Nonprofit, For-profit, or Something in Between?
Social entrepreneurs who want to start a new venture quickly confront an important question: What type of legal structure should I create? Should I start a traditional nonprofit, a for-profit, or something in between? This is not a simple question to answer. Join veteran social entrepreneur Jim Fruchterman, founder and CEO of Benetech, as he guides you through the issues you need to consider before choosing an attorney. He emphasizes that a legal structure is simply a tool for accomplishing your goals, and explains that first a social entrepreneur must explore four basic issues: the motivation for starting the venture, the market being targeted, how capital will be raised, and what type of control is wanted. He then reviews the five basic legal structures and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of each. Fruchterman has unique insight into legal structures, having started successful and unsuccessful for-profit and nonprofit ventures.
