Setting up a business is not easy and the startup world is even more complex. With all this talk about startups, it is hard to cope with gurus, meetings, contests, calls and success recipes. Coopstartup does not have a winning recipe, but it has ten ingredients, ten suggestions for action. They do not claim to give all the answers but it is our way to help in starting up a cooperative.

1. THE DECALOGUE

2. The idea is the starting point: a novel way of addressing a
need, a new market opportunity, a copy of something
successful elsewhere, an answer to the local community. In a
prestart-up stage, three elements can be identified: a need,
an idea and a vision, even if rough, of how to turn the idea
into a sustainable business.THE IDEA
01

3. Being an entrepreneur depends on diverse variables – the
individual as a person, their background, the general context,
etc.. The evaluation of these attitudes is crucial in setting up a
business. Having a good idea is not enough. Some personal
traits and skills, such as the desire to achieve, risk,
experiment, be organized, look forward and go beyond, are
as relevant as technical and managerial competences.
ENTREPRENEURIAL
ATTITUDES
02

4. An ideal team should be varied and synergic, a balanced
combination of skills, knowledge and experiences. Who are
the members? What are their skills and competences? What
are their aims and hopes? How do all these professional and
personal elements mix? Trying to answer these questions at a
preliminary stage is vital because the core of a startup
business project, the one and only driver, is the team.
TEAM BUILDING
03

5. A project plan answers basic questions such as: What is the
need to be addressed? What work is to be carried out? Who
will be involved and what will be their responsibilities? What
is the project timeline and when will particularly meaningful
points be completed?
Tasks should be distributed within the group, sharing
responsibility.
PROJECT
PLANNING
04

6. A cooperative can be defined as a jointly owned and
democratically controlled enterprise where members work
together to create value for themselves, as well as for
customers/clients, with the main objective of reinvesting a
part of the profits to make the cooperative stronger and long
lasting.THE COOPERATIVE
CHOICE
05

7. A business plan helps to clarify a business idea (The product?
How? The end users? The resources?), spot potential
problems, set out goals, measure progress. It is an internal
tool, defining intermediate objectives and their achievement
and an external tool, to raise funds or to convince end users,
suppliers and potential partners to be supportive.BUSINESS
PLANNING
06

8. New members introduce new resources not only economic
but also in terms of ideas, skills, knowledge and energy. Entry
can be at any stage. From the outset, it is important to keep
in mind that enlarging the circle of personal and professional
acquaintances could have positive effects on the project and
add key figures to the team.NEW MEMBER
ENTRY
07

9. Partners (companies interested in networking) and
stakeholders (people or organizations attracted by the
project’s positive spillovers for the local community) can be
vital to make the project work, test its feasibility, be aware of
other needs and plan the following steps. They can be
involved at any stage with the objective of business or social
collaboration.
PARTNERS AND
STAKEHOLDERS
08

10. Project financing should initially come from members or their
“families, friends and fools” (“love capital” to be repaid as
soon as possible). This initial self-financing makes the
promoters more responsible and avoids wasting money on a
“mission impossible”. As well, if the chance arises for a grant,
a prize or a loan, this should be considered as an opportunity
and not only as a means to acquire money.
PROJECT
FINANCING
09

11. Setting up is the last step but not always so easy. The legal
and administrative red tape from the Articles of Association
to company registration and licenses should be overcome to
finally get going.
SETTING UP
10