6 Steps to Changing the World Through Ecopreneurship in Oberlin, OH

You’re dreaming about starting a business, but you’re concerned that your environmental values may conflict with your desires for entrepreneurship. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the case. With resources from the Oberlin Business Partnership, you can prepare to launch an eco-friendly business! This article will walk you through everything from operating your company sustainably to advertising your products, and provide some advice for completing these tasks successfully.

Get Inspired

Although there is a shift towards eco-friendly and sustainable businesses, starting one can feel like you’re embarking on the road less traveled. Fortunately, there are some great ecopreneurs whose successes can provide both inspiration and learning materials for you as you start your own journey. Even if their businesses have a different focus than yours, you will likely find much value in exploring their websites and business practices. 

Choose a Business Idea

Next, you’ll need to come up with a viable “green” business idea. Luckily, you have no shortage of options! LegalZoom states that there are a large number of eco-friendly business models, such as running a sustainable clothing company, launching a native landscaping business, growing organic herbs, or selling organic beauty and skincare products. Think about your interests, professional experience, and passions, and consider where they intersect.

Startup Costs

It’s normal to feel concerned about startup costs. After all, launching a business does require some initial capital, and you’ll need to account for the increased costs of sustainable goods and carbon-neutral operational strategies. Upcounsel states that you should prepare for expenses like research and product development, legal fees and services, technology, office supplies, and more. In order to manage the high costs of eco-friendly supplies and materials, you can try negotiating with vendors to see if you can secure lower prices.

Minimize Potential Risks

Becoming an entrepreneur will always entail a certain amount of risk compared to getting a 9-to-5 job. However, there are steps you can take in order to reduce your potential risks. For example, it’s a good idea to build up an emergency fund before you start your business. You might also want to launch your business as a side hustle prior to leaving a steady job. That way, you will have a consistent paycheck coming in, and you won’t have to worry about bringing in huge profits during your first year or so.

Hire Marketing Pros

You can market your business without creating paper waste by focusing on digital advertising! But what if you’re not familiar with the basics of digital marketing? Consider hiring remote marketing professionals to handle your promotional strategy. While you can comb through online job platforms for the right candidates, this can be time-consuming. Instead, you could hire a recruiter to source promising candidates for you. 

Green Operations

As an entrepreneur who cares deeply about the environment, you’ll want to ensure that you’re keeping your business operations “green.” You may be interested in powering your business with solar energy, using eco-friendly packaging to ship your products, offering free product repairs or replacements to discourage waste, and giving back to your community through partnerships with environmental nonprofits.

One easy way to reduce your company’s waste is by digitizing your paper records and other key documents. If you want to combine multiple pages, then this PDF merge tool may prove useful. All you need to do is add the pages you want merged into the drop zone, arrange them as you’d like, and select Merge. Then, you can keep this one organized file on your hard drive or in a cloud storage system to access it when you need it. 

One Step Towards a Greener World

Running a green business isn’t necessarily easy - but your efforts will be worth it. You can use your passion for entrepreneurship to change the world. With these tips, you’ll be able to tackle everything from reducing your business’s waste by digitizing records to marketing your company effectively. 

Access even more great resources to help your business grow and thrive in our community by joining the Oberlin Business Partnership.