Freelance cooperative and UniteWNC - do they go together?
I've been thinking about how we can carry out and implement tech solutions that grow out of community needs and mingle with innovation. And wondering how we can sustain people's time commitments to UniteWNC's efforts. I'm starting to see that a critical component may be a freelance cooperative. It would allow us to pull together all types of people to carry out projects and also we could jointly provide mutual benefits (wouldn't it be great if we could do healthcare, insurance, accounting, anything else that might be expensive to get on your own, but if we're a block it becomes affordable). Freelancers (and could could also include very small biz) could work on client work but also agree to dedicate % of time or take % of projects that would be for the good of WNC and tie into UniteWNC's mission/vision. The dues members would pay would help cover the shared services and also fund UniteWNC projects, which the freelancers themselves would help carry out - so the money they pay in will partially cycle back to them via work.
Check out this website: http://www.loconomics.com/ It's a freelancer cooperative in the Bay Area. They don't mention insurance as a benefit but perhaps there's a way to do that. I'll keep looking for other examples, but I think this might have to be the other part of the equation to make this all work. Thoughts?
Cheri Mon 31 Jul 2017 2:19PM
I LOVE this idea! And the sooner we can get something like this up and running, the sooner we can get you paid and working full time on this!! I'm now with Steve, let's get things finished enough we can start fundraising!
TracySchmidt Sat 4 Nov 2017 3:28PM
I think the Enspiral model is still out there, but I don't think it was itself a freelance cooperative, it is a network of groups doing good work. A freelance cooperative could be a subset group within the Enspiral network model... I think?? I'm still trying to wrap my head around all the variations of ways of organizing.
Kendra Sarvadi Wed 13 Sep 2017 10:01PM
Late weighing in but I love this idea! Had discussed something like this with other designers involved in the UX WNC meetup. I think it would be a great way to support the greater tech community!
TracySchmidt Sat 4 Nov 2017 3:22PM
I've been researching this a bit more - In the US I found the Freelance Union which includes option to go in on health insurance. https://www.freelancersunion.org/ But I don't think they have group plans for NC :-( I also don't see any 'spark' meet ups anywhere in NC. This could be something we could start here in Asheville that would hook into an already existing network to give support to freelancers. It doesn't have the angle of the cooperative though, so there's no shared resource pool that supports shared services among the freelancers.
There is also this freelance cooperative in the European Union: SMart - info on it: SMart is a cooperative that takes the hassle out of freelancing. Members get affordable health insurance and retirement contributions, help with paperwork and guaranteed on-time payments. SMart – Societe Mutuelle pour artistes – was founded in 1998 and now has over 90,000 members in nine European countries. Join us now. We’ll take care of the details so you can focus on your projects. http://smart-eu.org/
Cheri Sun 5 Nov 2017 7:24PM
I still love this idea of a cooperative and the union idea seems like it would fit well. I also think this model would bring in a lot more small tech companies that currently don't see what's in it for them. Maybe all this gets presented at the retreat. We could send links ahead of time in the 6-month report for UniteWNC. We could encourage folks to do the reading and research ahead of time and come prepared to talk about your proposal.
Marc Czarnecki · Sun 30 Jul 2017 2:40AM
95% of our local economy is with small businesses with 50 or fewer employees. Additionally, we have a rich entrepreneur market with bunches of freelancers. I believe a freelance cooperative makes a lot of sense for WNC, including the silvers.
The benefits are certainly attractive:
- Easier Scheduling
- Cheaper Overheads
- Broader Skill Range
- Team Work
Shift-CSS has published a document that explains what freelancers might have to do if they want to expand from a one-person business to a multi-person co-operative. It’s a ten-step process:
1) Find “cooperators.”
2) Consolidate a clear vision.
3) Design your process.
4) Create a start-up plan.
5) Analyze who you are and what you can really do.
6) Make a feasibility check.
7) Write a business plan…
8) … and an organizational plan.
9) Incorporate and start-up.
10) Operations.
http://www.geekpreneur.com/freelancers-find-benefits-in-workers-cooperatives