Being the money-grubbing guy that I am, I've had a few thoughts on how you could come out the other side of Z-Day with a wealthy empire in place. We've all seen the movies with warlords in them, and we've all seen what's going on in Sierra-Leone and that area. Some of these guys are just making money off of chaos. So, without further ado... unnecessarily risky survival plans! Note that most of this is just speculation, and before I can seriously think about making these plans feasible, I'm gonna need people to shoot holes in it. Feel welcome to criticise.

1. Oil-rig. Many people on this site depend on vehicles in their plans. There's nothing wrong with this - they're one of humanities' best inventions. But they require petrol, and when Z-Day hits I can't be stuffed to convert my car to solar, hydrogen or cooking oil. I don't imagine many others will be, either. So, a good move might be to take an oil-rig as your base. Some oil rigs have nearby refineries that are at sea or very close on land, and if they do, you can produce petrol and trade it for ammo, vehicles, etc. Sure, there's a lot of issues with oil rigs, especially the risks of explosion. However, chances are when Z-Day hits, personnel will be already on the rig. So, if you convince them to join you, you have a working oil rig. Still, there's always a risk of disaster, even with trained personnel. An even worse problem is the weather; in my part of the world, we get cyclones every year, most of them Category 3-5. In fact, a cyclone flattened our city in 1974... since then all our buildings are built to cyclone code, so even a cat 5 cyclone can't do shit... the point is, I understand the threat of cyclones (or hurricanes) very well. Ideally, this rig would be in an area where cyclones are not a big problem. Oil rigs are designed to withstand storms, and in the event of emergency there's really good lifeboats. Simply hop in, flick the switch, and down the slide you go. The biggest expenditure of resources would be guarding the refinery, however you'd have to find people who know how to operate the refinery (although they're mostly automated nowadays, if something fucks up I want a mechanic on hand who can fix it).
2. Workshop. A lot of people have talked about upgrading their vehicles to operate with mini-guns as long as telephone poles on the back... yet I can imagine that, come Z-Day, these people will find that they have no clue on what to do. Enter the workshop - I have a bit of welding experience, and currently I'm learning a bit about modding vehicles, my uncle + cousins have a serious machine shop in Brisbane, and they are into that sort of thing. You could mod other people's vehicles, attach guns, attach armor-plating, etc. in exchange for ammo and such.
3. Stockpiling. If you're a real asshole and you've got a little money before Z-Day, you can get a fleet of pickup trucks ready, and a base. The second the clock hits Z-Day, drive out to all the Wal-marts, army surplus stores, gun shops and the like with your asshole friends, and loot it all before anyone else even gets a chance. Take 2 of these pickup trucks and put really big tanks in the back, then go to all the petrol stations and suck them dry. Then, sell all this stuff to your fellow survivors for whatever you want... you asshole.
4. Drug Plantation and Alcohol Production. This is extremely controversial, I can already tell. But drugs and alcohol have been around since the dawn of humanity, and lets face it, 90% of the adult population drinks. Even though not drinking is one of the pillars of Islam, many adults still drink in Islam countries. This just shows how much humanity likes the demon drink. And the same goes for drugs, although not as common. Once you have your fort up, set up chambers where the humidity is controlled and grow marijuana via hydroponics. Or, if you live in the right conditions (as I do), simply grow it naturally. You can use the pot to barter with others for whatever you want. And you can brew your own alcohol quite easily - I won't go into it in detail, but you can use most fruits and a few other plants to make different types of alcohol - apples make cider, hops make beer, grapes make wine, potato skin makes moonshine, malted barley makes scotch whiskey, corn makes bourbon whiskey, and so forth. Of course, there's a lot more to it than that, but I haven't got the time to go into it here. Once you have these drugs neatly packaged and this alcohol bottled and sealed, you can barter for almost anything you want, because everyone likes alcohol. And pot. =) Have I just got myself a prison sentence for saying that...?
5. Manufacturing. If you have the resources, it's possible you could produce ammunition, weapons (melee and ranged), certain medicines and chemicals, armor, or reinforcing, by taking over a factory (or by setting one up yourself). More later.
6. Mines. For all the manufacturing courses of action, you require raw resources. Like with the oil rig, chances are that when you turn up at the mine, there will be trained personnel on hand, ready to go. That is, once you get them in the right frame of mind. (You work for ME now!) You can barter with gold, silver, and gems, because every warlord-wannabe likes surrounding themselves with finery. And, if your zombies happen to not like silver, then you have the means to destroy them en-mass.

