IBA, as the premier business brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest, is firmly established as a respected professional service firm in the legal, accounting, banking, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, and financial planning communities.  Periodically, we will post guest blogs from professionals with knowledge to share for the good of owners of privately held companies & family owned businesses. The following blog article has been provided by Lucas Weaver (www.theyolopreneur.com).

The Ecopreneur’s Guide to Launching a Green Business

Launching a “green” business is how you can fight climate change, make a difference, and realize your dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. As a bonus, being sustainable also makes financial sense – there’s an increasing demand for sustainable products and services in the market, reports Brink News. Also, the government is tightening up rules and regulations in a bid to make businesses – new and old – more eco-friendly. Going green from the get-go can work in your favor.

In this mini-guide, IBA offers suggestions on how upcoming business leaders can go “green” and build sustainable, planet-friendly businesses.

Going green involves being eco-friendly tweaks on several levels

First, inform yourself about what going green entails. That way, you’ll have clarity on what you’d need to make your business green. A “sustainable” business does not have a harmful social, economic, and ecological impact. It will involve designing ways of working and sourcing materials that are, if not outright helpful, then at least non-harmful to the planet.

Include green considerations when making a business plan

A business plan is a part of getting your business set up. It helps you outline your goals, finances, market conditions, and more. You can use it to get organized and evaluate the feasibility of your venture. When you create a business plan, include “green” considerations – it will help you implement your sustainability. For instance, setting out green goals, researching trends, mapping out eco-friendly processes, and documenting your vision.

There will be challenges to implementing green initiatives

Like in most things in life, implementing green initiatives is easier said than done. Expect challenges to overcome. For instance, you will have to invest time and energy into researching green alternatives, finding appropriate “green” sources, and maybe consulting with experts. Some of your initiatives may fail or not deliver results as expected, or you may have difficulty locating investors or customers.

Learn from (and be inspired by) the example of green leaders

Countless companies have managed to set out and achieve their green goals – this includes big, well-known corporations. You can learn from their example and imitate some of their more successful projects. For instance, McDonald’s is now increasingly offering food in paper instead of plastic. The soft drink industry in Europe is aiming for 100-percent recycled or renewable plastic by 2030.

Consider creating a green office space

If you’re going to be working from a traditional office or another workspace, make the place as eco-friendly as possible. You could use sustainable stationery, have many plants indoors, have more natural indoor lighting, make use of eco-friendly paint, install solar panels for cleaner energy, and create a well-insulated structure that doesn’t require as much heating.

Include sustainability in your company culture

Having sustainability as a part of your company culture can help keep it a priority and keep you inspired. Furthermore, it can help you attract employees who also care about sustainability. Together, you can implement and initiate many sustainability-related practices. It helps you to project a green image both internally as well as externally.

Reduce your carbon footprint

You may or may not be able to become fully sustainable from the beginning. But you can and should still focus on reducing your carbon footprint – the measure of greenhouse gasses being emitted by your business. How do you assess your carbon footprint? Look at some indicators like energy use, heating method, shipping process, waste, and more. To reduce your carbon footprint, you could allow employees to work from home, for instance – it would save on transportation costs. You could also utilize cloud infrastructure. That way, you wouldn’t have to buy resource-heavy infrastructure and scaling as needed. Research and implement the most high-impact solutions.

Online ads and marketing are the keys to success           

Marketing your business will make or break your success. It’s not enough to be sustainable – you need to show and market your sustainability. That will allow investors, employees, and customers to find you and support you. A good marketing campaign can cement your sustainability in peoples’ minds. So, make use of any and all tools at your disposal. For example, you can find a free online tools that let you create Facebook ads for free. All you have to do is customize a pre-made template with all the elements (graphics, fonts, colors, etc.) that you want to showcase. Then, you can download the image and begin running it on Facebook for millions of people to see.

Conclusion

Going green can be a challenging endeavor. It will involve some serious restructuring, including everything from your marketing campaign to whether your employees can work from home to reduce your carbon footprint. In time, though, you’ll manage to create a business that helps the planet, has an excellent reputation, and is a hit with all your stakeholders.

Image via Unsplash

If you have questions relating to the content of this article, Lucas Weaver would welcome the opportunity to answer them.  Mr. Weaver can be reached at (406) 994-2080 or lucas.weaver@theyolopreneur.com.

IBA, the Pacific Northwest’s premier business brokerage firm since 1975, is available as an information resource to the media, business brokerage, mergers & acquisitions, and real estate communities on subjects relevant to the purchase & sale of privately held companies and family owned businesses.  IBA is recognized as one of the best business brokerage firms in the nation based on its long track record of successfully negotiating “win-win” business sale transactions in environments of full disclosure employing “best practices”.