Last week I discussed my views on on wage slavery. In it I proposed a solution for those wanting to increase their independence from wages: start a business. Many people are fearful of starting a business because they think the initial costs are too high and the prospects of failure are too risky. To alleviate these concerns I’m going to dedicate this post to offering some advice for stating a business. Before I begin please note that this post is being written from the perspective of an agorist. That means I any advice given here will assume that the business you’re starting is “underground” and therefore I won’t waste a bunch of time writing about regulatory compliance. If you want to handicap yourself by starting a “legitimate” business then the costs and risks will be quite a bit higher because you need to pay off the middle man, the state.
The biggest hurdle to overcome when starting a business is the concern about start up costs. Most people believe that starting a business requires a great deal of initial capital. While that is true of some businesses you aren’t required to start one of those businesses. In fact many businesses can be started with the equipment you have on hand already. Look at your hobbies. Can you think of a way to monetize any of them? I reload ammunition to lower my ammunition costs when shooting. That means I already have all of the equipment and some of the knowledge required to reload ammunition. There’s no reason I cannot sell some of the ammunition I load to fellow agorists who are looking for cheaper ammunition that is also free of taxes.
I’m a programmer by trade. That means I have all of the tools and some of the knowledge necessary to write software. I can even write websites if I’m really motivated to do so. Programming is a skill many people already know and most people are able to learn. It’s a skill that only requires the equipment most of us already have, a computer. Resources to learn programming are available for free online. Used programming books are a dime a dozen. Everybody seems to want a website or an iOS or Android app. Becoming an agorist programmer is a business one can start will minimal investment capital.
Are you a practical person? Can you do plumbing, automobile repair, or electrical wiring? Do you already have the tools for these activities? Good news, somebody is willing to pay you for such work! Are you a person who enjoys baking? I guarantee that there are people who would be willing to buy fresh baked bread, pastries, and treats from you. Have you learned any skills that you would like to teach others? Consider giving lessons. Perhaps you’ve been working on a novel for the last 10 years. Think about finishing it up and selling it or building a reputation as an author so you can crowd source funding for a later novel. Many municipalities now allow individuals to own chickens and there are a lot of people willing to pay decent money for organic eggs. Speaking of organic, did you know people will pay good money for organic vegetables? Maybe it’s time to start that garden you’ve been talking about.
Admittedly the ideas I’ve given here won’t make you rich (unless you’re super luck). But that’s not the point when starting out. The point is trying to find a marketable product or skill that you can provide without needing a large amount of investment capital. Even if you fail to make money at the endeavor you will learn something from the experience. Whether you succeed or fail you will come away with knowledge that will improve your possibility of success in your next enterprise. If you do succeed you will enjoy a little piece of mind knowing you have some income source that is independent of an employer, which will make you a freer person.
If you start by trying to monetize one of your hobbies you will have most of the equipment needed and therefore keep your risks low. Failure simply means continuing to use the equipment you already had as a hobby. Success means more independence.
This is true I have made (more than the IRS needs to know) simply making the parts lists for higher end PCs on a set budget, you really won’t believe how many people are willing to fork over $75 just to have someone look at computer parts for a few minutes to an hour.