NOTE BY KAIKELX: Be sure which kind of marijuana you grow. The male kind is good for fertilizing the soil and making rope, the female kind is the infamous drug one. Be nice and tell them to chew and not smoke it by the way. You want customers, not drug addicts.
COUNTERNOTE BY QUICKRACE89: I'd be growing the female one. =D And dope isn't REALLY addictive, if it's only smoked occasionally. If it's smoked daily, sure, addiction can occur. But no more discussion of pot - I like this page non-deleted.
COUNTERCOUNTERNOTE BY KAIKELX: Just make sure about which kind you grow, so you don't sell them chewing hemp :P.

DeathHawk-Remember were going to need doctors to deal with illnesses, injuries etc. This will be quite profitable, and you will be well respected. The same goes for farmers, we all need food, people may offer to defend you for a supply of food, plus people will respect you for the work that you do.

KaikelX:
1. You have to keep in mind that you also need an oil tanker and you will have to divert some of the gas you make to keep the ship running. Ideally, you should get a maintenance crew to keep the rig and/or the tanker running. As for convincing, them to join you, you could offer protection, a share of the equipment/profits, and communication to the outside world. Also make sure you have people who know how to work the refinery.
2. Be sure you know what you're doing, and if you are installing weapons, be sure you know how to reduce the effect of the weight of the heavy weapons. Otherwise, they might make a turn only to have the vehicle topple over. They WILL be pissed.
3. No comments there, except for the fact that I have such a huge sense of morals that I won't be able to do anything.

For some more profit, you could combine 1 and 2 together in one location. That way, survivors will see it as an easy 'one stop shop'. They will see it as a place where they can refuel, rearm, and repair their vehicles. Seeing as you will be bunking down, you could scavenge vehicles and offer them to survivor bands. Also, since you would be settled, you could offer to convert their vehicles to solar, hydrogen, or cooking oil, at a considerably higher price, then turn right around use them as spare parts. If you REALLY want to be a 'one stop shop' you could commandeer a water purification center, power plant, or make some farms. Then you can sell them those things. In the case of electricity, you could offer to charge their batteries :). As for convincing the necessary crew, you could offer them protection, allies, a share of equipment, etc.

Quickrace89: I like how you think. =D The crew won't be a problem, remember it's highly unlikely that they are prepared for Z-Day, and once they see the level 4 outbreak, they'll be more than happy to join you. And if any of them decide they want to kill these zombies, offer them a part-time job on land operations. If you are a nice person, organize for places to keep unarmed civilians - these guys will want to know about their families. The oil tanker, well, it'd either be at the refinery or the oil rig, or at sea. Anywhere else, and chances are it's not running at 100%. (like, a shipyard)

I don't think I've discussed bores - you know that if you go underground far enough, there's water? (albeit not drinkable) If you drill down to this water and pump it up, you only need to purify it and voila, you have drinking water. As for water purification, you can get all-in-one purifiers (desalinate, etc) that start at about $400 AUD. Better ones can process more water, and you can find them at ship's chandlers.

