Green Business

John Grant is an optimist by nature and the author of the book The Green Marketing Manifesto. He consults companies on going green in the areas of marketing and innovation. His best advice to a business person who asks the question, “where do I start” is simply one word – innovation. Mr.Grant asks companies, what is the one thing that is five or ten years ahead of everyone else and moving things forward? Everything else will fall into place if one focuses on the advancement of products and services. By jumping in fearlessly, businesses can immediately begin the transition to becoming a greener company. Mr.Grant also believes businesses are making mistakes by telling the public just how many wonderful things they are doing to help the environment. Allowing your company’s green products or services speak for itself is a much more effective way to gain credibility in the green economy.

Obviously, many small businesses that want to transition to becoming a green business don’t have the one magic bullet, but what they do have is the passion to make small and subtle changes that will positively impact the environment and hopefully their company’s bottom line.

Jim Haywood is the Environment Director for an organization called Business In The Community. Working through the Prince’s May Day Network, Mr.Haywood  leads a small team that focuses on climate change. His organization  tries to get businesses to commit to take action against harming the environment by working with business to show how they impact society and the environment.

Jim believes that in the United Kingdom, businesses contribute to at least 40% of the emissions that leads to negative climate changes.

The Prince’s May Day Network, was founded by the Prince of Wales in 2007. Over 1300 business have signed up and are committed to running their business in a environmentally friendly way. These businesses have also committed to spread the word with regards to the urgency of climate change, and to empower the businesses community as well as individuals to show them that everyone can make a difference.

Mr.Haywood accomplishes these goals by empowering employees of these businesses to make a difference both at home and at work, including working with their supply chain – this is how one person can effect the actions of many within the business community. The next step is to look at the customers and ask how they can provide services and products to live in a more environmentally friendy way. Mr.Haywood stresses that one of the most important things businesses can do is to show leadership.

Being a sustainable company can mean many things, from treating your employees with respect and paying them a fair wage to using organic and recycled materials, all the way to producing your product in a building that leaves small or zero emissions. Turning Point Brewery in Vancouver, BC, Canada claims to be Canada’s first sustainable brewery. They produce a Belgian Style amber beer at their state-of-the-art brewery. The things that makes their brewery so unique is the fact that it is completely powered by a wind turbine. The following video shows the installation of the wind turbine at the brewery. Although handcrafted, the beer isn’t made with organic ingredients but they do say that they use less energy, conserve water and of course, they generate power with their wind turbine.

When a single individual takes the initiative to start a business they must be applauded and if that person starts a green business they should be recognized. David Miller is a man from Halifax who sees an opportunity for Canadian companies that want to do green business in the United States but don’t know how to start, well, Mr.Miller saw an opportunity and he wants everyone to know that HE is where to start. Mr. Miller opened a consulting business in the United States, suburban Washington, DC, and is addressing an unfilled need in helping businesses in the Atlantic provinces of Canada that want to step into green business in America.

The Obama administration has set aside tens of billions of dollars for the green initiative and many businesses, those inside and outside of America, see incredible opportunities to prosper because of it. Mr.Miller is bridging the gap between those business that want to adopt a green approach to create new markets and revenue streams, but don’t know where to start. Mr.Miller is that bridge and will undoubtedly thrive because of it. He sees an untapped market and set up an office to help the numerous Maritime provinces who want to be participate in one of the most exciting times in business history.

It’s one thing for a large company to slowly transition into a becoming a ‘greener’ business,  but it is an entirely different thing for a single person to move a couple of thousand miles away into another country and set up a business solely based on the belief of the potential of  the green economy. Mr.Miller is putting all of his eggs on one basket. Some people say ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’ while others, highly successful individuals, say ‘put all your eggs in one basket, then watch that basket’. This is exactly what Mr.Miller is doing and he is betting heavily on the green economy. We, at Green Business, wish Mr.Miller all of the success in the world. We hope his vision and business savvy create wealth beyond his wildest dreams.  Those who take these kinds of risks need to be rewarded.

Small businesses in North Carolina – listen up! The North Carolina Green Business Fund is open for business and wants to give away individual grants of up to $500,000, totaling more than $8,000,000, funded by the Recovery Act. The money will be awarded to entrepreneurial, job creating endeavors in the state of North Carolina. This fund is directed at small and medium-sized businesses with 100 or fewer employees. The proposals must keep or create jobs in areas of the state that are having a difficult time economically. The proposal must fulfil at least one of the following criteria: Save energy, install or generate renewable energy, reduce green house gases, produce alternative fuels, promote building energy efficiency.

