The project in brief
A small business facing one shock after another
Checkers Inc. is a digital marketing and consulting business based in Amman, and Jordan’s first employee-owned LLC. Since 2018 it has faced a run of crises that put many small firms under.
COVID came first. Then the fallout of October 7 hit the region, our clients and the market. Then the Iran war shook it again.
In the middle of it, a US client took $115,000 in concessions under our contract and never paid $35,000 in direct fees. It hid behind regulatory and legal hurdles, and behind how costly it would be for us to pursue what we were owed.
Owned by the people who do the work
Checkers runs on an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and a democratic model. The people who deliver the work share in its ownership, and each partner has an equal vote. We are working toward registering as a cooperative.
Checkers is also the nucleus of something bigger: the First Youth Cooperative of Jordan, a workers’ cooperative in digital services that we are building around it.
Our ownership model in brief
Any employee with a real role in the business can qualify for the ESOP. It isn’t open to outsiders. Partners share profits equally, and each has an equal vote. Employees who aren’t partners receive bonuses. Day-to-day and company decisions sit with the C-suite, as in any regular company.
How shared ownership carried us through
- A lower cost structure. Shared ownership lowered our costs, so the business could absorb falling revenue.
- Flexibility. Shared ownership gave us room to adjust as work dried up or shifted.
- Resilience. Each shock hurt, but none of them broke the business.
- Core talent that stayed. Our key people stayed and kept our commercial work going through every crisis. They grew, too.
- Money that stayed local. What we earned in those years went directly to our employees and the local community, and helped them get through.
A cooperative identity that wins trust
The cooperative direction became part of how clients see us. It helped bring in clients like IMKAN, and it built trust with our customers.
Not everyone shares the mission
A cooperative only works if its people care about the cooperative. Not everyone does, and not everyone aligns with the culture.
Some people join for the job and ignore the shared endeavour and the impact it has. That attitude can undermine everyone else’s work. We learned to root it out, and to part ways with people who don’t share the mission.
What we’d tell any business considering it
- Shared ownership lowers fixed costs and buys flexibility when revenue drops.
- People who own the outcome stay, and they keep the business running when it matters most.
- A clear identity is a commercial asset. It brings in clients and builds trust.
- Guard the culture. Part ways, early, with anyone who doesn’t care about the mission.
- Where the money goes matters. In hard times, it can keep your people and your community going.
Even a $150,000 hit from one client was survivable, because the people who mattered stayed.
Three questions before you share ownership
- Which of your costs would shrink if your key people shared the upside?
- Who on your team would stay through a bad year, and what would make the rest stay?
- What does your business stand for that a client would choose you for?
For the growth figures behind this story, read Building Checkers Inc. From Scratch, Through Three Crises.
Thinking about shared ownership?
I help founders design ownership and governance models that keep good people and hold up under pressure, from ESOPs to cooperatives.