And for the installation of weapons - hopefully I'm going to learn all about that in the next year or so.

mehillus: stick to the original plan, but pull off some kick ass Phalanx stunt during the panic stage.
yeah i know, ill be dooming millions, but that leaves less people to worry bout killing me for my stuff.
plus i could sit up top my fortified high rise which i bought with all the money i got, and would say
Look at all those idiots

Rambo-117:
Here's my idea. Have one or two guys on your team, carrying nothing but a pistol, a knife, and a backpack. Make sure they're always guarded. When you go into an abandoned building, have that guy take everything that isn't nailed down (and, if it is nailed down, tear it off.) Then, whenever you meet other survivors, you have plenty of stuff to sell to them. Places where this works best at:
Banks
Gun shops
Wal-Mart
Jewelery stores
Army Surplus stores

KaikelX:
Another thing, to ensure your crew's loyalty (your water plant crew, oil rig crew, tanker crew, electric plant crew) you could offer to teach them how to defend themselves, and give them a loaded sidearm with 2 spare magazines ( or 12 extra rounds if you give one a revolver) Although risky, it symbolizes that you trust them, and should not be two hard to get weapons. Simply trade for them. Also, occasionally help out the needy and kids. Even if you couldn't care less, it shows that you care about people, and more groups will like you. The more groups that like you, the more colonies will survive that like you, the more colonies that like you the better chance you have of establishing trade lines. Once you have some trade lines, recruit a group of people to go around delivering oil, water, and helping out with conversions and repair, and to pick up payment. Remember to send out at least TWO skilled mechanics that can modify vehicles. You might need multiple groups. Actually one skilled mechanic that knows how to mod can teach other people in your group those skills. Due to the fact that finding an INTACT land plant crew is rare, go to great means to protect all the members you have until you get a skeleton crew at least. While it may seem worthless in the short term, you can use them as an extra hand and train them to defend themselves. Offer to join up with groups that have one of the valuable crew members to gain more without seeming like you are stealing a person. Chances are, they know weapons and can help defend your borders from zeds and raiders. Recruit farmers to grow food and have some find and keep livestock so you can start to phase out food as payment. Also, keep signs up that you are recruiting to gain more members and people to work with to replace loses due to combat. That's it for now.

Quickrace89: KaikelX, I think we should go into business, post Z-Day.

All the people who I recruit will get basic firearms training and be provided with a gun, and a clip of ammo. Only a crap, mass-produced gun, but a gun nonetheless. Maybe a pistol. If I can get a hold of some secure accommodation (high rise, large ship), then more people will be encouraged to join me, because I can keep their families safe.

And in the long-term, once the zombies are gone, you will literally be king of the world. Because you built a secure empire, people will flock to join you. Of course, people will need places to stay, which means you'll have to start rebuilding. Ah well. If it means I become king of the world, then I'm happy.

KaikelX:
To attract more people, one of the best things you can do is get electricity back on-line. Plant crewmen will be rare, and the ones you get should be held onto. Once you assemble a skeleton crew, you can man a plant, and start cross training. In fact ALL of your people should be cross trained. That way, if you lose one, you have another. To deal with competition, lower your bargains, but still acquire weapons and ammunition. Word will spread that you offer better deals, so you get more. Chances are, other people like you are driving high 'prices' to milk the most out of it, but if you set lower deals, more people will come and you will have to recruit more people to handle the deals. Gasoline should be kept relatively high, since you won't get that much per day. ALWAYS ALWAYS keep recruiting. Have extra people set up fortifications, get cross trained, back up the plant crews, etc... Eventually, you want to recruit some farmers to grow your own food. On plots that you aren't using, plant MALE marijuana(MALE ONLY PEOPLE{the hemp kind} so that nutrients are replenished, and you can sell the hemp if you have someone who knows how. I stand by two extra clips and a loaded Beretta. A Beretta is common, and if they need more than 3 clips, I am going to have a SERIOUS talk with security. Speaking of security, take in extra survivors to provide it. To prevent a decrease in morale, say they are reserve to bolster defense lines without damaging other ones. Always keep everyone busy. Busy working, busy sleeping, busy relaxing. Let your people have breaks so they can rest up, and not have it count as sleep time. Have a talk with your skeleton crews about cross training, and wait to man the plant until you have at least 2 shifts ready. (preferably 3) Take in groups of survivors with no condition except for following orders to help man the plants and farms and to replace losses. People who had a trained job before Z-day (Doctors, soldiers, etc...) are VERY valuable and you should do your best to take them in. Have them train your people in the basics of there skills, or in the case of soldiers, have them start training your militia into a real fighting force. Meanwhile, have a constant influx of ammunition. Accept weapons as payment too if you need them. Always give the best weapons you have to your soldiers (the real ones) and if you get your hands on any military grade equipment IMMEDIATELY give it to the soldiers. I'll add more later to increase my contributions :) just kidding.

