Hi all,
I wanted to get your opinions on a thought that I had been considering in recent months so that I can better refine my business plan.
I should start with my own professional background: I have worked within a non-profit, affordable housing development for a few years. In that time, I have gained quite a bit of experience in housing pre development, grants, relationship building, etc.
I would like to start my own business in community renewal of my home town. This town has a number of distressed properties and has been heavily hit by capital flight, i.e. loss of manufacturing jobs which provided most of the employment in the area. As a result, there are a number of economically depressed areas.
In many ways, I see this venture as being a hybrid of a non-profit and a for-profit business. The venture will concern itself with sustainable development of the community, as well as being partially dependent upon the financial support of its members and grantmakers in the short term. The ultimate goal of this venture will be to acquire rental properties which I will then rent out to "income qualified households" --- a process which will likely be done in house, basing the rent of roughly 30% of a household's income (per the legal understanding of affordable housing), in addition to various other services which could be offered, (assisting families with Section 8 applications).
My business idea has two stages:
Stage 1 -- Develop relationships with members of the city and those in foundations which I will later appeal to for grant money. In this stage, I will work to primarily raise capital through seeking grants. This will be difficult, however, as I intend on create an LLC, and most grant making organizations limit their funding to non-profits. I have considered creating a non-profit, but the organizational difficulties of creating a board, additional legal paperwork, etc. seem to be a large start up cost for what I am wanting to do; moreover, I would like to have a greater financial stake in this venture.
Within stage 1, I will be working to organize the community, providing outlets for community voices and engagement. However, more of my focus will be in the creation of opportunities for college aged students. I have been in the process of forming relationships with other organizations which would allow opportunities for internships for students from disadvantaged neighborhoods. Secondly, I envision creating some small scholarship to assist with higher education attainment.
In all parts of this initial stage, my primary objective will be to 1) gain community support, 2) grow the influence and recognition of my brand within the local communities.
I believe that these two objectives are important to continue to stage 2 of my business. Moving to the second stage will be dependent upon raising capital/support to acquire my first property.
Moving into stage 2, I am hoping that I will have community support and developed relationships with key city/county officials which will allow me to purchase a distressed property; or to have acquired grants and private donations which will allow me to purchase a property and make needed repairs.
Once the property is obtained, stage 2 will concern itself with purchasing and developing more properties, as well as developing a series of programs targeted towards undeserved families.
I wanted to get your opinions on a thought that I had been considering in recent months so that I can better refine my business plan.
I should start with my own professional background: I have worked within a non-profit, affordable housing development for a few years. In that time, I have gained quite a bit of experience in housing pre development, grants, relationship building, etc.
I would like to start my own business in community renewal of my home town. This town has a number of distressed properties and has been heavily hit by capital flight, i.e. loss of manufacturing jobs which provided most of the employment in the area. As a result, there are a number of economically depressed areas.
In many ways, I see this venture as being a hybrid of a non-profit and a for-profit business. The venture will concern itself with sustainable development of the community, as well as being partially dependent upon the financial support of its members and grantmakers in the short term. The ultimate goal of this venture will be to acquire rental properties which I will then rent out to "income qualified households" --- a process which will likely be done in house, basing the rent of roughly 30% of a household's income (per the legal understanding of affordable housing), in addition to various other services which could be offered, (assisting families with Section 8 applications).
My business idea has two stages:
Stage 1 -- Develop relationships with members of the city and those in foundations which I will later appeal to for grant money. In this stage, I will work to primarily raise capital through seeking grants. This will be difficult, however, as I intend on create an LLC, and most grant making organizations limit their funding to non-profits. I have considered creating a non-profit, but the organizational difficulties of creating a board, additional legal paperwork, etc. seem to be a large start up cost for what I am wanting to do; moreover, I would like to have a greater financial stake in this venture.
Within stage 1, I will be working to organize the community, providing outlets for community voices and engagement. However, more of my focus will be in the creation of opportunities for college aged students. I have been in the process of forming relationships with other organizations which would allow opportunities for internships for students from disadvantaged neighborhoods. Secondly, I envision creating some small scholarship to assist with higher education attainment.
In all parts of this initial stage, my primary objective will be to 1) gain community support, 2) grow the influence and recognition of my brand within the local communities.
I believe that these two objectives are important to continue to stage 2 of my business. Moving to the second stage will be dependent upon raising capital/support to acquire my first property.
Moving into stage 2, I am hoping that I will have community support and developed relationships with key city/county officials which will allow me to purchase a distressed property; or to have acquired grants and private donations which will allow me to purchase a property and make needed repairs.
Once the property is obtained, stage 2 will concern itself with purchasing and developing more properties, as well as developing a series of programs targeted towards undeserved families.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire