In today's society, job opportunities are becoming harder and harder to come by, so many people have resorted to starting their own business, or a workers co-op. I had not known much about this type of company until I read about it.This type of business is becoming more popular because of the fact that the owners of the business have more say so over what the business does or doesn't do. Before starting this type of business however, you should gather a group of people willing and able to do the job and address certain questions one should ask themselves to help it succeed. Typically the people who own a workers co-op makes more money than someone who just works for a "traditional" business, and because of the economy, workers co-ops are becoming more popular. It's been said they even last longer than regular businesses do.

You are your own boss in a workers co-op. What exactly is a co-op? It's a business democratically controlled and owned by the workers. There are coworker-owners who share the responsibility of managing the company. This is more ideal to most people because the coworker-owners are typically more understanding of personal needs than middle management at any corporation. They also are not forced into hierarchy and have more of a voice in the decision making of the company. Cutting out the management and investors will save a lot of money for the business as well. It almost seems ideal to have this type of business, but some questions should be addressed first before starting up a business.

To get any business started, you must have people to get the job done. Some companies will switch to a workers co-op and keep the workers they already had there. Sometimes new employees are found to do the job. Once you have your people for the job, you need to ask several questions. Common questions used to help start a worker's co-op are:

-What is your common goal and purpose? 

-Are you forming a new business or converting an old one?

-Who will be on your team

-How will new worker owners join?

-How will you manage your co-op?

-Who will make decisions?

-How much money will you need?

-Where will you get the funding?

If all of these questions aren't addressed, then it's near to impossible to get the business up and running or successful.

It has been shown that people who work for a workers co-op make more money than those that work at a traditional business. On page seventy-one of the book "Share or Die" it gives an example of a man from Petaluma, California at Alvarado Street Bakery making $60,000 a year. It says in the book that the workers in these type of business are less likely to get laid off. The job security is major appeal especially since jobs today are becoming more and more scarce. 

If you're going to start a workers co-op, do your research on how to do it, get a group of people together who will work for you, and start your business. I find it to sound very easy to do and beneficial. It's almost ideal because of the pay, job security, and the fact the bosses are more likely to be understanding of any given situation. Workers co-ops will probably become a lot more popular than they already are.