Creating a cottage industry can provide intentional community members with a greater balance of family time and recreation. Allowing workers to sort themselves into shifts or work groups based on compatibilities revealed by ICmatch profiles can make a tremendous impact on work enjoyment and retention. Photo by Vlada Karpovich.
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Steps to build your own cottage industries as a team
- Learn it. Get work experience in the field in which you intend to create your business.
- Make a team. Add to your leadership team or advisory board others who have familiarity with your field of business and living in intentional community. Use ICmatch.org to build up your core leadership team and other values-aligned volunteers who might start by working in exchange for room and board plus training, as your group levels up.
- Plan it. Create your business plan. You’ll need this for loans, and it will help your team coordinate your work roles.
- Fund it. To be eligible for grants, create a pro-social mission as part of your endeavors. You might team up with a university and non-profits. Identify disadvantaged groups you care about and could include in the client base for free, as a way to qualify for grants. One of your team members joining the board of a local nonprofit with a joint goal could help coordinate your efforts; just be upfront about the intention.
- Make it legit. Obtain the professional certifications, permits, licenses, and insurance you need depending on what type of business or service you are developing.
- Iterate. If you are creating a unique offering, there won’t be a road map. You might include a grad student researcher in your team to chronicle your failures and successes. This could become the basis for an excellent training manual for your business.
- Market it. Online marketing includes creating an informative website, social media accounts, and postings on related forums, including Airbnb or Viator listings for local “experiences.” Local community involvement is sometimes overlooked as an important way to spread the word. You want locals to know you are contributing to your area. Promote your business with brochures in related businesses, and reciprocate by passing along promotional offers on their products to your clients.
Examples of Team Housing for Cottage Industries
Self-employment and on-site businesses for residential intentional communities can make it possible for individuals and families to join, who otherwise might not have the resources or proximity to make it feasible.
Arcosanti near Scottsdale AZ makes distinctive world-famous wind chimes as a community business.
East Wind Community has a primary business making nut butter, yet they also have a Utopian Sandals side business.
Twin Oaks is a long-standing U.S. income-sharing intentional community. Residents in the past assisted with the community business of hammock making.
Local currency as souvenirs: A local currency Salt Spring Dollars reportedly brings in about $150K per year from tourists buying the money as souvenirs. Damanhur intentional community in Italy is known for beautiful local currency coins.
Consultants for Cottage Industries
ICmatch can connect you with consultants who have deep experience in projects and living environments that thrive on close, sustained cooperation. These professionals are experts at guiding others through the unique opportunities and challenges of communal living.
The consultants listed below have subscribed to be featured on this page. For even more consultants with interest and expertise in this type of community, visit the consultants page linked in the header.
Members Interested in Cottage Industries
ICmatch can connect you with communitarians who have similar interests and values. The members listed below have subscribed to be featured on this page. For even more members with interest in this type of community, visit the Match for Free page linked in the header.
Resources
Another type of intentional community as a work team is a therapeutic retreat or event hosting crew. This page may have relevant information for your group also.
Holistic Systems Cooperative is pioneering an online-based cooperative worker collective, somewhat similar to Enspiral.com.