These are just a few of the areas that are keys to being successful in your proposal. More information can be found at the NC Green Business Fund website. The pre-proposal deadline is January 19th, 2010, so get cracking and get some of the grant money that you deserve to further develop your business. This is a wonderful opportunity for small green businesses to grow in the green economy. Even if you don’t think you have a chance to get a grant, read all of the site’s documents, you never know.

People always ask me to show them a great example of a green business and now I think I have found the perfect green business model. I was in total shock when I watched the following video because it really encompasses everything that a true green business is.

Two University students gave up lucrative careers in finance to start a business based on sustainability. They grow gourmet mushrooms from used coffee grounds – how amazing is that?  The company’s name is BTTR Ventures and they operate out of Fresno, California. The company’s name is pronounced ‘better’ and it stands for ‘back to the roots’. Its founders, Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora, parlayed their love of business and the environment into a thriving green business that already has grocery giant Whole Foods as a client.

Andrew Winston is interviewed by Harvard Business Publishing on green recovery. He offers some amazing tips to green your business, and by doing so, becoming more efficient and profitable- being innovative to cut costs.  By focusing on getting ‘greener’ we can actually speed up economic recovery. A company can become more efficient by taking a new path with big chunks of their operations. How does a business become greener? One way is to make their trucks more efficient. Also using Information technology and changing their distribution, fleet, and making LED lighting products the norm.

Look for innovation in any and all ways. In the end the goal is sustainability. A specific example mentioned is how Walmart made two innovations. They updated their trucks as well as training their drivers to be more efficient behind the wheel. Companies must make sustainability  a part of the normal work day.

Mr. Winston says invest in yourself and in your company in these ways and you will surely become a green and more profitable business.

1. Set aside time: Ask your employees ‘how can we be more efficient? How can we get greener? Brainstorm. By becoming greener you might become more profitable. Less waste+More green=Less financial waste.

2. Set aside money: Put money into research and development, money that goes strictly to green projects.

3. Awards and incentives: The ways companies normally get people to do things.

One of our goals at Green Business is to showcase wonderful people and the impact they are having in the field of green business, and to offer inspiration and perhaps advice to those who are seeking to get into a similar vocation. Maybe you want to help the environment, but you also have the desire to start a business – well, Maggie Peters, the amazing person in the following video, has merged both areas seamlessly.

As you can see from the video, its star isn’t wearing a business power suit, but she does have her MBA. She has remained true to her vision and discovered the key to personal, ethical and financial success – a balance that many environmentalists find difficult to find. The key here is the fact that she did not sacrifice money for ethics or ethics for money. Some people foolishly believe that you cannot have both, ethics and money. Maggie is proof that you can have both – take her lead. We salute Maggie!!

Studying at the Monterey Institute, she believes that she was provided with the tools, knowledge and the skills to achieve the things she so desperately wants companies to strive towards. If you want to study green business in school, this video is a great showcase of what you can do if you decide to get a ‘green’ MBA. Maggie mentions the green jobs that might be if interest to her, they include being a Sustainability Coordinator or a Corporate Sustainability Officer in a corporation that focuses not just on their financial bottom line, or their social and environmental impact within their own community, but one that really focuses further and stretches their minds beyond what they can see to future generations and development projects in other countries.

As solar energy gains popularity in providing electricity to businesses, it also is becoming more popular with home owners, as shown in the following video. Solar panel installers has emerged as a new and important job within the green technology movement. Instead of a traditional type of construction job, these construction workers install solar panels on roofs of houses in neighborhoods throughout America. The skill sets are basic, with preference given to those with an electrical background, but this is a niche construction job. As changes happen with the way energy is produced, the off-shoot is the construction side. There is demand here.

Faisal El-Azzouzi is Solar Construction Manager for GRID Alternatives, which is a non-profit organization that provides renewable energy services to lower income families. And just because they are non-profit, it does not mean that all of their workers are volunteers, they also offer jobs to qualified individuals. Their job board is located here. When job hunting, don’t forget to check out large companies like Home Depot, or Canadian Tire in Canada, as these large scale companies look for people to help install solar panels.