People Before Profit: The Co-op Business Model

Most entrepreneurs have never seriously considered the cooperative business model, even though some of the most recognizable brands in the world are co-ops.

In this episode, Brian Thompson sits down with D.G. Safeer Hopton, entrepreneur, healer, and author of Creating a Co-op Village, to explore cooperative economics and what it could mean for mission-driven business owners.

Safeer has spent decades building co-ops, studying cooperative economics, and helping communities create prosperity through shared ownership. This conversation is a practical and eye-opening introduction to a business structure built on people before profit.

In this episode you will learn:

• What cooperative economics actually means and how it works in practice

• How co-op business models differ from LLCs, S-Corps, and nonprofits

• Why credit unions, IKEA, Sunkist, and Carpet One are all co-ops

• How patronage refunds work and why they are the fairest profit-sharing system Safeer has found

• What questions every entrepreneur should ask before choosing a business structure

• How co-op business models create community prosperity by keeping money circulating locally

• The history of co-ops from pre-colonial Africa to present day

• How to get started with a co-op through organizations like the National Cooperative Bank and the National Cooperative Business Association

Cooperative economics offers a genuine alternative to the competition and extraction model that drives most traditional businesses. Co-op business models are democratically controlled, neutral in race, religion, politics, and gender, and designed to return profits back to the people who generate them.

Whether you are an entrepreneur exploring new business structures, a mission-driven business owner looking for more community aligned ways to operate, or simply curious about how cooperative economics could create more prosperity in your community, this episode is a valuable and thought-provoking listen.

• Connect with D.G. Safeer Hopton: LinkedIn

• Global Village Cooperative

• Get the book: Creating a Co-op Village: How Real-World Co-op Businesses Build Wealth and Thriving Communities on Amazon

• Follow Brian Thompson Online: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Forbes

• Follow & review the podcast: on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

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Brian Thompson, JD/CFP®, is a tax attorney and Certified Financial Planner® who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit.

On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.