Starting your own business is hard but starting a business that involves the community is harder.

As a MBA student I decided to establish a social business venture that would not only benefit the community I came from but would be economically sustainable, educational and environmentally responsible. Almost as important, I wanted to work on a venture that was independently funded and had ability to become profitable to create jobs. In late 2005, I began researching the history and business operation of food cooperatives. I chose this social retail model because 1) I like food 2) when properly executed cooperatives serve all of the previously mentioned needs.

The “business” part was easy. Finding out who, where, and how to get permits, legal status, website development and setting up vendor contracts requires computer (or yellow pages) research and spending many hours on the phone. The community involvement part is another story. Food cooperatives are not “owned” by one individual. All members are invested in the business and hence have say in its operations and development. Because there are so many people with so many issues they must be efficiently coordinated and managed while their plans and basic operations are executed – all the job of the executive director.

While this form of business is very management heavy, it also teaches and practices a hands-on form of democratic empowerment that has been stripped from most urban low-income people. The food cooperative concept also allowed me to effect and influence the health and buying habits of local residents for the better. One of the reasons low-income residents have such poor health is not such much lack of food as it is the quality of food and quality food is expensive. Coops not only bring quality food to low income areas at lower prices they also work with local farmers to ensure the communities investment stays local.

The smartest thing I would advise any future or current entrepreneur (social or for-profit) to do is devise a business plan. Your b-plan will help you organize your thoughts and goals from marketing, operational and financial perspectives. It will make you think of how your competition may react, who are your possible allies and how your internal structure will handle different functions and issues. If you plan on seeking funding from lenders, it is always helpful to have well thought out 3-5 year financial projection in hand to ease their fears of lending to high risk borrowers.

If you are interested in starting a social or not-for-profit venture the most important thing you can do is research. Find out if there is a definite need and want for the product and/or service you plan to offer. Speak to possible customer or clients and consider their feedback. While there is more money out there for not-for-profit efforts they are generally small amounts that take a long time to collect after months of grant writing. Also, many not-for-profits fall into the pit of becoming dependent on grants leaving them susceptible to the whim of the grantor(s) or a selected few.

The SBFC has been fortunate thus far (knock on wood) in its efforts. I was able to strategically partner the coop with groups that had similar interest for maximum exposure and finance possibilities. It took about two years to get the SBFC where it is now (about 25 members working with over 10 vendors and 3 community organizations). We still have a lot more to go. And yes there are days when I think this isn’t going to work and want to quit. But the day after someone will call and ask “when is the coop going to open? I really want to join.” or “thank you for trying to bring this to the South Bronx”. My hope is restored.