The pandemic clearly caused chaos in the business world from lockdowns to supply chain issues, and this has caused many small businesses to face closure. Small businesses closing isn’t good for local economies and there are solutions to support these small operations. The best option is to convert to a cooperative.
That’s right, in order to save capitalism we need less idolization of individuals and more focus on shared growth. Business can survive through distributed risk and recovery by converting to cooperatives.
Co-operatives offer stable business models that provide good jobs. They are often better than conventional businesses in terms of responding to and surviving crisesbecause they source capital locally rather than with distant shareholders, meet local community needs, and foster trust and mutual aid.
During economic downturns, for instance, co-op members will often amend wages and revenue distribution rather than lay off employees.
The overall lack of knowledge of the co-op model is not surprising. There is systemic bias against solidarity-based economic activity by mainstream economists and business pundits, and a related lack of co-op content in post-secondary business and economics courses.