The word Salvage means different things to different people. To some, it means small pieces of industrial goods that they can recreate into a work of art. For others, salvage means an opportunity to buy a unique good or piece of equipment that will benefit their business at a low cost. Still others see salvage as an increase to their bottom line and a decrease in the money spent in insurance claims.
No matter what the word salvage means to you, chances are it has both a meaning and a benefit to your business and personal life. But how much more meaning could it have if you looked at it more artistically? More creatively? Could you find even more money in salvage if you could learn how to create value with your imagination?
Salvage is only as valuable as ingenious salvors allow it to be—and they are only called in when insurers, banks and other companies believe they have something worth salvaging. That leads you to wonder how many perfectly salvageable items have gone unsalvaged because no one could think of a way these items could be valuable. How many millions of dollars in savage is sitting, unused and losing value each day?
As an example, you might not find any use for textiles that were damaged in a flood. They’ve lost their color, their visual appeal, and they are not something that anyone would want to buy and wear anymore. But many manufacturers are using recycled textiles to make environmentally friendly insulation. It is possible that, if there is no mold or mildew on the textiles, one of these companies might like to buy the textiles at auction and use them.
Remember, the value of your potential salvage is limited not by the damage it has endured, not by the usefulness it has lost, but by the limitations of your own imagination which keep you from seeing its potential value. And the best medicine against this kind of limitation is education. If you are an insurance company or business, call a salvor if you think there is even the smallest chance of your “trash” becoming salvage and let them educate you. If you are a salvor, educate yourself about the needs and duties of various industries and allow your mind to be inventive when looking at potential salvage.
