For generations, business culture has celebrated independence. Entrepreneurs are often encouraged to rely on their own resources, outwork competitors, and build success through self-reliance. That mindset has helped create countless successful family businesses. Yet according to Howard Brodsky, Co-Founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of The Principle 6 Cooperative, the greatest challenge facing many family businesses today is not a lack of determination. It is scale.
Family businesses continue to play an enormous role in the global economy. Research shows that family-owned companies generate roughly 70% of global GDP and remain among the world's largest employers. At the same time, rapidly evolving technology, rising operational complexity, and growing competitive pressures are changing the environment in which many family businesses operate.
Brodsky believes those changes require a different perspective on what independence actually means. Drawing on decades of experience building member-owned business networks, he argues that family businesses often gain strength when they have access to shared resources while maintaining local ownership and control.
"The idea that every business must solve every challenge alone is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain," Brodsky says. "Family businesses can preserve their independence while gaining access to knowledge, technology, purchasing power, and capabilities that would otherwise be difficult to achieve necessary scale on their own."
That philosophy has shaped much of Brodsky's career. As cofounder and former co-CEO of CCA Global Partners, he helped build one of the world's largest cooperatively owned business networks. He has also received international recognition for advancing cooperative and shared ownership business models, including speaking at the United Nations and receiving the prestigious Rochdale Pioneers Award (considered to be the Nobel prize of cooperatives), a global honor presented by the International Cooperative Alliance to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the cooperative movement. He is the first and only American to receive the award.
Today, Brodsky is applying many of those lessons through The Principle 6 Cooperative, a member-owned cooperative of cooperatives focused on creating shared infrastructure, data, AI-enabled knowledge tools, and collaborative resources that help organizations learn from one another and grow together. The platform is designed to support collaboration while allowing participating organizations to retain their independence.
According to Brodsky, one of the most significant shifts underway involves access to technology. Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a competitive tool across industries, yet many smaller organizations lack the resources needed to fully evaluate, implement, and benefit from emerging technologies on their own.
"Technology is moving at a pace that makes collaboration increasingly valuable," Brodsky explains. "When organizations can share knowledge and learn from one another's experiences, they can make smarter decisions and adapt more effectively."
From his perspective, shared intelligence extends far beyond technology. It can include benchmarking performance, sharing operational best practices, improving purchasing efficiency, accessing specialized expertise, and creating opportunities for collective learning. Those advantages, he says, can help smaller businesses operate with capabilities often associated with much larger organizations while preserving the entrepreneurial culture that makes family businesses unique.
Misunderstandings around shared ownership models can sometimes create hesitation. Brodsky notes that many business leaders don't often associate cooperatives with innovation and business growth. In reality, with over 1 billion members representing over 10% of the world economy, cooperatives are a powerhouse economic model. He frames the concept as a shared ownership business model because it emphasizes both entrepreneurship and collaboration.
The broader cooperative movement itself is far from niche. The Principle 6 Cooperative notes that cooperatives collectively represent over a billion members worldwide and significant economic activity across industries and regions. Yet many organizations continue to operate in relative isolation, limiting opportunities to benefit from the collective knowledge and shared infrastructure that lead to critical scale.
For Brodsky, the conversation ultimately extends beyond individual businesses. Family businesses frequently serve as employers, community anchors, and local economic drivers. Their long-term success can influence the resilience of entire communities.
"The future belongs to organizations that learn how to work together while remaining true to who they are," Brodsky says. "When businesses share knowledge, resources, and opportunities, they create stronger companies, stronger communities, and a stronger economy. Independence and collaboration are not opposing ideas. In many cases, collaboration is what makes independence possible."
