In a successful cooperative development project, a core group of people must feel a strong need to work together to solve a problem or take advantage of a business opportunity. Working together provides the context for a cooperative business project. What the project will entail must be understood and the group must believe the idea is worth pursuing. Often, a few individuals provide the spark for an idea, but group interaction permits them to hone an idea and develop sufficient interest. When defining a project early on, a group often discovers common interests that a potential cooperative business may be able to address.

Cooperative businesses work best when participants see a mutual benefit from working jointly rather than acting alone to achieve a goal. Members voluntarily choose to belong to a cooperative because they see some potential benefit. When a project can be addressed jointly, potential member interest exists, and benefits are possible, then a cooperative can be the solution.

To clearly define a development project, a number of factors should be included in spelling out the project idea. The project idea should be:

• Leaders and other potential member-users identify the economic need the cooperative might fulfill.
• Understandable (described in such a way that the objective is clear);
• Significant enough to warrant group action;
• Capable of providing economic and/or technical solutions to a problem or opportunity;
• Economically and socially fitting for a group;and
• Considered a reasonable business solution.

When all these elements exist in a project idea, the potential exists for developing a successful cooperative. If any are lacking, the concept should be rethought and the project definition revised before proceeding with the feasibility study steps.

A carefully defined project idea will provide the steering committee and group with a foundation from which to judge the project as it proceeds.

Here is an example of a project idea statement: A member-owned cooperative that will process and market members' soybeans for the farmers of "ABC valley," to meet the area's high demand for soybean meal and soybean byproducts, and to provide strong value-added economic benefits to members.

The group then may provide some key points in addition to an idea statement to further clarify how the project will meet necessary economic, business, and technical factors.