Small Business Banter

Kate Biondo CEO of worker-owner Galactic Co-operative on starting and running their technology business

Episode Summary

This is episode 1 of 4 in the BCCM series on Coops and Mutuals. Kate Biondo CEO of Galactic Cooperative shares her insights on why the Coop model was central in getting starting, and the different day-to-day opportunities, rewards, and challenges the model throws up for the owners of this business.

Episode Notes

@KateBiondo is the #CEO of @GalacticCooperative which is a #workerownedcoop.

Kate is the first guest of a four-episode series on #cooperatives and #mutuals brought to you by @BCCM (Business Council of Cooperatives & Mutuals)

We chat about the decision to start business life as a cooperative, what that involved and the different benefits.  

In our discussion we cover;

• The decision to implement a #cooperativemodel
• Being a #workerownedcooperative and giving #employees the ability to go with what works for them
• The difference #cooperatives are making in #businesses and #communities
• The need for #businessowners to come together to #collaborate for greater #supplychain efficiency and increased access to #export opportunities
• Building and growing via #umbrellabusinessmodel (with other businesses underneath)
• How taking on more responsibility brings about more benefits for a business
• How and why taking a different approach to business operations is beneficial
• The #barriers you may face when it comes to making a business a cooperative
• #Sustainableapproaches to #businessmachinery and #equipment to create a #circulareconomy of #recycling
• The day-to-day challenges faced by small business owners and having they can be dealt with
• The importance of meetings involving everyone, not just management, as “input is needed from everybody”
• Why it is important to plan an array of timelines for where you want your business at different stages in the future
• How #workerownedcooperatives allow for more open discussions and time for decisions about future plans
• How #cooperatives see investments in the business relative to the people that make up the business
• How #cooperatives allow for other opinions and experts to join the team to help grow and structure a #smallbusiness
• The future of cooperatives