Hi Vince! Have you considered running BOAS as a for-profit company until you get enough volume to afford going non-profit? I suppose it could help you get more funding
A PFG is not a non-profit. PFG’s are for profits that have charities or philanthropists as owners (and have that governance locked). This is a very important distinction to make.
I know from experience that my current fundraising ask would have been easily fulfilled by for-profit investors, so yes we would be able to grow and become profitable much easier if we were for-profit, but these investors wouldn’t allow me to go back to my PFG model. I have seen multiple PFG’s turn to for-profits and lose their model and impact forever.
The problem with doing this is that once BOAS takes off, the normal for-profit shareholders would have to be bought out for him to “go non-profit”. And the cost to buy them out would far exceed the startup costs. This is why investors often like funding businesses at the ground floor rather than buying shares of businesses that have already captured immense market share.
I also don’t like characterizing businesses like BOAS as “nonprofit”. They are trying to make an obscene profit, like other businesses, but for charities rather than private investors.
Hi Vince! Have you considered running BOAS as a for-profit company until you get enough volume to afford going non-profit? I suppose it could help you get more funding
Hi Tomek,
A PFG is not a non-profit. PFG’s are for profits that have charities or philanthropists as owners (and have that governance locked). This is a very important distinction to make.
I know from experience that my current fundraising ask would have been easily fulfilled by for-profit investors, so yes we would be able to grow and become profitable much easier if we were for-profit, but these investors wouldn’t allow me to go back to my PFG model. I have seen multiple PFG’s turn to for-profits and lose their model and impact forever.
The problem with doing this is that once BOAS takes off, the normal for-profit shareholders would have to be bought out for him to “go non-profit”. And the cost to buy them out would far exceed the startup costs. This is why investors often like funding businesses at the ground floor rather than buying shares of businesses that have already captured immense market share.
I also don’t like characterizing businesses like BOAS as “nonprofit”. They are trying to make an obscene profit, like other businesses, but for charities rather than private investors.