Vertical Monopolies

Since we are all friends here, I am going to explain how I make money. Since we don't even live in the same country, I don't fear competition. Also, it is easier here to do this.

I don't like middlemen, they take a percentage with very little risk, and very little outlay of capital. So, I won't grow anything or sell anything if I don't own the whole chain. For example, we make furniture, but we have nursery, plantations, sawmills, mills, and furniture factory and sell to the end customer. All the profit only goes to two owners, my wife and I.

Now I am getting into sheep, organic produce and fish. Before we really produce, I will create a store which is part butcher shop, part vegetable stand. The supermarkets are not going to be happy with me because I am going to undercut them with better quality and organic. I already have customers lining up... Again, simple for me to do since we have it all.

I also constantly am looking for "waste".  Waste from the sawmills in the form of sawdust gets used as bedding for nearly 80 sheep (flock has been growing!), after one week, this bedding is dirty and gets dumped on the organic garden. Butchered (and dead of natural causes) sheep entrails feed the catfish and langostinos. Whereever there is waste, there is an opportunity for profit.

Since we run so efficiently, there is money for the next big thing we do. And since everything just gets better and better, we don't really worry too much about the system breaking down.

It is very hard to compete with someone with a vertical monopoly because there is only person taking out profit, and the taxman only gets to grab a cut at the very end.

We use our advantage to be able to do a better job, and pay people with more benefits. This insures we keep the best workers possible.

Permaculture works I believe when it is used as a method of taking the long view, and that is about efficiency and not wasting anything.

Fred, it's great that you are able to do that. 

What you say about waste goes to one of the core concepts in permaculture.  The problem is the solution.  Wastes are simply unused or unoptimized inputs.  Stacking functions, space, and input/outputs allows for incredible gains in efficiency and productivity.

When you talk about the taxman, do you have a value added tax (VAT) system there?  If it's an income-based tax system, the total tax liability should remain roughly constant whether it's all yours or split up amongst middlemen.

The sad thing is that much of your operation would be illegal in the US.  Especially on the butchering side, the regulations of the USDA and the various state agencies make constructing your own butcher operation illegal unless you can do it on a very large scale.  Joel Salatin is well known for his "Everything I Want to Do is Illegal" essay.

More just a sales tax and profit, and we reinvest everything (or just about) so we don't show much profit.

There are laws here on the butchering and yes it is a scale thing. But then again, we have nearly 50 workers, so we really aren't that small.

But it is easier than up there for sure.

Joel might be famous for his essay, but I am famous for "surely there is a way to get this done!" We are stickers for following the law to the letter, but that doesn't mean I won't take every loophole I can find!

Where are you located, Fred?  (I must have missed that if you've already mentioned it somewhere.)

Kathleen

says costa rica in his profile 

Kathleen Sanderson wrote:
Where are you located, Fred?  (I must have missed that if you've already mentioned it somewhere.)

Kathleen

Yep, Northern Zone of Costa Rica. I think you can go to our website from my profile or something, or it is at www.fincaleola.com if you got lots of time to waste. 

cool site with neat pics.  Where were you from originally?   

On cold winter days like this with tons of snow and ice, I sometimes wished I was in a warmer climate  

LoonyK wrote:
cool site with neat pics.   Where were you from originally?     

On cold winter days like this with tons of snow and ice, I sometimes wished I was in a warmer climate    

Born in Southwest Missouri, but grew up in Western NY.

Looneyk is not that loney it seems. rose

  I always think it would be really staisfying to give lots of people jobs.
Also it would be fun to provide jobs with a clean industry into the bargain.
  When people get worried about suffering from competition  aren't they just forgetting how many people there are in the world. Sometimes, if I see documentaries about other countries i think my God another place teaming with people.
  Its great to even supply cheap ecological food to everyone.
  Cut out the middle man and you are providing less jobs? agri rose macskie.