What would I have done differently if I were part of the founding members of Crossroads? During a discussion a few weeks ago I was asked what I would do differently and whether I would consider a different business model than a co-op. Lets take a fantasy trip back in time almost twenty years to when Crossroads was just a twinkle in the eye of a number of founding members, all the time remembering that hindsight is a wonderful thing. ;)

If I were one of the founding members I would have sat down with the other founding members and discussed with them what they would be willing to financially contribute each year as an on-going contribution. I would have stressed that even if we went with a co-op model for the way ahead, we would still need a significant amount of capital to develop any site we purchased into a viable sustainable business. I would point out that whilst we could start by contributing the bare minimum needed to get it going hoping that we quickly turn the site into a sustainable business, the reality could mean that we might not be able to get things going as quickly as planned. I would ask that we as founding members agree to continue to pay the agreed upon figure each time it is due, possibly suggesting breaking the payments into weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments rather than a lump sum each year.

I would suggest that we sat down and developed a business plan outlining the possible income streams taking into account who would be running them and doing research into the potential income they would earn as well as what they would realistically cost to get set up and where they would be located.

I would point out that if we chose an empty block of land then there would be significant amounts of capital that would need to be spent on infrastructure such as a work shed, power and equipment owned by the Group. I would suggest that the smart thing to do would be to purchase an existing working farm that could slowly be converted whilst still providing infrastructure and an income. I would point out that there could be the possibility of hiring a farm manager to continue the operation of the existing farm whilst the Group itself concentrates on the plans to convert the farm to a medieval site.

I would suggest that a co-op whilst being the ultimate in a fair and equal ownership model, means that everything needs to be approved by committee which may slow down development making it difficult to get to a sustainable state. I would suggest that whilst the Co-op model is probably the best for the people involved, there needs to be some very strict rules put in place to ensure people stay involved. Alternately a more business like model might be more appropriate.

There are a lot of things that have lead to putting Crossroads where it is today, and turning back time won’t fix any of them however time has shown us where the holes are. Personally I think there is still hope, however it will take the majority of members to realise they either need to start bailing, or get off the boat and lighten the load, and there only seems to be a few members still paying attention.

This is just my way of saying “I’m willing, but only if everyone else starts grabbing buckets and bailing too…”.