Co-operative Essentials

• Co-operative enterprises should base their futures on the values that provide them with unique competitive advantage in the market place.

• Co-operatives must learn from the experiences of successful co-ops world over.

• Co-operatives need to repair the image of co-operatives by lobbying well with media, government and public for positive image building of co-operatives so that the co-operative values remain relevant with the change of the economic patterns.

• Co-ops ought to try hard to positioning them as a reliable and preferred brand.

• Marketing slogans for co-operatives must convey the fact that makes co-ops what they are and what investor owned corporations never can be.

• Co-op leaders, prospective leaders and managers, members and the public must be educated and trained to know the standards to which co-ops are expected to perform, and they must also buy into those standards and work willingly to meet them.

• Professionals inducted to manage the operations of the co-operatives must have the required expertise and needed passion with a desire to embrace the values of co-operatives in shouldering their responsibilities.

• Co-operative leadership must groom second line for paving way for the youths to understand the business of co-operative in a business like manner.

• Co-operatives need to have a well focused approach to business, governance and management with clearly defined rules for business and incorporate reasonable and logical concern for community in a feasible and sustainable systemic form.

• Benefits through co-operatives must be showcased to broad base the scope of co-operatives in bringing inclusive growth of economy through enabling policy environment.

• Co-operatives being business organizations with a difference ought to be market focused but member driven with a Kaleidoscope thinking to reach out to any market and serve any community poor or affluent.

• Co-operatives need to have participatory process of decision making with simpler and more transparent systems.

• There is a need have attitudinal change in the mind set of co-operative members and leaders who always treat co-operatives as the institutions needing preferential treatment and support.

• Co-ops need to give serious consideration to scaling up the impact of co-operatives in the sectors / areas they venture in.

• Co-ops should think big and keep their pace with the changes happening in the markets as well as societies.