Co-op
One model of business structure applicable to Seasteading is the member- or worker-owned cooperative.
This structure places ownership of the enterprise directly in the hands of the people most affected by its operation; the customers and workers involved.
Contents
Worker
In this model the enterprise and its assets are owned by the people who operate it. Each worker has an equal vote and an equal share. Disbursements of equity are equal, although compensation for work performed may vary according to fair and objective plans, such as qualifications, skills, and amount of work performed.
Member
Member owned cooperatives are organized for the benefit of consumers of their goods and services. These often include food or fuel co-ops, sometimes electric or water utilities. This could also easily be modified to provide telecommunications services. Again, each member has a single vote. Surpluses are disbursed according to an equitable plan, and members that also work for the co-op are often compensated for their work separately from equity distributions.
Commonalities
In both versions of co-op, daily operational decisions are generally delegated to a management board, with strategic decisions made by voting at regularly scheduled member meetings. Managers and board members are selected by the membership body. In some very small co-ops, decision making may be by unanimous consensus or conversely by the individual responsible for a given function with little overt democracy.
Book keeping typically follows the same rules as for other ownership structures and non-profit organizations.
It is important to have a business plan for co-ops, perhaps even more than for a corporation, and definitely more than for single proprietors. This plan spells out expectations, roles, responsibilities, and controls funds which keeps down and resolves conflicts.
Considerations
For a sea-going enterprise on a traditional vessel class that provides (as part of its operation) housing and associated family services to its crew, it's necessary to take into account the essential crew functions for:
1. Operation and Maintenance of the vessel/platform
2. Operation and Maintenance of the money-making enterprise (may overlap with point 1). think in terms of traditional merchant ventures of the sailing days, where the owner of the vessel might be abord for a trading trip, but the captain had operational authority over the vessel.
3. Support of the additional functions imposed by full-time residence of crew and family on the vessel (life support, entertainment, education, legal, medical/health etc.)
In addition, provision needs to be made for:
4. (Family) Occupancy agreements. Is there a compensation adjustment (deduction) in light of number of family members or space allocated per family? Or do you charge rent? Per crew member or per person or per cubic meter? Common area maintenance (restroom/bathing facility/cleaning supplies)? How does off-duty living space get allocated?
5. Common kitchen meal plans/rates? How does the food budget work? What constraints are there on providing/taking food?
6. Clear divisions of responsibility and decision-making authority between Crew, and owners, including any delegations of owner authority to elected representatives/directors/officers. Ship's officers/crew have authority by law in immediate ship handling, safety issues by regulation, and emergencies.
As an example, a yacht club in Portland Oregon, as a pure non-profit dedicated to providing a service and furthering a lifestyle, charges a membership application fee, a monthly membership fee that allocates portions to several funds for dedicated purposes, and a moorage fee for those who choose to use the moorage. In addition, there are per-use fees for reserving the club house for private/personal functions (free if all club members are invited), and there is a surcharge on our fuel dock that is calculated to provide maintenance, insurance, and refilling of the fuel tanks. This works out much cheaper than commercial fuel docks and is limited to the club membership.
The monthly fees are allocated variously to the dredging fund, parking maintenance, walks and docks, social fund, etc. There are two boards, the Board of Directors, and the Board of Managers. The Directors run the social and strategic aspects of the financial decisions such as raising funds, hiring accountants, allocation of funds to specific accounts, etc. They also interact with the membership on voting for charter changes, enforcing the provisions of the membership agreement, publishing available moorage and assigning per the charter's provisions on seniority, and arbitrating members' disputes. The Board of Managers direct the maintenance of the facility, hire the specific contractors and purchase materials within the budget of the accounts set aside for each purpose.
An equivalent fee structure for a Seastead commercial Co-Op might be:
- per-head occupancy fee
- meal plan fee
- telecoms access fee
The Co-Op aspect of the business is the operation of the platform itself. An occupancy fee would allocate portions to emergency and scheduled maintenance fund for living quarters and off-duty areas, maintenance of supplies for common areas such as cleaning and toiletries, paint, and common area furnishings etc.
Meal plan fee covers supplies for cooking and cleaning the kitchen area.
Telecoms fee covers access to internet and telephone, perhaps with a supplemental education fee for families with children being tutored on board.
Maintenance of operational areas would come from Seastead's operating funds gained through space fees assessed on the Seastead's enterprises. Pay for the crew members of the Seastead's operating crew (equivalent to Board of Managers above) comes from this budget.
Each business unit would petition for and be allocated space by an owner's council (consisting of all equity-holders, with elected officers equivalent to the Board of Directors above) and relative space/service fees are charged by the Seastead to the business unit, most likely on an individually negotiated and periodic basis. Some spaces are more suited to certain purposes than others due to size, shape, or relative location. Otherwise un-allocated space may be bargained for. Final decisions on strategic allocations and business units come from the owner's council, but the details of engineering a particular space for a particular purposes is a matter of technical collaboration between platform engineering and the business unit.. This allocates space efficiently among business units while encouraging individuals to experiment with entrepreneurship in niches that might eventually become main lines of business. Each business unit pays the individuals involved in that enterprise, full time or part time. This would operate much like vendor booths at market. Ship's officers must receive owner's council approval for engaging in other business units to prevent conflict of interest or neglect of primary duties.
