In the summer of 1989 I was taking a subway home with some friends
that I co-founded an environmental non-profit with here in Brooklyn. I
remember complaining about how tired I was of having to search and buy
eco products in mail order catalogs (this was pre-internet days).
Basic eco-products like toilet paper made from recycled and non-chlorine bleached paper.
Back
then there were no stores in NYC that sold it. In order to get it, you
had to buy a case via mail order. A case of 96 rolls.
I remember complaining, "What am I going to do with 96 rolls of toilet paper in my small apartment!"
And
that is when it hit me. What about having a retail store that screened
all its products for their environmental impact? The task of researching
and learning about the environmental (and social) issues that go into
making products can overwhelm most customers.
I asked them, "So
what if we created a store that did that for the customer? And you did
not need to buy 96 rolls of something to get it."
At the age of 25, that was the beginning of Earth General, which opened two years later in 1991.
Within
six years Earth General grew to being one of the largest environmental
retail stores in the country with over 3,000 products all screened for
their environmental impact. Things like organic cotton clothing, natural
body care, green cleaning products, recycled office supplies and
stationery, all natural gardening products and so on.
Yet while
our stores were popular in New York City, the concept was a bit ahead of
its time and my investors and I closed them in 1998. Today, 10 years
later, they would probably do quite well.
In fact today, most
things (authentically) "going green" are looking very promising. For
example, one of the mainstream issues on everyone's mind is energy. And
of the many things being developed in the energy sector, one segment to
really watch in the very short term is nanotechnology.
If you are
not familiar with nanotechnology, you need to be, as it looks likely to
be dramatically changing our lives within the next couple of years.
According
the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN) Nanotechnology is the
engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. It is all
about building things and using materials at a very small level. From
this things like new, lighter, yet sturdier materials can be built.
For
example, imagine cars made from materials as light as plastic, yet
sturdier than steel. Lighter materials in our automobiles mean more
energy efficiency, which in turn means more miles per gallon.
For
more about this as well as a sense of the many, many applications
currently being researched in nanotechnology, read "GreenBiz" recent
article, Sweating the Small Stuff: A Market Opportunity.
Still
need convincing that going green is a wise choice? On May 12th, The Wall
Street Journal published an excellent story, Does Being Ethical Pay?
While
the authors found consumers would be willing to pay a premium for
ethical products, they also found consumers would also punish an
unethical company... to a much greater degree (by only buying that
company's products at a steep discount.)
Perhaps it's time for you to consider ramping up your green factor?
10 Steps to Determining Your Green Product / Service:
1.
Pick your passion- what about the environment are you most passionate
about? What do you notice really "burns your bacon"? For help, refer to
January 30th's Power Boost: Top 10 Business Issues into Environmental
Opportunities.
2. Define your target-who is your market? What customer base are you most comfortable serving?
3.
Get in their head-what is the need of that customer base? What are
their pains? Remember to relate this to what you are most passionate
about in the environment (remember my frustration that created Earth
General?)
4. Relief is on the way!-what is your solution to your
target market's pain and to their needs? Especially if they do not even
know they have it! Be clear as possible on this one. Make it really
stand out.
5. Support is the key-who is on your team? What
expertise do you need and who will have it? What are these people's
motivations for working with you (hint: your vision on where you would
like to take your business.)
6. Name the players-who is your
competition? How are you better and/or different? How can you
authentically show your strengths over them? No competition, then your
product/service niche is too small!
7. Be a hurdle jumper-what are
the barriers to entry for competition to join you down the road? Is it
difficult to gain entry? If not, how can you make it difficult or how
will you retain customer loyalty (hint: focus on the green/social impact
of what you do!)
8. Keep clearing those hurdles-how to keep in
front of the barriers to entry. As the market continues to develop, what
new, cool, authentic green (and social) components can you add to the
mix? Stay ahead of the pack. Stay on top of your market research.
9.
It's all in the girth-and how scalable your product/service is. Compare
it with how big you want to go with this idea. Look to balance the two.
It's OK if you want to stay small, just get clear before you take off.
10.
Review your passion-how do you feel about your product/service? If you
feel something is off, you must address it before moving forward. If
not, it will bite you in the butt later. Don't step over this. Find
solutions to what is keeping you from really playing full out.
Once
you've worked through these 10 steps, you should be ready to rock. I'd
love to hear what cool, unreasonable green business you're ready to
launch.
Action Steps for the Week:
Whether you're working for the man or the man is working for you, it might behoove you to examine your green business game plan.
If
you have one, review it again and see what of the 10 steps (from above)
might need some refining. And if you're new to the subject, really take
inventory on how and what to implement into your business.
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