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The greening of the American economy is underway. Up and down the country, we are seeing the gradual embrace of environmentally-friendly products and materials. What green entrepreneurs are waiting for is the moment when green consumerism reaches the mainstream. At the moment, many are hard at work trying to explode the myth that green products are simply a niche.

“The real question is ‘How does green equal better?’” says Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com and author of Strategies for the Green Economy told Entrepreneur magazine recently. “That is, how does making the green choice become a no-brainer, because it’s just clearly the better choice. You buy the green car because it’s more fun to drive or a better deal. Until it’s about that, it’s going to be a niche audience.”

We are constantly trying to sketch out where the next big business opportunities will come from on this blog. While there is no denying the strength of the green sector, we are still far away from the day a driver selects a new electric automobile over a gas-guzzler because it provides better fuel efficiency. But the Entrepreneur story has great insight from the businesses that are driving green business into the mainstream.

“The challenge facing green-product companies going mainstream is how to motivate consumers to shop value and not simply price. The key is to define and present both the product and green value in one marketing message,” says David Mleczko, co-founder of Signature Green Marketing, in the piece.

The story identifies the cleaning sector as one of the biggest areas for green growth. Demand is growing for more ethical cleaning products. At Franchise Direct alone, we are seeing a huge upsurge in cleaners targeting the green sector. The story also makes a point of noting that Walmart is doing a lot to improve its carbon footprint and has even been publishing its own sustainability index. So the stars are definitely aligning for the green industry.

And probably more than other industry, green franchises make a lot of sense for entrepreneurs, as they offer a direct path to success, without the unpredictability of a start-up.

No generation in American history is quite as celebrated as the Baby Boomers. They might not have changed the world like they promised in 1969, but by being the first generation to grow up with pop culture, it seemed like they would never get old. But, lo and behold, this year, Baby Boomers find themselves on the verge of the golden years. The question that many people exploring business opportunities are considering right now is this: how can I best service this huge demographic?

Anyone launching a business will want to be targeting a very defined market. But why not pitch that tent as large as possible? That is the argument of Susan Ward, who outlined ten possible areas to succeed with business via the baby boomer sector.

Some proposals are not surprising and have been proposed before on this blog. For instance, health and senior care franchises are only going to get more popular, given America’s rapidly-aging population and the recent rumpus over health care. Equally, fitness franchises stand to do well, as elderly people will need to preserve their health.

One of the most interesting suggestions comes in targeting the pet sector. According to Ward, baby boomers have elevated pets to near-human levels.

Baby boomer pets eat, sleep and do things with their people. They watch TV, they get dressed up, they have their own friends and their own doctors. They are a multi-million dollar industry!

It makes sense, too. Their children have grown up long ago, and pets fill that void. All in all, it’s a demographic that every entrepreneur needs to consider. There are many opportunities to take advantage of with this sector.

Home is where the heart is. And what is true for family life is also true in the business world these days.

A few weeks ago, Franchise Direct published a report on the home–based business sector. The report found that home-based businesses and franchises comprise some of the best opportunities out there in the current business environment. That statement is backed up by new statistics, as well as a new story in Business Week magazine that declares the rise of the ‘homepreneur’.

The Business Week story states that there are 6.6 million home-based businesses in America which account for more than 50% of a person’s income. The story also states that there are over 13 million people employed in the home-based sector, about a million more employees than the home-based sector.

And what’s driving the success of the home-based sector?

“First, technology has made it easier to start and run a business from anywhere. But just as important, there has been a change of consciousness in the business world to recognize home-based enterprises as legitimate.”

Our report makes many of the same points. The work place has evolved immensely over the last two decades and it is safe to say that it is seen by many as the future of business.

We’ve seen a lot of interesting knock-on’s for the franchising sector in the wake of the recession. The business landscape has changed so completely, but few could predict the number of opportunities that would open up for select franchise industries. Education franchises are noting mixed results.

In this case, we are specifically referring to test prep businesses. Empirical evidence states that students are staying in college longer and more people are seeking extra degrees, either to reskill themselves, take a break from the recession, or both. Given this reality, one assumes test prep franchises will be noting decent growth, as these tests gain importance.

An interesting story from the Reno Gazette-Journal says yes and no. While a traditional company like Huntington Test Center has seen a dip in numbers attending its course, PowerScore, an online teaching resource, has watched its profits rise.

“We’re seeing a lot of enrollment on classes that are on the less expensive end,” PowerScore CEO Dave Killoran said. “Through the first half of the year our SAT prep enrollment was up about 38 percent over the same period last year. ACT enrollment has been up in the range of 20 percent this year.”

The moral for entrepreneurs considering this educational franchise sector is this: people need this service more and more, but they are very limited with what they can pay. Try to find a franchise that blends affordability with quality and you should have a top business opportunity.

Following on from posts last week about both Dina Dwyer-Owens on Capitol Hill and Barack Obama’s small business initiatives, we thought we’d stay inside the Beltway for one more post.

Matthew Shay, head of the IFA, was recently in Washington himself, discussing the state of the Small Business sector with members of the House Small Business Committee.

There’s a lot of information to mull over in this video and we recommend you take a look at it.

EDIT: After posting yesterday, we found this interesting article on the Blue MauMau site, which details the various lobbying of the IFA in Washington over the last 12 months.  It’s quite extensive:

• Oct 14, 2009: IFA’s CEO and President Matt Shay gives testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives, Small Business Committee on the need to free up capital for franchising systems
• Sep 30, 2009: Dina Dwyer Owens, CEO of franchising firm The Dwyer Group and this year’s chairwoman of the IFA, gives testimony (see video) to the U.S. House of Representatives, Small Business Committee asking for the perpetual extension of expiring tax reductions such as the death tax. She also asked for a tax credit for veterans buying franchises.
• Sep 10, 2009: IFA advertises on the impact of the credit crunch. The ad was placed during public affairs conference
• Jul 23, 2009: IFA leaders meet with the Treasury, Federal Bank and Small Business Administration
• July 16, 2009: Matt Shay appears on Fox Business News
• A leader of the Great American Cookie Independent Franchisee Association and a franchisee, Lawrence “Doc” Cohen testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Committee that the SBA needed to improve its small business financing programs
• Jan 28, 2009: IFA sends a letter to the SBA on the need to not cap lenders ability to finance “goodwill” at $250,000
• Jan 22, 2009: IFA attends the U.S. Conference of Mayors and pitches the importance of franchising to the economic development of their municipalities
• Jan 14, 2009: IFA urges Congress to take steps to increase small business access to credit
• Dec 23, 2008: The IFA urges Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to use the Troubled Assets Relief Program to improve small business loans

It’s clear that those in the corridors of power are beginning to take notice of concerns of small business owners.  The IFA are partly to thank for this shift. Thanks to Blue MauMau for their top reporting here.