Trevor S <
[email protected]> wrote in message news:<
[email protected]>...
> >:>If you can organise it, I'd like to put in an order for 4 jerseys and nicks. Can you do it? ;-)
>
> >: To do something like this, you need cash to invest and you need to deal in bulk.. My savings
> >: account has about $301 in it, so no, I can't organise it..
> >
> > That's more than me!!! Just the same, how many people would you need to put in $100 to make it
> > viable - you know, a co-operative?
>
> Ball park, without doing to much research, say 500. Just to start off to give you some capital,
> and then have them chuck in another $100 in 3 months for safety and draw no wages for the first
> 12 months.
>
> Of course, you will need to run the entire thing by the ASIC.
In other words, there's no chance in hell that you'd get that kind of venture going without serious
dough or serious support..
However, a local co-operative venture run out of someplace like the Brunswick Business Incubator
or possibly CERES might be worth looking into, and could probably get off the ground with about
100 members..
Say you set up a co-op where you sell basic garments (knicks, jerseys, maybe gloves, maybe more as
people get more advanced) at about $15-20/garment (more if the buyer is a retailer and needs quality
assured stock, actual amount determined by negotiation between the producer and the buyer), where
each member who decides to produce (a producer) would sell based on orders received (or stockpile if
they feel they might be able to sell later on).
At the time of sale, an accounting system would distribute the sale price to various cost centres
(other members, or for the more resourceful, the same member who makes the garment) at say $2 to
whoever designed and cut out the pattern used for that garment, $1 to whoever donated the sewing
machine, $1 to whoever donated the overlocker, $2 to whoever supplied the fabric, $5-6ish to the
org to cover real estate, electricity, insurances, minor consumables including logo transfers for
the org, accounting expenses, network resources, admin etc, and the difference between all that and
the sale price that the producer negotiated would go to the producer as fully fledged (albeit
taxable) income.. If a producer wanted to stockpile, the producer would pay the fabric line item,
and half the org surcharge, to cover tangible costs, and the rest would be accounted for at the
time of sale..
It wouldn't attract those willing to make a full time job out of it unless they had been going at it
for a while, could make a good product, and personally thought they could win over some serious
market share or at least get some good sales to retailers.. In the meantime, it'd certainly be
worthwhile between members who just want to put a bit of elbow grease into a part time project and
come out of it with something tangible and a few new skills..
I've been toying with the concept this afternoon, and even drew up the better part of a sample
constitution.. Anyone in Melbourne interested in the concept or anyone from outside think they might
want to try and make a go of it where they are? If so, drop me a line.. My new e-mail addy (as of
this week) is mrpc at iinet dot net dot au.
It may still need to get through ASIC, but I don't think it would be much harder to get working than
any other co-op in the country..
PC
