I realized a while ago that in my whole career I’ve never worked for a for-profit corporation.
Recently I’ve been wondering if non-profit corporations could succeed in areas typically dominated by for-profit corporations. I’m in the U.S.
There are certainly plenty of non-profits functioning, employing people, and providing services to the public. Schools, Hospitals, public radio & TV, etc. But what areas are there where non-profits could exist and survive where they don’t currently?
The way I see it, the problem is investors creating an obligation to return a profit. The function of investors is to mitigate risk or give runway to get up and running. Good fits would be things that basically can’t fail because they are non-optional. Insurance, utilities, healthcare — basically the things that we theoretically heavily regulate but is undercut by regulatory capture.
Other things that don’t require a big up front investment. Services. Grocers. Almost everyone needs to buy food and fix plumbing and electrical and vehicle issues — though the investment in tooling and training could be prohibitive in some cases.
Another thought would be instead of private investors taking on the risk and ultimately socializing loss anyway, a public investment program might be preferable to a private one in any event. It’s not really all that different from how municipalities underwrite costs for businesses now through tax incentives or even paying for construction of infrastructure that is then leased to private industry for some ridiculous length of time. I’ve seen toll roads function that way and I’d rather see a non-profit or citizens reap the rewards of that investment than some billionaire-owned investment firm.