Thinking of Starting a Cooperative

It is likely many of you if not all of you have heard of the term "cooperative". But I bet most of you have never really researched into what a cooperative does and yet you have preconceived ideas on what happens in a cooperative. This article is the first article aimed at empowering you with the knowledge to not only understand what a cooperative is, but to participate and benefit from one.

taken from www.uk.coop

A cooperative is a businesses owned and run by its members, for its members. Members often have something in common like heritage, interests, work, geographic location and more.

Member all have equal voting rights and when profits are made this is shared amongst members or reinvested according to the decision of members. Often cooperatives may work together to improve the lives of all members in a given community. Jamaican and Nigerian cooperatives have often been known to put aside each month a given amount to a central fund and each month the group gives this to one of the members (or something to this effect) but in actual fact operating models and income streams and income release can be defined in any way and decided by the group (sometimes this changes as business models are often flexible).

Co-operatives are businesses, not charities, so the aim is to profit financially, socially or otherwise (i.e. obtaining scarce products/services). By working together, members do better in their individual monetary investments. savings and businesses than they would have separately.

Cooperatives can invest locally and internationally promoting growth in areas overlooked by various organisations.

So here is my proposal. I am thinking of starting a cooperative:
- It would have a legal structure.
- It would have a steering group that ensures the interests of all members are followed (lets say the steering group/committee sits for 3 years before re-election, for very first term would sit for 5 years to raise funds and profile).
- It would invest in areas/business members have knowledge of or experience or a need for i.e.

• Any idea that comes up through cooperative brainstorming
• Entertainment- Books/Movies/TV Shows
• Business Start Up Seminars/Training/ Ancillary Services (i.e. Websites, Accounting, Marketing, Legal etc)
• Recruitment Firms and Career/Employment Advice
• Childcare/Daycare Services and Babycare Products
• Food and Drink (Catering, Restaurants, Consumer products, Trade/Distribution)
• Education (Schools/Tuition Classes)
• Family/Relationships
• Fashion, Hair and Beauty
• Homes and Gardens (Real estate development and related services i.e. plumbing, electricians etc)
• Living Overseas (Relocation to Nigeria company specialising in cargo, accommodation, schools, healthcare, settling in etc)
• Politics (in UK and Nigeria)
• Social Events (Event Centre, Celebrations, Festivals, Parties, Wedding Planners)
• Travel/Holidays (Vehicle Shipment to Nigeria, Investing in Tourism in Nigeria, Travel Agency etc)

- It would create profit financially, it would offer employment opportunities, it would offer experience and exposure and have a community building outlook.
- It would be for Nigerian families in the UK (at first or permanently)
- There would be monthly payments of £50, a member can withdraw money by leaving subject to notice period in the constitution. So if for example there were 20 members, £12k would be generated in the first year from contributions. Members can invest more than a minimum with a view to sharing more of the profit based on their financial investment, members can also share more in profit through trading their time i.e. acting as accountant or building brick walls for a development totaling 10 hours.

If you are interested in setting up this cooperative with me and have suggestions or strong opinions, please contact me at ellaoku@gmail.com

Thanks

Regards


Mrs Ella Inedia
(Information for this article gathered from http://www.uk.coop)

Britain's Brainiest Family are Nigerians! Don't tell me you're not proud!

Britain's Brainiest Family are Nigerians! Don't tell me you're not proud!
 

Pictured above on the right is Anne-Marie Imafidon and to the left are 9-year-old twins Paula and Peter. Phtoto taken from http://milwaukeecourieronline.com/index.php/2012/05/03/prodigy-is-youngest-to-receive-masters-degree-from-oxford/

According to the article:
http://milwaukeecourieronline.com/index.php/2012/05/03/prodigy-is-youngest-to-receive-masters-degree-from-oxford/

Anne-Marie Imafidon's family are known in England as “The First Family of Education.” and she has been described as a “serial world record breaker.”

Here is her hitlist:
Age 10 - passed 2 GCSE's in Maths and I.T.
Age 11 - became youngest Brit to pass a Computing A-Level
Age 12 - received an Oxford Scholarship
Age 13 - in 2003, obtained scholarship to study Maths at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Age 13 - she studied Mathematics at Oxford University in 2005
Age 14 -  received offers from top universities to study Masters degrees in Computational Maths
Age 15 - received offer to attend the University of Oxford
Age 16 -  was hounded with job offers from Wall Street and London financial institutions and World Leading Blue Chip companies
Age 17 - started her Masters degree!
Age 19 - in 2010, became the youngest ever to receive a Combined Masters Degree in Maths and Computer Science from Oxford University.

Background
Her heritiage is Edo, Nigerian. Her parents Anne and Chris Imafidon were immigrants to the UK.
Anne-Marie was not a grammar school/private school student! She attended state schools in relatively average (or to some poor) inner city schools in London’s Enfield and Waltham Forest areas. Her parents have not homeschooled her either as neither are maths experts.

Her famous quote: “Education is such an important part of young people’s lives and I want to get the message out to the youth that learning is such a vital element in their growth. I also want them to understand that mathematics is essentially a game of numbers.”

If you think thats impressive check her siblings:
The Wonder Twins
Peter and Paula broke world records by passing A Level maths at age 7.
A year later they passed the University of Cambridge’s Advanced Mathematics test and thus become the youngest Brits to enter high school.

They too attended state schools  and the key to their success is private tuition/supplemental lessons.

Christina the 17 Year Old
At age 11 she became the youngest student to be accepted to university.

Samantha the 12 Year Old
At age 6 passed two GCSE level Maths and Statistics exams.
At age 9 became the youngest secondary school entrant.
She was the twins mentor and tutor when they were 6! How's that for economy?

The Father

“Every child is a genius...once you identify the talent of a child and put them in an environment that will nurture that talent, then the sky is the limit. Look at Tiger Woods or the Williams sisters, they were nurtured. You can never rule anything out with our children.”


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So there you have it, paying for a private school would be great but would not guarantee excellence. Have you thought of extra tuition?  Saturday schools like DegreeAngel Tuition go for on average £55 per month/£660 per annum as opposed to £20,000+ per annum of private secondary schools.

Ask friends for recommended tuition schools.
My agency www.degreeangel.co.uk can show you your nearest DegreeAngel tuition centres also specialising in maths and science.