The Case for Worker-Cooperative Conversions
We are happy to present the recording from our latest online session Selling Your Small Business – Practical Strategies for an Employee Buyout
If you are interested in learning more about the conversion process please feel free to fill out the survey below.
During the session we discussed the in’s and out’s of selling a small business to it’s employees and covered many topics including:
Why are so many small business owners selling their businesses to their workers?
Most small businesses never find an outside buyer. Without a worker-buyout, your customers lose their brand of choice and your community loses critical economic activity. The longest-serving and most loyal of your workers will be the least likely to find a comparable livelihood elsewhere. When a larger competitor does buy a business, they usually lay off most or all of the workers and dissolve the enterprise. And your legacy disappears!
Why are worker-owned businesses better?
Worker-owned businesses have higher productivity, lower worker turnover, and their profits stay in the community. Workers adopt more global perspectives on their workplace and the welfare of their co-workers and their customers, and engage broader concerns and policy issues about the future of their market, their industrial sector, the larger economy, and the environment. Worker-ownership fosters more engaged citizenship. And your legacy lives on!
Why are governments incentivizing worker buy-outs? What are those incentives?
Aging baby boomers own a large percentage of small businesses, and they’re now looking to retire. Without worker buy-outs, most of these businesses, their jobs, and their other economic activity, will be lost. Worker buy-outs can also deliver significant tax breaks to the seller, and the Small Business Administration is expanding their lending options to support worker buy-outs.
Why should I attend the workshop on selling my business and exploring employee ownership?
You will get answers to all of your questions about selling to your workers, and we will lead you through the steps involved in doing it. These include overall exploratory process and strategy, ownership and management succession planning, financing options, legal and structural angles, and much more! The Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy is a non-extractive lender that finances worker-buyouts; its members include experienced worker-owners skilled in converting businesses to worker-ownership and supporting workers and owners in making the transition.