7 Steps To Building A Green Business
Article Written By: Emma Grace Brown
You Can Learn More About Emma Here ==> https://emmagracebrown.com.
Having a green business can help clean our world from the many pollutants depleting it. For example, plastics flooding the sea, or the chemicals used in growing and preserving our food.
Here, we walk you through the practical, logical steps you can take to make your very own green business:
1.) Figure Out What Going Green Means For You
First, you should have some insight into what going green means for a business in your industry. It’s easier for some businesses to go green than others. The investment, roadblocks, know-how, and expertise needed will depend on the nature of your work, essentially. For instance, office-based businesses have an easier time going green than, say, businesses engaged in manufacturing physical goods that produce a lot of waste.
According to UpCounsel, an eco-friendly business doesn’t negatively impact the environment, community, or economy. You need to build a business with healthy, no-toxic work processes.
2.) Take Inspiration & Ideas From Successful Green Businesses
Fortunately, many businesses have been there and done that. You can take inspiration from their successes and follow in their footsteps. A great example worth mentioning is HP (Hewlett Packard). The IT giant, best known for software and computer services, recycles more than 1 million bottles every day, produces paper with zero deforestation, and has salvaged over 875 million HP ink cartridges for reuse to date.
You can research sustainability trends in your industry for inspiration. Some examples are going plastic free, limiting water use, preferring telecommuting to save fuel, promoting recycling, and making use of natural light.
3.) Secure Extra Funds To Invest In Your Eco-Friendliness
Sustainability isn’t free. While more businesses are becoming eco-conscious, the number of “traditional” businesses still far outweighs eco-friendly ones. You will have difficulty finding eco-friendly partners, be they suppliers, investors, or similar. You will likely have to spend extra resources on setting up a green supply chain – and for experimentation and research.
You can choose to secure funds through investors, banks, and, possibly, grants. The last option is the best one because it comes with no strings attached (mostly). Depending on the nature of your business, you may qualify for several. Chron offers a suitable list you can consult. The Green Jobs Innovation Grants, for instance, funds worker training in essential green skills.
4.) Make A Green Business Blueprint
Creating a “greenprint” or a green business plan will allow you to get your eco-friendly logistics in order. A typical business plan is a document that details considerations like market demand, customer profile, funding and financials, and business goals in general. With a green business blueprint, you can additionally focus on your eco-friendly strategy.
Some green considerations to include are your vision, local eco-friendly conditions, available funding, existing business processes, and overall sustainability strategy. You can also come up with plans to get around challenges related to sustainability. Some typical sustainability challenges are resistance to change among employees, lack of eco-friendly sources, and lack of demand in the market.
5.) Make Sustainability A Defining Trait Of Your Company & Culture
You are more likely to successfully make the shift to eco-friendliness if you make sustainability a part of your company in a material sense. You can do this by making your workspace eco-friendly, instituting green policies, and promoting sustainability through your company values. Some ways to make your workspace greener are using more plants, recycling, adding more natural lighting, using eco-friendly paint, and offering telecommute options.
Making sustainability a part of your company culture through education and communication is essential. Primarily, it gets your employees on board with the whole concept and also attracts new employees who care about eco-friendliness. It affects customer perception, too – they see you as a company that cares.
6.) Gauge & Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Your business consists of multiple processes that work together, from product development to after-sales and marketing. Every process has its carbon footprint. You can assess the exact amount by taking a look at individual pollution or sustainability metrics. Some examples of key metrics are water use, electricity use, and waste produced.
When you know your carbon footprint, you can take steps to reduce it and clean up your business. Every little effort counts. For instance, you can switch to renewable energy or have solar panels installed – or both. Also, instead of having in-house IT infrastructure, you can access remote servers remotely via the cloud, which is a big resource saver.
7.) Market Your Green Nature
Marketing your green initiatives or transformation is critical to success. You need to find customers who care about sustainability and are willing to support your business. The marketing also affects other stakeholders – your employees internally and your suppliers and investors externally. You will be more able to attract positive attention with green marketing.
A good way to get started is through Facebook advertisements. You can make them quickly, they reach many people, and they don’t involve printed material. You can design your own ads using a Facebook ads maker, which you can then customize to include your own brandings – such as logo, fonts, and colors.
Content marketing is a powerful tool for businesses of all kinds, including those that are focused on being eco-friendly. By producing thought-provoking, high-quality content on your website or blog, you can reach more potential customers and build trust with existing clients. This helps to position your brand as an authority in the green space, making it easier for customers to decide to do business with you over your competitors. Click here to gain more knowledge about content marketing strategies.
Conclusion
Building a green business isn’t as hard as you think. Granted, there are some challenges to navigate, but you can overcome them through research, experimentation, and entrepreneurial grit. Round off your efforts with a green marketing campaign that uses Facebook and content marketing to raise your profile and secure stakeholder buy-in.
Image via Unsplash
To learn more about Emma, please feel free to visit her website at: https://emmagracebrown.com.