This paper outlines how the concept of open source guilds was developed through undertaking a pilot action research project with three micro-businesses in the North West of England as co-researchers. The research initially aimed to explore how a virtual guild could enable micro-businesses to move towards
sustainability by creating a community of practice based on open source principles. However, research findings raised the issue of both the business and its community needing to become sustainable. The open source guild addresses this issue by adding the proprietary aspect of the original medieval guilds, enabling a micro-business to defend its core intellectual property while
creating a sustainable community based on shared values that operates both off-and on-line.