[hackerspaces] Hackerspace business plan

[Matt Joyce]

I think having a clear and transparent view of finances for those that want
to see them is valuable and important.  Also demonstrating a business plan
is less about the plan or the organization philosophically, and more about
"How serious are you?  How much thought has been put into this?"

Hackerspaces are an investment not just in terms of money, but more
importantly time.  there's no reason on earth someone would not want to have
their mind put at ease before commiting to it.

A business plan can go a long way torwards that.  I hope that as you proceed
you document this all and make as much of it as you can available.

On Jun 28, 2010 11:09 AM, "Far McKon" <farmckon at gmail.com> wrote:

Hive76 took the planning model a lot of cooperative housing and studios
take.

1) Membership should pay the bills, + 5-10% extra to slowly accumulate
for damage, improvements, and emergencies.

2) By 6 months, you should have 3 months of 'reserve cash' to pay
bills. IE, if everyone gets hit by a meteor,
there should be cash on hand for 3 momths of operation. You should
always have that reserve, and if you use it.
refill it before spending other 'emergency' cash.

3) Lights and Rent should be covered by membership. New
projects/equipment by pledge drives or net income classes.


The above is a very common model of housing cooperatives, and shared
workspaces, and has worked very well.  That said, Hive76 has barely
made those goals. But they are do-able goals, and easy to explain and
agree on.

hack on,
- Far McKon


http://www.Hive76.org  "Making things awesome,  making awesome things!"
http://www.FarMcKon.net "Creatively Maladjusted"




On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 10:57 AM, Adam D Bachman <adam.bachman at gmail.com>
wrote:
> I was going to...
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