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.
We’re going to be hearing a lot about climate change in the coming months.
All week, the New York Times and others have been running lead stories and editorials about the upcoming climate change conference in Copenhagen in December. It will probably arouse the biggest media clatter about the environment since the Kyoto Protocol was signed. The media focus will not only center on what government’s can do to cut climate change, but on what businesses and citizens can do.
The hyperactive bloggers at HarvardBusiness.org have written a noteworthy post about green priorities in this coming eco-age. Though many businesses and franchises like to promote even the smallest eco-changes they’ve introduced, blogger Auden Schendler posits that companies need to do more - as much as possible - to fight to save the environment.
“Companies that tout their “green” dish detergent, and consumers who buy it, are distracting themselves from the real problem. Climate change is a desperate situation, and we have very little time to implement a solution. Any substantial energy spent on new environmental programs that don’t address climate are actively detrimental because they divert resources from where they’re urgently needed.”
It’s an interesting hard-line approach to what is a global problem that hasn’t gone away despite the downturn in the global economy. We would congratulate franchises for taking strides to protect the environment. There’s always more we can do, of course. Ultimately, we have our own choices to make. I do agree with Schendler that if more businesses stood up and took their concerns about the environment to Capital Hill, more would get done to protect the environment.
A lot of businesses are hyping their green credentials. It will be interesting to see what comes of the green movement in the coming weeks and months.
One franchise sector that’s really taken off over the past few years is the green franchise industry. When you factor in the cost of investment and the risks involved with starting your own business, green franchises emerge as such as an exciting venture because they are clearly positioned to do well in the future.
Green franchises take the innovation of the green sector and match it with the tried-and-true business model of the franchising industry. The relative success of this business marriage has been chronicled in a recent story by Gwen Moran in Entrepreneur. The piece profiles California couple Mike and Deborah Parisi. The Parisi’s were ready to buy their own business, but they wanted to be sure that they were proud of their product and that their franchise helped the community. They settled on a green pizza franchise, Pizza Fusion, and have done so well, they’re considering opening up a second unit. Best of all, they’re delighted with what their success is built upon.
Everyone agrees that green franchises are rising. As Alisa Harrison from the IFA says, “We’re seeing it across the board, from existing franchises that are becoming greener to those who are building their whole concept around being environmentally conscious. The green trend has been growing for about 25 years now, but it has only recently become mainstream.”
The Entrepreneur story rightly points out that potential green franchisees should be wary of franchises that change their colors over night – that is, those that fabricate their green credentials.
Moran concludes: “The key to success in green franchises is to look for verifiable data that a market exists, either through a track record of sector sales or–especially for newer businesses–substantial market research that indicates both a strong customer base and strong demand. Franchisees who protect themselves through such due diligence could very well find themselves with businesses that provide both monetary and socially responsible rewards.”
Take this advice on board and you should find the green franchise for you.
Malcolm Gladwell’s concept of the tipping point has become so ingrained in our cultural consciousness, it barely needs further elaboration. But for those who don’t know, a tipping point describes “the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable”. I mention this because it’s dawned on me that before our very eyes, one franchise sector has attained tipping point status. I’m talking about green franchises.
Over the last few days, the franchising/entrepreneurial blogosphere has been abuzz with talk about green franchises. It started with a Wall Street Journal blog post on Tappening, which questioned if eco-friendliness and business-mindedness could co-exist. After that, the Franchise Sales Blog discussed the popularity of green businesses in suburban Illinois. Then Anita Campbell over at Small Business Trends touched off an interesting conversation when she mentioned that her business is getting greener and greener. Even the King himself weighed in with his own thoughts on the green sector yesterday.
It seems that there is more happening here than simply bloggers aping each other’s content. Green franchises are emerging as one of the true growth sectors in franchising during the economic downturn. While many commentators might have doubted the business world’s ability to stick with the green sector as the recession struck, it seems that green thinking and green business strategies are becoming increasingly cost-effective, and thus increasingly popular.
The real question for entrepreneurs now is this: which green franchise makes the best investment? Franchise Direct recently launched its own green franchise category and there’s a real range of interesting businesses to avail of. Check out these opportunities and start planning for the future today.
Finally, readers, what do you think explains this surge in interest in green franchises?
Green franchises have come along and garnered a lot of buzz in last year or so. Even at a time when economic concerns may be overshadowing entrepreneurs’ desire to save the environment, green franchises have lost none of their luster. Green pizza franchises are even popping up — as the Franchise King recently blogged. The truth is that ecological problems are not going away and the green market still remains an excellent sector for franchisors and franchisees to corner.
Did you know becoming a green franchise is easier than it looks? One franchise in the Franchise Direct network that personifies the green philosophy is Flip Flop Shops, who began franchising a year ago. Buoyed by a novel franchise concept (they’re, not surprisingly, a shop that sells flip-flops), Flip Flop Shops utilise an environmentally-sustainable approach to franchising. They promote products made from recycled products and their shops themselves boast natural cork floors, water-based paints, and more efficient lighting, to name a few things.
“As a new retailer, we want to do a good job of being brand ambassadors for manufacturers,” Darin Kraetsch, CEO of Flip Flop Shops told Franchise Times magazine. “We want to attract people like us, who are proud and passionate about the concept.”
The Franchise Times article also points out other things that franchisees can do to increase sustainability, such as using alternative fuel sources. While Kraetsch admits that going the extra mile to create a more environmentally-sustainable workplace does bring extra costs, it has a number of stirring upsides, including access to the growing ‘green’ market. For executives like Darin Kraetsch, a sustainable approach to business pays for itself.
Many entrepreneurs and small-business people are beginning to think similarly.
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