In order to succeed, a cooperative needs a business idea compliant to market needs, in-depth planning and clearly defined objectives, and members committed to all these. The incorporators or any members joining in later should ask themselves: “Am I willing to commit myself for a long period to the objectives of this common enterprise and to the common interest before mine, to other members, to transparency and to the ‘role of entrepreneur’, in order to be responsible for the development of the undertaking with others?” The attitude “I can always resign” is not a good starting point; it will result in the disintegration of the group without any effort of tackling the challenges jointly.
According to the Finnish Act of Unemployment Benefits, every member in the cooperative should ‘act as an entrepreneur’, even though they have an employment contract and no status of an entrepreneur. You must remember that the only motivation for incorporating a cooperative cannot be the continuation of your protection for unemployment as an employee.
What does ‘acting like an entrepreneur’ mean in practice? Firstly, it means the ability to work together with others and flexibility. These characteristics are also needed if you are working under the authority of another employer. Secondly, it means activity and initiatives, creativity and courage to take action. In cooperatives, the members ideally learn from each other and solve problems together. Even the tacit knowledge of every member is implemented. Thirdly, it is about the members’ committing to commonly agreed quality criteria and internal guidelines.