KaikelX:
Whenever you can, solve problems with words and not bullets. Express your distaste for blood shed and offer to form an alliance with the hostile parties. Give them goodwill offers, and help them out. If they continue to act hostile towards you, the public opinion of them will decrease. (after all, you are trying to be nice.) If you HAVE to, then send in an overwhelming force to QUICKLY eliminate the enemy. Always take prisoners to show you have mercy, and avoid collateral damage to show you care. However, for specific tactics, go to a different page :).

~Jack~:
SCRAP METAL. Need I say more? Scrap iron, steel, copper, brass, tin, aluminum, lead, gold, silver, bronze, etc., etc., etc... When the entire planet hits the fan, the refineries will stop producing new metal. The mines will stop giving, and we will be forced to recycle all that we have. Scrap metal will become so valuable, those that are in a position to sell it will be very very rich in a very shot amount of time. For all you know, scrap metal could be the new currency. The one who is in control of the money, is in control of just about everything else.

13th.Casualty:
I got two business proposals for you.

One: Day Care Centers. I know what you're thinking, day cares? No one will give a flying fuck about day cares on Z-Day! Well, hear me out. These won't just be day cares. They will be beginner's training courses for kids on how to survive on Z-Day. Just drop off your kid, go to work (maybe you work at the local refinery or scrap yard), and when you pick them up, they know just a little bit about zombies or farming or the history of the M1 Garand.

Also, when it is time for us humans to take over again, we will need to repopulate. When women become pregnant by the hundreds, (or humans get cloned) these will be in high demand.

Two: Gunpowder. Coupled with ~Jack~'s scrap yard, you could potentially be the official Mint of the Post Z-Day world. Bullets will be high in demand, and becoming a bullet-maker can be very profitable. I'm thinking you could buy metal from he local scrap yard, or the customer can bring his/her own.

Also, if you want to be an all-in-one ammo shop, you can also produce darts, bolts, and arrows. Heck, make knives, crowbars, and small weapons as well. Don't stop there: make rockets, cannon shells, and RPGs.

Making a note on trading, joint collaborations, etc. In the Pre Z-Day world, you would have contracts, and you could go to lawyers and judges if they were breached. There won't be lawyers or judges on Post Z-Day, so you're gonna have to go old school, like trading sons or something.

KaikelX:
There is no fucking way you'll be liked if you trade in your own son....and yes, popularity counts. People will be more willing to go to someone who they see as honest, trustworthy, and just trying to help. Acting like that is just one step towards having word spread of you. (good words at that)

Quickrace89: I was thinking of an ammo factory, yes. And all the scrap metal would be very useful. Just on the production of ammo - you need the bullet (steel or lead), the shell (brass), and the propellant. In most ammunition today, the propellant is either Nitrocellulose, or a 50:50 mixture of Nitrocellulose and Nitroglycerin.

Anyway, another idea is to operate a mine. Like I've written up the top, mines and refineries may very well have trained personnel already there, who you can get to work the mine. If you wanted to produce ammunition, a saltpetre mine would be essential, as saltpetre (potassium nitrate) is used in the production of nitrocellulose.

13th.Casualty:
Man, I am digging this page.

Two more business proposals.

One: Training Facility. You could teach people how to defend themselves in return for other stuff.

Two: The Mercenary Business. With that training facility, you could give graduates the option of becoming mercenaries, bodyguards, etc. The customers would come in asking for bodyguards, pay, then the facility and the mercenary will split the payment 50/50.

Also, to add to my previous contributions:
If you really want to be an asshole--even more of an asshole than the stockpiler--you could turn your day care into a scam. Once people drop off their kids, you could take the kids and turn them into slaves.

