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Re-organizing Your business
as a Nonprofit
by Julie Damon, President of E-Nomad Enterprises |
| A lot of us with disabilities have had that thought
- "What if I just formed a nonprofit - how EASY would
that be to just write grants and see the money come rolling
in? It's especially tempting when your business
is not going well. But running a business isn't about
appealing to people's sympathies to get donaitons - it's
about doing something you love, providing good quality
products and/or services and giving back to the community.
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| With that in mind - here are the top 3 reasons you
should NOT re-organize your business into a nonprofit. |
| You Can't Own a Nonprofit |
| Most people don't realize that when you
start a nonprofit organization - you don't own the business
- it is no longer your business but a public entity subject
to much stricter regulations and oversight; you have no
rights to the business, you cannot have stock or distribute
retained earnings or sell the business and with the stricter
regulations and oversight comes additional paperwork,
structure, accountability and procedures to process and
track programs and grants - it's a completely different
ball game that can even overwhelm people with nonprofit
experience. It's a HUGE additional workload above and
beyond any work duties you currently have running a magazine. |
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| Competition is Fierce |
| Competition for grants is INCREDIBLY TOUGH - tougher
now than ever before with today's economy and large numbers
of foundations diverting their funds to disaster recovery
and prevention - I don't know what area you are in but
here in Orange County, CA there are over 3,000 nonprofit
organizations competing for an ever-shrinking pool of
dollars. People outside the nonprofit world and tend to
glamorize it - believing that there is lots of money out
there just for the asking - that's not how it works -
it takes training, experience, perseverance and time to
raise funds - and it has to be done continuously all year
round. |
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| It Won't Fix Your Problem |
| . If there is something currently not working or preventing
your business form growing to the next level, I can guarantee
you that it will not disappear or change just because
you become a nonprofit organization. It really sounds
like an external more objective evaluation would be beneficial
to your company to find the real root of the problem or
obstacle to growth. When a business is struggling or facing
obstacles to growth, most business owners believe that
all they need is some more money to fix the problem and
99% of the time, that is not the case. |
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| Get Help! Contact Seed Business Network
to find out how they can help you get your business growing
again. EMAIL
them for more information about their Incubator Program.
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About
the Author
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Julie Damon is President of E-Nomad Enterprises
LLC, a company that provides consulting services to
small nonprofit organizations to help them fulfill their
missions through online marketing. E-Nomad specializes
in website makeovers, website analysis and email marketing
campaigns. Ms. Damon was previously Cofounder and Executive
Director of the Seed Institute for 7 years, working
with disabled and disadvantaged individuals starting
up home-based businesses. Ms. Damon can be reached at
jdamon@enomad.net.
Her website is www.enomad.net
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DisabilityBiz.org
is a subsidiary of Seed Business Network,
a CA 501(c)(3) non-profit organization - tax i.d. #20-0329975
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Disability
Business Network is dedicated to helping disabled entrepreneurs
start and run their own businesses providing disability business
consulting, disability resources, business resources and information
needed for disability self-employment endeavors. Our website
features DisBiz Forum,a
disability business forum and our Business Basics online business
planning workbook for Disability Business Network members.
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2004 Seed Business Network, Inc. All rights reserved.
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