start the future

let’s build a cooperative, step 10: start operations

opening the door to a door factory

josh martinez

24 Oct 2025 — 4 min read

a mosaic of a tulip embedded into the concrete of a sidewalk somewhere in seattle. the flower is red and yellow and the stem is shades of green. the concrete around it is patchy and mottled with moss. remember: we spend money on cops, not sidewalks.

This is it. We're here! This is the last post in the series. Step 10 is a combination of all the "final" steps in each of the guides I used. Here, we are finishing our prep work, filing papers, and opening our doors to customers. Who's excited? I'm excited!

It's also an exciting time for the future of my work as a consultant. This series started as a thought exercise, a "what if?" But this month I began the process of making a consulting cooperative a reality. I contacted 25+ colleagues and asked who might want to go into business together. In a few weeks, we'll get started with a modified version of Step 1. I'll most likely share updates on the blog, though it'll be a while before my next 10-part series. If you are a consultant (or thinking about consulting), consider learning more about the new cooperative! Email me if you want to explore ownership or would serve as a mentor/advisor.

One more recap for posterity of where we've been. In Step 1, we pooled our great ideas for a cooperative. Step 2, we scoped those ideas further. Step 3 is where we asked which of our ideas had the best chance at succeeding. We decided how we would decide in Step 4. In Step 5 we conducted a feasibility study for our idea. For Step 6, we created a business plan. Step 7? We determined who we needed to make it all work. Step 8 launched our first cooperative owners' meeting. Step 9 convened our board for the first time.

The table of contents:

Building a cooperative: step by step guide

One last time: I am not a lawyer, but I hope our new cooperative can afford to hire one. If you use this guide, please do the same. ✌🏾

complete your filings

We're tying up a lot of loose ends in Step 10. Now that we're ready to get started, we will file the documents we need to register the business. In Washington, this includes filing a charter, registering for a UBI, and getting a federal tax ID or EIN. We also have to file for a business license in the city where we operate.

set up operations

We need to set up our bookkeeping system next. We'll want someone who has experience with co-op financials or is at least good with numbers. We'll also develop our operating policies. I expect that when we start the business we'll be a cooperative of people who have other jobs to do. We'll need a way to confirm that everything is getting done.

We'll pay for any facilities or equipment we will need to launch. The consulting co-op might not need that at first, but you never know. This is also the time to hire staff if they're needed. And who's paying for all this? Us! If it's not done yet, we'd set up our business' bank account and collect the initial capital from our owners.

We'll also set up our website and domain name. I've been eyeing a .coop domain for quite some time. Unfortunately you need to have a co-op to get one. Now we do!

Since we did so much to prepare in previous steps, the rest of our launch should be easy. We already have a business plan to follow, but that may need an edit once we begin for real.

launch

Once we hang up our shingle, we need people to know about us. We'd develop a marketing plan to raise community awareness and recognition. Each of us owners have a stake in the co-op's success: we'll all be contacting our network to drum up business. The u.s. federation of worker cooperatives offers a variety of benefits to its members. And as a cooperative business, we show solidarity by to patronizing other cooperatives in the area.

what’s next?

As we get started, it's a good idea to document our processes and edit them as needed. I'd also like us to create guidance materials to support our members. How does a worker-owner pay taxes? I found some resources but would want an expert's opinion. Hypotheticals become easier to research when we have a tangible business.

Now comes the hard part: running a business! Having started my own already, I know starting a co-op won't be easy. But I'll have other worker-owners who are just as invested in the work as I am.

case study: BrightlyⓇ

The Center for Family Life is a community-led social services organization. They've spent years incubating local cooperatives in the region around new york state. One day their co-op development team was reflecting on how long it took to start up one co-op. Someone had an idea: what if they could franchise them?

The team began to research what a co-op franchise might look like. NannyBee (a nanny cooperative) was their first attempt at a franchise model. They soon shelved the idea. They next created a co-op called Brightly, a cleaning company founded in new york city. Brightly francises share their backend, bylaws, and an operations manual. This makes starting a franchise an out-of-the-box experience.

They found that their biggest hurdle was developing their franchise disclosure document. Their first document covered all the legal intricacies of a franchise, but it was 202 pages long. They've since rewritten the document to be social-justice-forward and easier to read.

Brightly is now 6 cooperatives in different neighborhoods in NYC and in Philadelphia. Brightly's website says their franchises turn a profit faster than traditional co-ops. Their owners, all cleaners, earn more now than they did before joining the cooperative.

looking forward

It's bittersweet ending this series, but I'm grateful for all I learned in all 10 steps. I'm positive this won't be my last post about cooperatives. Like be the future itself, we've done a lot of dreaming. It's time to make it happen. Thank you for joining me on this journey; see you on the next one.