I have a question and ask for feedback. Thanks in advance for your professional advice. We have an opportunity to establish a related business off-site, a "country store," in a building we will not own, but lease. Whether the business will be profitable remains to be seen, but our board is committed to making an effort to attract enough patronage to make it viable. To do so, the store will need to experiment with types of merchandise ,etc. We are located in a rural area that currently has no interesting gift shops, except for the museum's in-house one. Our museum is non-profit and has a minimal staff. We are independently audited and accountable to a variety of local and state agencies. Our in-house shop reflects in part our educational mission and exhibition content. Most professionals we have contacted believe we should contract with a for-profit business to operate this store in return for a share of profits, if any. In that way, we will not need to add bookkeeping and sales staff, and the proposed shop could carry merchandise based entirely on market considerations, not the museum's mission. Question: What experience has anyone had with trying to operate a startup business enterprise under the umbrella of a non-profit organization? Is it true that most of the profitable museum shops, restaurants, etc. are leased to semi-independent corporations that pay taxes just like Wal-Mart, with profits going to benefit the museum? Reply offlist if you'd like to [log in to unmask] Thanks Ross Weeks Jr. Historic Crab Orchard Museum & Pioneer Park Tazewell, VA - in Virginia's Blue Ridge Highlands ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).