A Different Way to Do Business (That Doesn’t Feel Like a Soul-Sucking Grind)

Let’s be real—capitalism has us out here grinding ourselves into dust while a handful of billionaires hoard resources like they’re playing an apocalyptic survival game we didn’t sign up for.

For small business owners, the pressure is relentless: keep up with the cost of marketing on social media, figure out how to reply to bad reviews from someone who just didn’t vibe with your service, and somehow scale up without losing your ethics (or your mind).

But what if there was another way? What if we could ditch the extractive, winner-takes-all model and build businesses that actually sustain us and our communities?

Enter: the solidarity economy.

So, What Is the Solidarity Economy?

The solidarity economy is a global movement focused on cooperation, mutual aid, and sustainability instead of endless profit. It includes everything from worker co-ops and barter societies to community businesses and non-hierarchical organizations—basically, any economic structure that prioritizes people over profit.

Unlike capitalism, which thrives on competition, solidarity economies are about collective well-being. They recognize that economic systems should support our basic needs, our relationships, and the planet—not just some dude’s stock portfolio.

How Small Businesses Can Participate in the Solidarity Economy

You don’t have to be a massive corporation to make a difference. Small businesses are uniquely positioned to integrate solidarity economy principles into their operations. Here’s how:

1️⃣ Join or Create a Worker-Owned Cooperative

Worker cooperatives ensure that profits, decisions, and power are shared among those actually doing the work—not just funneled to an owner at the top. If you’re a solo business owner, consider cooperative consultancy services where multiple independent professionals collaborate under a shared structure.

💡 Example: The TESA Collective is a worker-owned cooperative that creates games and tools for social justice movements. Instead of traditional profit models, they prioritize economic democracy, living wages, and radical education.

2️⃣ Prioritize Mutual Aid and Community Business Partnerships

Instead of spending thousands on social media advertisement prices, what if you redirected that budget to mutual aid networks? Building relationships with community-based organizations not only keeps resources local but creates real economic resilience.

💡 Example: The Boston Ujima Project created a community-controlled investment fund where local businesses get financing from the community for the community. No exploitative banks required.

3️⃣ Shift Away from Exploitative Growth Models

If capitalism is an infinite treadmill, degrowth economics is stepping off and taking a deep breath. The degrowth movement challenges the idea that businesses must constantly expand and instead promotes purpose-driven businesses that prioritize sustainability over infinite scaling.

💡 Example: Firestorm Books in Asheville, NC, is a cooperative, community-supported bookstore that focuses on radical literature, mutual aid, and anti-capitalist organizing instead of squeezing every dollar out of customers.

4️⃣ Build a Non-Hierarchical Business Structure

Forget corporate ladders—think horizontal networks. Non-hierarchical structures allow employees, freelancers, and community members to share decision-making power rather than following a top-down, authoritarian model.

💡 Example: Cooperation Jackson in Mississippi is building a network of worker co-ops, community land trusts, and sustainable farming projects—all owned and operated collectively by Black and working-class residents.

5️⃣ Offer Alternatives to Traditional Currency: Barter, Sliding Scales, and Community Support Funds

If budget advertising and rising marketing costs are making you want to throw your laptop out the window, consider barter economies and sliding-scale pricing. Offering pay-what-you-can services or swapping goods/services with other businesses can build a more accessible, community-based economy.

💡 Example: Boulder Food Rescue operates on a solidarity-based model—redistributing surplus food to people experiencing food insecurity without requiring proof of need or transactional exchanges.

6️⃣ Move Toward Regenerative, Not Extractive, Business Models

Regenerative capitalism (yes, it’s a thing) focuses on restoring communities and ecosystems rather than extracting from them. Unlike traditional capitalism, where businesses take, regenerative economies aim to give back more than they consume.

💡 Example: The Land Back Movement is working to return stolen land to Indigenous communities while creating sustainable economies based on self-determination and ecological restoration. Small businesses can contribute by prioritizing Indigenous suppliers, reparations-based giving, and community-led land trusts.

So… Is Marketing and Sales the Same in a Solidarity Economy?

Nope! And that’s the point. Traditional sales and marketing tactics are often extractive, prioritizing manipulation over genuine relationship-building. Ethical marketing in a solidarity economy means honest communication, values-driven storytelling, and consent-based sales.

You don’t have to rely on digital marketing without social media or navigate the costs of social media advertising alone—there are alternative strategies that align with your values and build trust rather than prey on urgency and fear.

Ready to Be Part of the Solidarity Economy?

The beauty of solidarity economies is that you don’t have to opt out of capitalism overnight. Small steps—whether that’s building a community business partnership, shifting to cooperative economics, or supporting mutual aid near you—can create real, lasting change.

Instead of constantly worrying about how much social media marketing costs or whether marketing and sales are the same, what if we focused on relationships over transactions, sustainability over scale, and care over competition?

🌿 What’s one way you’re already incorporating solidarity economy principles into your work? Drop it in the comments—I’d love to hear!