Dave Holm, executive director, Iowa Institute for Cooperatives led a round table discussion at the Midwest Rural Assembly. Since 2012 is the International Year of the Cooperative, this is an opportune time to share that discussion.
 |
| The Farmers’ Cooperative Ames, Oklahoma |
A cooperative is no different than any other business in this respect: you have to follow the same business principles. You make decisions differently and distribute profits differently, Holm said.
First steps are to write the business plan and make sure it would work as a business. Then think about the form of the business, Holm said. You need a champion; someone from within the community.
Minnesota has a hybrid cooperative form, combining an LLC with a cooperative. It can have community ownership, but with outside capital investment. The patrons can decide how much ownership to surrender for the investment, and also determine the payout and investment return on liquidation.
Get an attorney who already understands cooperatives, Holm advised. Otherwise they don’t understand it, and they don’t want to learn.
Make sure your board listens to management, especially with ag producer cooperatives, several of the discussion participants said. Farmers aren’t marketers. All-farmer boards or mostly farmer boards are a failure factor. They will vote to suck out their equity and kill it, one participant said. Do the leadership development needed to help the board succeed.
Another participant told how Canada is using cooperatives to maintain school buildings, after the school is closed. Because the school building is a center of the community, they are using this method to keep it open as a community center. They get the youth involved in the management of it.
New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.
- Culture is the intersection of people and place - August 19, 2019
- For easier social media marketing, fill in the blank - August 5, 2019
- Need a downtown business idea? Try a Cookie Crawl - July 22, 2019
- Need funding for the next step in your business? - July 17, 2019
- Youth business idea: phone clinics - July 8, 2019
- Chain link is everywhere in downtowns. Here’s how to dress it up. - June 30, 2019
- Stop using “3 legged stool” to describe any idea - June 24, 2019
- What are your challenges? Add your voice here - June 17, 2019
- How to publicize your biking trails before they’re finished - June 10, 2019
- How $5 and a bowl of soup can rebuild your community - June 3, 2019
