Recession proof jobs

[NNN0LHI]

The car mechanic in town here has one. I talked to him earlier this week about getting some work done on one of my older cars. He was too busy to work on it right now. Wants it brought back Monday.

This guy started out by himself with one helper 20 years ago. And he is a professional. And honest as the day is long. Not too many people I would trust to hold my wallet for a few days, but this guy is definitely one of them. Over 20 years I never felt he had try to rip me off. Never heard anyone say they felt he screwed them over. And this is a small town so everyone would know if he was. Ripping people off must not be in his DNA.

Well now that people can't afford to buy new cars and are trying to keep their old junks running, like me, he is busier than hell. He has 4 helpers working with him now. And his lot is full all the time.

Well, I am glad to see this guy is doing well. He just bought a brand new Corvette. And he deserves it. He works from 5 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon every single day but Sunday. He is a hard working man and I am happy to see him doing so well.

Anyone else see any businesses like this one take off during a bad recession?

Don

Edit: After thinking about this I think this mans honesty has a lot to do with his success. I have seen other not so honest similar businesses close up during the same period.

[KharmaTrain]

1. Undertakers...

They tend to do "better" during recessions. While semi :sarcasm:, I worked with a funeral director who was the one who alerted me to this fact.

[SpiralHawk]

2. RepubliCorp Propaganda Pimps

If you are willing to lie for pay, there's lots of work for you...

[Orrex]

3. Repo men are probably doing quite well

[melm00se]

8. they can

but boom times bring in the real scum bags who operate either on the line or in that gray area just beyond. Legitimate recovery agents abide not only by the laws of the state(s) in which they operate but also a code of conduct (failing to abide by increases the cost of operating a business)

that brings the government down on the entire industry significantly hobbling legitimate and necessary repos.

this has the secondary effect of causing interest rates to increase (due to rising risk of loosing 100% of the balance vs "only" 30-50%).

repo men, collections/foreclosure attorneys, process servers, direct and agency collectors and the like are disagreeable jobs (I know, I have done most of them) but they are a necessary component to the lending industry and mechanism.

[Orrex]

15. I wasn't passing a judgment on the profession

I don't question that repo men are necessary or legitimate--I was simply pointing out that they're probably doing a brick business these days.

[madrchsod]

4. in the 80`s i did a decent business in reupholstering furniture.

course i was reupholstering american made frames so it was worth it for the customer. the new frames are so cheap they are not worth upholstering.
there is one upholster in my town that has over 8 month backlog in business. most of her customers are wealthy and decided it was`t worth buying new.

my wife had a window fashion business in the 80 through the mid 90`s. most of her customers were older and retired people who want quality. the worse customers were younger people who built new homes and bitched about the price.


we have a garage that the owner "rents" out time to guys to fix cars. the place is open from 8 to midnight 7 days a week. the guy i go to is booked up for two weeks and he does`t do major repair.

[TBF]

5. Plumbers -

they are always busy when I call.

[BuelahWitch]

6. My mechanic is the same way

They are a local, family owned business. Always busy because they are honest mechanics. Believe me, I've run into the other kind WAY too often!

[NNN0LHI]

9. An honest mechanic is worth his/her weight in gold aren't they?

Yea, I have seen both sides of that coin too.

Don

[ixion]

7. Pretty much anything connected to the Military/Security Industrial Complex

is safe from recession.

[B Calm]

10. Auto parts chain stores are always a good stock during bad times!

[TroglodyteScholar]

14. Autozone is what kept my investments in the black after 9/11... n/y

[B Calm]

17. Autozone probably raised over 200 dollars a share during that time span.

[BR_Parkway]

11. Wine shop - they drink when they're happy, drink when they're sad

just the price range of the bottle they're buying changes

[conspirator]

12. CEO ? Even in recession their bonuses are sky rocketing n/t

[Sisaruus]

13. Sad to say but we've been adding positions at the food bank.

Off the top of my head, I can think of 8 new positions in the last 12 months.

[tblue37]

16. There is a mecahnic here in town who owns two gas stations. He

is also completely honest. Whenever I took my old Toyota in to the dealership for minor work (even an oil change!), something major would go wrong with it within 24 hours--sometimes even on the way home from the dealership. I mean every single time. What are the odds? I would end up with a $900+ bill every damned time.

So I asked a friend if her dad (who would know about such things) could recommend an honest mechanic in town. She gave me this fellow's name, and now his shop does all work on my car, incuding oil changes. Most mechanics know that most drivers don't know enough about those machines to be sure whether they are ripping us off or not. Wait, that is not quite true. I did know for sure the dealership's mechanics were ripping me off--I just couldn't prove it. But once I started going to the honest guy, I never again had anything major go wrong with my car--or with the one I have now.

I wonder whether it ever occurs to dishonest mechanics that in the long run they lose more in business than they gain by ripping each owner off for a few hundred dollars at a time.

Many years ago verious news and news magazine programs used to do stings, where they would take cars to different repair shops in this or that city and document on camera how thoroughly they were ripped off. I wish they still did that sort of thing.