Here we look at the business plan for bootstrapping cooperative exchanges. Our aim here is to define more clearly our project aims in writing and to put this forwards to the Unfound Coop incubator support - unfound.coop 
The application requires us to write under the following headings:
- Purpose of the business - Our Governance - Our Service or product - Technology behind the platform - Membership and social value - Key challenges we face
# What is the Purpose of your business? Co-ops have been fixing broken markets for hundreds of years, we want to know how your co-op came to be, what market failures it aims to address and the missions, vision and values you have put in place.
# Governance If you are unincorporated, we would like to learn more about your core founding group. How are you currently organised? Is there a core steering group? How many people are involved? What are their roles and relevant experience? Is there a common vision and aim? What experience do they have of working together?
If you are incorporated or currently trading, tell us more about your governance model (board of directors, number of employees, volunteers etc).
# What is your service or product? What is your business idea? What evidence do you have to demonstrate the business will work? What needs are you trying to address? Evidence could include market research, community support and engagement, a prototype, or successful examples of a similar nature.
# What work have you undertaken to develop the technology behind your platform? We’d like to know if you’ve built and tested a MVP, what challenges occurred and what progress you’ve made. What are your plans to develop this further? What format are you working in (PHP, .NET / C# etc.)?
# Membership and social value? One of the most difficult parts of scaling any business is actually figuring out which channel is the most sustainable for bringing through new customers.
We would like to understand more about your existing or potential members and beneficiaries (customers, employees, local community) and what your user acquisition strategy entails.
Tell us about any member engagement / consultation activities you have undertaken; tell us about how your co-op will create community benefit and social value.
# Name three challenges you are facing that you would like to work through as part of the UnFound programme. We want to make sure the masterclasses and mentor support enable to you to tackle the most pressing challenges and to progress as quickly as possible.
Provide as much detail as possible and be prepared to discuss this at the interview!