Worth Contemplating.

Worth contemplating.

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Solarpunk Business Model: Co-ops

Growing up in southwestern Minnesota, I was exposed early on to farmers’ co-ops, and I’m shocked – SHOCKED, I tell you! – that the Solarpunk movement hasn’t embraced this already.

Co-ops are awesome. Basically, everybody who has a hand in production also gets a share in the profit.

In farming communities, this means everyone gets money from the corn they grow, while the Coop sells that corn to the big businesses that need it.

In Duluth, we have this grocery store called the Whole Foods Co-op that is owned by people in the community who shop there, and they actively do business with regional farmers.

So how would this look in a Solarpunk setting? Imagine a bike shop owned by the very people you see at the shop who are making and repairing the bikes. Or a fashion boutique where people can become members by contributing something (food? fabric? currency?) and the designer heavily marks down the prices for them. Or a bar where the bartenders and the regulars each have a stake in the place doing well.

We need more co-ops in our Solarpunk, people.

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birdnhand20

7 years ago

Why look down while climbing the ladder of success? Opportunity awaits!

Follow me at Smart $ Guides.

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birdnhand20

7 years ago

Follow me @ Smart $ Guides.

THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING AN AVAILABLE PRODUCT

Work Smart Show daily blog. What are the reasons people buy your product? Undoubtedly this question has many answers and I want to focus on the lesser known today, that of reciprocity. Of course many people buy a product because they need it, want it, have worked to be able to buy it or often times because they want to thank the vender.

I want to look at the case study of Patt Flynn, host of the Smart Passive Income and Ask Pat podcasts, who wrote his first book, Will it Fly, in late 2016. Now Pat is someone who provides immense amounts of value to his listeners through both of his podcasts and really builds into his listeners, taking an episode each to answer their questions even though they could be considered competition.

So it was that when he released his book and surveyed the reasons that people were prompted to buy it he found a strange trend. He found that many people were buying to support his work and his brand. He had provided so much free advice and material for them that they wanted to financially pay him back and so many bought the book even if it wasn’t relevant to them.

This idea fascinated me and I have seen it in several other situations recently such as my wife buying a products to support her favorite YouTuber simply because she wanted to financially support them. Now undoubtedly people buy your products because they need or want them, but are people also buying to support or thank you or your business.

This provides us with two very key takeaways to implement in our business. If you are in a business or entity that sells services or media maybe consider a physical product that people can buy to support you. Secondly if you have products available for sale are you providing enough valuable content that makes followers or customers feel they want to support you with their purchasing power?