On the flip side, there’s a huge trend of folks moving to freelance work. NPR did a piece on it, referring to it as gig work. Some of their guests cited it as a new kind of work culture. My own recent project, Webcraft, was an attempt to move that direction myself.

I found the technical details of running a freelance business to be a hindrance. I didn’t like having to file paperwork declaring the business. I’m currently trying to find a good accountant to help me deal with my taxes. I had to probe around for a long while to find good invoicing and financial tracking tools. I also had to setup my website, email, and other services. The whole time, I was eager to get to work on something.

I believe there’s an excellent opportunity – right now – to start a co-op to support freelancers. Here’s how I see it:

• The co-op is a corporation of some kind. A biz/legal/accountant type person could probably choose the best structure.
• Leadership roles (i.e. CEO) would be filled be “elected” employees. The co-op, at large, would vote to hire/fire leadership staff. The co-op would also vote on pay, benefits, etc.
• The co-op would provide freelancers with key services: health benefits, accounting, legal council, server hosting, etc.
• The co-op members would meet regularly and be active in evolving the overall structure of the company.
• Members could leave/join the co-op at any time.
• Members would perform their normal freelance work with their clients.
• Members would be required to pay some level of fees to the co-op for operation expenses (probably tiered).

The co-op could decide to go so far as to put together community offices or other utilities if the group voted for it. Where most businesses are top down and a CEO makes all of the calls, this company would be flipped upside down. The freelancers themselves would choose the direction of the company.

I’ve been mulling over this idea for the better part of a year. The “employees in charge” notion was actually inspired by a story I heard about such a company existing in a foriegn country. I wish I knew more about it so I could research it. Either way, had I a bit more free time, I’d love to research this whole idea a little further. If this strikes your itnerest, I’d love to chat about it.

EDIT Looks like someone beat me to the punch: http://www.freelancersunion.org/