Green Options » start-up

Operating a Small, Sustainable Business: Resources for Ecopreneurs

John Ivanko — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:15:55 +0000

Of the nearly 26 million business firms in the US, about 97 percent have fewer than 20 employees according to the US Small Business Administration. These small businesses account for about half of the non-farm Domestic National Product, or GDP (not that my wife and I agree that this is the best way to measure prosperity and well-being), and generated 60 to 80 percent of the net new jobs over the past decade. While big businesses fired, laid off, downsized and outsourced jobs, in part, to squeeze more profits for shareholders, small businesses added employment.

Entrepreneurial trends are difficult to track and ecopreneurial enterprises even more so. The US Small Business Administration estimates that there are about 4.5 million small businesses with 9 or fewer employees. About three-quarters of all business firms have no employee payroll at all because they’re set up as self-employed persons operating unincorporated businesses. According to the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (microenterpriseworks.org), there are more than 23 million microenterprises (a business with five or fewer employees) in the US, representing 18 percent of all private employment and 87 percent of all businesses. You might be among the 15 million full-time or part-time small office/home office entrepreneurs, or SOHOs, like my wife and I with our diversified small enterprise.

Identified by Dan Pink in Free Agent Nation, there are about 33 million free agents in America. These “job-hopping, tech-savvy, fulfillment seeking, self-reliant, independent” workers represent about 16.5 million soloists, 3.5 million temporary workers (temps) and 13 million microbusinesses that include construction contractors, real estate agents, nannies, direct sales ventures (e.g., Shaklee, shaklee.com), services subcontractors and accountants. Operating as a microbusiness, or what Pink refers to as a “nanocorp” with three employees or less, is both a personal preference and competitive advantage, allowing the owners to downsize to provide incredible adaptability, innovation and creativity. Our sub-chapter S Corporation is a nanocorp committed to ecological restoration and social change while turning a modest profit.

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Don’t Commute, Don’t Pollute

Megan Prusynski — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:46:31 +0000

They say that location is everything. Where your business is located can certainly have a big impact on your operations and your bottom line. It can also have a big impact on the planet.

Many small businesses are born in the most humble of beginnings: a small corner of a bedroom, the kitchen table of an apartment, maybe even a closet. Most expand to off-site offices as they grow, leaving behind the convenience of working from home for the increased visibility and professionalism of a “real office.” But for many types of businesses, having an off-site office is not at all necessary. Especially if much of the work revolves around a computer.

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Sustainability: an Essential Part of Business Planning

Megan Prusynski — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:47:42 +0000

Part of planning a new business venture is figuring out how you will manage day-to-day operations and make decisions. One thing ecopreneurs like myself should consider when faced with a business decision is sustainability. And I don’t just mean the long-term viability of your business (although that’s an important consideration as well). I’m talking about the impact your business decisions will have on the environment.

It’s important for green businesses to be exactly that: green. This means you go the extra mile to examine the environmental consequences of every aspect of your business. That’s a lot of responsibility, so it requires careful consideration every step of the business planning process. Before you even open your doors for business, you should have a plan in place for running your business as sustainably as possible. Green businesses may even want to include a sustainable development section in their business plans.

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What’s in a Name?

Megan Prusynski — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:41:33 +0000

One of the things I struggle the most with in getting my business started is what on earth to call it. The easiest way to name a new business is to use the owner’s name. Well, when your last name is practically unpronounceable, not to mention difficult to spell, that doesn’t seem like the best option.

As soon as I knew I wanted to own my own business, I started thinking of ideas for names. As I traveled for the last half of 2007, I took my business planning notebook along and brainstormed name ideas on long road trips. Now I have a few pages of ideas, and I’m as lost as ever. So I decided to seek out tips on naming a business, and although I haven’t made a final choice yet, I feel like I have a road map to guide my naming process.

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Green Dreams: Starting a Green Graphic Design Business

Megan Prusynski — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:28:33 +0000

Starting a business takes a lot of time, effort, and planning. An entrepreneur has to wear many hats, juggle several tasks at a time, and be incredibly organized. So why would any business owner want to add protecting the environment and saving the planet to their already endless to-do lists? It’s all about the dream.

Which brings me to my dream. It combines two of my favorite things, graphic design and the environment. My goal is to start my own graphic and web design studio that focuses on projects that have a positive impact on people and the environment. This is why I wanted to become a designer in the first place. Good design has the power to communicate in ways that nothing else can. It can educate, open minds, inspire thought, and incite change. An image is truly worth a thousand words, and I want the graphics that I create to have real meaning and a positive message. It would be nice to make a living doing it, too.

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