You’ve met once, determined how often the club is going to meet, how many members there are, and even thought about a name. But share investment clubs aren't quite ready to make their first stock purchase without business management in place. Business management means the election of club officers and how they do what they do, which you must address before you can settle down with a list of interesting stocks to study.

Let’s start by considering those club officers. While all members of share investment clubs have duties and responsibilities they need to fulfill to be members, the officers, or executive, of the club will have greater responsibilities. Yet, without this aspect of business management, the club won’t be able to function. Here are some of the positions that most share investment clubs have:

President: The president can also be known as the presiding partner.  The president decides when the next meeting is going to take place (usually done with a mutual vote but made official by the president), presides over the meetings, and plans activities (usually done with a mutual decision by other members).

Vice president: The vice president can also be known as the assistant presiding partner.  The vice president is the member that stands in when the president is absent or needs help with presidential duties.  The vice president often plans the educational section of club meetings.

Treasurer: The treasurer is also known as the financial partner.  The treasurer deals with the brokerage firm and does the buying and selling of stock.  The treasurer is also responsible for keeping accurate records of the financial holdings of the club, the financial contributions of each of the members, and any other records that concern themselves with money matters.

Secretary: The secretary is also known as the recording partner.  The secretary is responsible for keeping the minutes of each meeting, giving out copies of the minutes of past meetings to all members, and informing members of upcoming meetings. 

Education officer: Many clubs have what is known as an education officer.  This person is responsible for organizing educational activities such as guest speakers, reading materials, field trips, and presentations that have to do with investing.

Once the club’s executive is in place, you can move on to other business management details that need to be in place for the club to operate - this is crucial for share investment clubs to address collectively as transparency at this level ensures members see what they are paying toward. This includes registering the club, by name, as a business with the state and applying for a tax ID number. When the paperwork returns, and the ID number is assigned, the Secretary should make sure that the paperwork is filed and that members of the club have access to the information. All-important documents are part of the Secretaries responsibility, including member information and records of stock purchases, etc.

With the tax ID number the Treasurer can open a checking account for the club, as well as a brokerage account. The Treasurer, and club members, should also decide on the type of accounting system (or accounting software) the club intends to use, and get it started - accounting systems drive the business management aspect of share investment clubs forward in terms of basic organization.

If your investment club is going to use other types of software to keep track of stocks, profits, expenses, and other administrative information it should be purchased and installed. Remember that whenever more than one member of share investment clubs are going to use the software program on their computer multiple copies or licenses of the software need to be purchased.

Share investment clubs should always also consider educational programs. If you have elected an Education Officer, they can take the lead here. If not, the Vice President should get things rolling. Since a large part of the investment club is about studying the stock market, the education program you decide on will have a great impact on the experience of the club and will hopefully boost the business management side of your investment club as well.