Informed Beginnings Business Profile

Deb Lawrence, now President of Informed Beginnings, paid her first of many visits to the Illinois Small Business Development Center at ECC in October, 2011.  She needed a business plan for the shared services cooperative she wanted to start.  A shared services co-op is not a business structure we come across often.  I’ve only had one other person since or before then interested in starting a business using a similar structure.

Before explaining how a shared services co-op works, let’s first understand what Deb and others involved in the Informed Beginnings cooperative do:  as non-medical persons, they support families through pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period.  Deb specifically has been serving as a doula in Magic Hands Birth Services, a business she established as a sole proprietorship more than 16 years ago.

As a shared services cooperative, they are a group of independent business people (like Deb, many have sole proprietorships) who join together to support each other for their common good.  A little bit like an association in that they share a common interest and offer similar services.  In this case, the membership of Informed Beginnings shares several services that are offered through the co-op:  a certification program, promotional materials and information, networking, and training. 

Previous to starting Informed Beginnings, Deb and others joined other child birth organizations, but what was lacking most was the inability of the membership to fully participate in the direction and the profits of the organization.  She and others wanted something more participatory, and wanted to share in the rewards.  At this time, Informed Beginnings is the only child birth organization that offers part ownership.

Profits are shared as follows:  at year end, after all expenses and salaries have been paid, profits are divided and distributed according to each member’s contribution for the year.  It’s called a patronage dividend, and it can vary year to year depending upon the co-ops earnings and expenses as well as each member’s contributions (i.e., dues, purchases).

A very noteworthy point about starting this business:  membership is scattered across the United States.  Largely educators, the participants in the creation of this co-op were used to discussing curriculum and making decisions by committee.  In order to make continual progress, they had an initial Steering Committee to set the direction, meeting Monday evenings via GoToMeeting.  Deb served as leader for the group, working diligently at crafting a cohesive and predictive business plan.

Membership was initially limited to approximately 70 individuals, but as of June 1, 2012, the co-op is open.  Informed Beginnings expects at least 1,000 members within a year or two.