair and gunsmith are gonna be iffy. some people will just fix it themselves.

The thing about recessions is there is no recession PROOF job, it slows down for just about everyone, more people laid off from the non necessary jobs doing the jobs that do have customers will drive prices down and people reprioritize their needs, the rich get downgraded to middleclass, the middleclass get downgraded to poor and the poor get downgraded to homeless. So there is always a need for just about everything just not as great of a need for the luxuries.

wharton · #12 10/26/12, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old John

My 3rd brother, began a career as a Teacher, in Highschool. He moved up to Principal, over the years. There's always a need for Teachers.
.

Here in the northeast we are seeing teachers with 5-10 years on the job being let go. Whole specialty areas of teaching are in trouble from music, and art, to anything else that isn't a government mandate. My son is graduting as an engineer. He is friends with many young future teachers that are deeply regretting the career path they choose. In many areas of the country there simply are no jobs, and a whole bunch of laid off teachers who have the right to take the next available spot, any time a position opens. The other thing about rural teaching opportunities is that it can be simply impossible to get your foot in the door if you are not from the community. There are nearby communities here, where even in the best of times, a resume from an outsider was simply a waste of paper. Regrettably, it becomes a bit of a situation of intellectual inbreding as some of these places fall further behind, as a result of carefully shield themselves from people that "don't think like us". In particular, I'm thinking of some of the local old hard coal mining towns, where the towns stopped growing in 1950, and the mindset of the community hasn't evolved too much since then.

woodsy · #13 10/26/12, 07:32 AM

Jack of all trades, can't go wrong.

uncle Will in In. · #14 10/26/12, 08:55 AM

A little barber shop with a round coffee table and free coffee if you get your hair cut.

agmantoo · #15 10/26/12, 08:58 AM

If I wanted I could make a decent living repairing well water systems. It doesn't require a lot of training and tools. To my awareness no license is needed.

beowoulf90 · #16 10/26/12, 09:04 AM

Consider scrapping thing out, but not for the metal like some of us do already, but for the parts to fix other peoples machines.. I have a collection of items recovered from my scrapping that may come in handy when things get tough.. i may be able to trade them for things we need and can't provide for ourselves.

Also think about communication in tough times.. Cell phones and land lines may not be available or affordable if things go sour quickly.. So other forms of communication may be required. So if you have the knowledge or ability to set up and or repair these systems, that would be a plus..

beowoulf90 · #17 10/26/12, 09:05 AM

Also being able to make functional furniture may help.. There are tons of ideas, so just find what you enjoy/know and expand on it...

GoldenCityMuse · #18 10/26/12, 09:22 AM

Auto mechanic is good, as well as tire repair.

As mentioned, in small rural communities, there is a very real oldtimer/newcomer separation. It is VERY hard to get in with some of them, they can be very closed minded.

ldc · #19 10/26/12, 09:35 AM

Despite the rosy news nationally about the Baton Rouge economy (it's spotty; some sectors are ok, others dismal), one thing that was doing great until the temps moderated this week was snowcones, as someone suggested above. Folks unable to pay for AC were lining up in the late afternoons w kids for cones....

Callieslamb · #20 10/26/12, 09:44 AM

Seamstress and tailor. May not be YOUR thing, but my daughter can't keep up with all the hemming, taking in, sewing on buttons, etc.