Endless Schemes

"My brain, it teems with endless schemes both good and new..."

Holy smokes! My brain is in overdrive! Creative project after creative project just keeps popping into my head. And not small ideas, but big projects that require a ton of research and organization and and and just to get it off the ground!

So the one I've chosen to focus on is opening a non-profit business that will pay people to work in volunteer positions. There are so many unemployed people in the United States right now, and so many non-profits and charities that aren't getting enough volunteers and don't have enough money to hire someone. I believe my idea is a win-win, creating jobs for the community and helping the non-profits/charities.

I'm not entirely sure how to get this off the ground yet. I'm going to need a steady source of funding to make this work, either donations and/or grants. 

I talked to my aunt today, she's had a lot of experience with grant writing, and she gave me three things I need to start with:

1. Write a solid business plan for my idea, which includes all of the research that goes along with that. 
2. Write a short, compelling mission statement for the business.
3. Start searching for foundations that would give a grant to a business like this. 

I'm planning to check with the SBA about small business loans and/or grants for women entrepreneurs. Also planning on contacting SCORE to get counseling about running a non-profit/employment agency.

It occurs to me that Americorps is based on a similar idea, but the "modest living allowance" given to members seems to be less than minimum wage, although to balance that out, housing and medical insurance are provided. I'd like to pay between $8 - $10/hr. ($8 is the California state minimum wage.)

Lots and lots of research to do! I'm so excited!

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May 16th, 2010 - Update

While I still believe this is an awesome win-win idea, when I sit down and think about the reality of running a business such as this, I'm not qualified to run a business like this, and I'm really not interested in doing the necessary work. My idea was based on having someone else do all the actual work. *sigh* Sometimes I let my imagination run away with me. I sincerely hope someone else reads this post, and thinks it's a great idea, and wants to do the work to bring it to life.