KaikelX:
Make sure you can fight them off though...As for the merc business, I'd split it 40/60 there favor. Once again, it seems like they get the better deal, so more people are willing to get trained at my location. Although I would have less revenue on paper, I could cover the cost with other facilities, which mercs can't. Once again increase customers and popularity at the same time.

On a related note, get a logician (I'm a pretty good one) better yet, get two or more. Logicians server VERY well as quartermasters, and in this business, quartermasters are almost as important as you are.

lord awesome:
want profit check out my merchant city in how we will rebuild the world


Swingcat: Profiteering during a catastrophe has little value. Finance does not matter in that situation. You'd be better off forming a 'Protectorate'. Essentially offering people protection, food and supplies in exchange for their co-operation.

Then you can use them as labor, scouts, expendable resources if needed. In a Z situation, you're best resource is what still breathes.

Quickrace89: I beg to differ. There's no point to selling things for money - you're right in that case - but there's many things worth trading for. And, when Z-Day is over, you are a very rich man. Or woman.

byates: raise leeches and maggots for medical uses. With more conventional treatments hard to find there would be a need for the less conventional.
Lovable Leeches
Maggots and Leeches: Old Medicine is New
Creepy crawly medicine--does it work?

Now, to put these plans into action - anyone have any little bits of information, or ideal locations?

KaikelX:
I wouldn't call it profiteering. More like setting up a trade base. Of course there is the problem of many people planning to become raiders, so more likely, you'd keep recruiting bodies to defend against continuing raids than for work hours. After all, if everything goes as planned, you'd be the juiciest target on the continent. Hence the importance of allies. If you make alliances, and you give your allies discounts (preferably major discounts) and have them promise aid in times of war, then you have a higher chance of allies showing up to break up a extended attack from the outside. Plus, Quickrace is right. When society is rebuilding, you're all set.

daleks:
Write a one-paged book! "How I Survived Z-Day". On the one page it simply says: "I went to zombiesurvivalwiki.com".


McSkullcracken: Along the line of thought of Swingcat and Quickrace89, receiving money for the goods/services your business provides Post Z-Day may not be a good idea, as, depending on the state of the government, money may have become worthless, except for kindling or toilet paper. But if your barter, trade goods/services for other goods/services, you could do well for yourself. The only problem is finding what it is that will be in high demand. During the gold rush in California, it was the bankers and the merchants selling tools and equipment who came out rich, not the gold miners. Of all the ideas I've glanced at, the daycare seems like it would be the best way to come out on top, provided there are enough children around to make it a worthwhile business.
Other Ideas
1. Auto Repair: If people are still using cars, they will likely need a good mechanic, and if you have the skills, you can almost get whatever YOU think is reasonable.

2. Electricity: This one is a bit tricky, but being the sole provider to a community could be rewarding. Many talk about generators, but how many can actually run a power-plant? Real trick id finding people who do, or becoming one.

3. Doctor/Medical Care: Now this one seems promising. There are few doctors running around in the world anyway in comparison to the population, what will it be like Post Z-Day? If you wanted to be greedy about it, you could end up owning your own small town. But I wouldn't get too greedy, you are only one person and if you start making promises you can't keep...


Sarcon: typicaly after z-day your staples of survival are gonna be your best bets for revenue

A) Food production: water purification ( i know it was mentioned above ) after z-day food supplies will rapidly diminish and production of food will most likely come to a halt, that's where you come in with the production of food (as mentioned above hydroponics would be the easiest to keep secure and with power even grown underground), also as mentioned above purification of water would be extremely important

B)Hazmat: scavenging, after z-day there most likely wont be people to maintain various hazmat dump sites making them areas to avoid and most likely unlooted for generations

C)Generic Supplies: production: bandages,Gauss,basic tools all aren't hard to produce and most people will be needing them (also cloth and armor mending will of course be needed to)

D)Outhouse Construction: foreman and a couple workers trade their services for supplies and gear, and if your at a fixed base you need somewhere to do your business