The Bookstore Cafe / Publishing House / Printing Company Of The Future
To catch up, read The First Email
why-I-think-this-is-a-good-idea reading list at bookshop.org
The Model of Yuppie Redistribution
Find the Both/And Location: Medium sized city with a walkable center and some sort of non-seasonal tourism draw (to capture the dollars), within an economically diverse metropolitan area (within which to redistribute the dollars), that has decent public transportation and some manufacturing capacity (for the future business partners) see Banyan Tree Revolution.
The Rule of Thirds
It’s gotta be for-profit to prove it’s possible AND to pay taxes, to walk and to chew gum. See Banyan Tree Revolution (or, The Re-colonization problem.)
Where does the extra money go?
Growth 33.3% reinvested back into the business
Labor 33.3% employee profit sharing pool
Community 33.3% no-strings grants given to growing locally owned businesses
One-Third for Growth: Continuous Improvement
Business as usual
Ongoing investment for sustainable business growth, clean energy upgrades, waste reduction efforts, employee and community benefits, inventory expansion, the normal stuff.
One-Third for Labor: Employee Profit Share
Toward employee-ownership
- Equal-amounts point system based on number of months worked, regardless of role.
- Initially, while small and growing, profit share is provided as additional bonus income to employees.
- Later, when enough employees and beyond the threshold of sustainable growth, legally transition to democratically operated employee ownership.
One-Third for the Community: No-Strings Grants
The reserve for whatever makes sense / Modeling mutual aid:
Targeted, no applications, no hoops, no conditions assistance given to growing, locally-owned businesses with a commitment to shared values. If they have a particular need, if an issue or emergency arises, or just to support the growth of something already-good.
The Finance Problem
The “can private property be used to alleviate the ills of private property?” problem:
A) No investors.
Don’t do anything unless it’s possible while retaining complete control, so that it can be given away, completely.
B) Buy a building with friends.
Don’t do anything unless the operating costs can be freed from ever-increasing rent.
This is the very first step: Find and organize potential neighbors (owners of complimentary businesses), create a separate entity with peer business owners to purchase commercial real estate together, agree on terms for shared-ownership of the space, charge our individual businesses as tenants for a mortgage plus maintenance only, break-even, fair rent.
Inventory Choices
The Ecology Problem / Environment vs Economy / Maslow vs The Haters:
Inventory sourcing prioritization order:
1st priority: Geographic proximity
2nd priority: Sustainable production
3rd priority: Alignment with mission and values
4th priority: Profitability, (the pop-hit classics, the keeps-the-lights-on Regular Stuff.)
(in a state of perpetual transition away from 4th priority products as much as financially feasible)
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