Small Business Marketplace - Consider a Sustainable Business

A Sustainable Business model is the only way to be successful Long Term

A Sustainable Business - How about a Positive Environmental Alternative?

There are many business opportunities and business plans that on first look seem great but may not be a truly sustainable business. A sustainable business is one where you, as the owner can continue to grow and thrive while working for yourself. This means that the business endeavor must fit with not only your temperament, but also skills and interest.

It wouldn't be a great fit if a vegetarian were to open a butcher shop now would it? Or how about a brooding portrait painter with beautiful attention to detail opening a house painting business? With all the focus on "green" or ecologically minded efforts, this might be a consideration. So how about an ecologically focused business?

Try thinking green, as in sustainable business. Wall Street might not exactly have caught onto the concept yet, but it's only a matter of time. Business schools across the country are offering classes in sustainable business practices, and some offer MBAs in the field.

The Presidio School of Management situated in San Francisco's Presidio National Park integrates social and environmental values into every one of its courses.

Being mindful of your impact on society and on the environment is what sustainable business is all about. And MBA programs as well as sustainable business alliances are showing that incorporating environmentally and socially sound practices into a business can also be profitable.

In fact, so many people of all stripes are concerned about preserving our environment right now that using sustainable business practices to run your venture is actually becoming a selling point in itself.

What sorts of businesses are taking care of the bottom line while also helping to ensure that our future society and environment are healthy? All kinds. Farmers employing organic methods, importers who purchase commodities such as coffee from cooperatives that farm in such a way that their environment is not harmed in the process, builders who use materials that are healthy for humans to live and work in and around as well as materials that do not deplete our natural resources. These are just a few. And the list is growing every day.

There's also the whole field of renewable energy. Imagine what life would be like in the U.S. if we weren't so dependent on foreign oil, or any oil for that matter. (The supply going to run out, after all.) There are existing alternatives such as bio diesel and ethanol that are renewable fuels.

Most autos in Brazil run on ethanol. Funny, we don't hear much about that in the news, do we. Their government has a mandate requiring that their fuels contain 25% alcohol. They make their ethanol from corn, which they grow anew each season, and their autos, vans, trucks and other vehicles aren't spewing toxins from oil into the environment day after day. That means they all breather easier than those living in the U.S.
There are many opportunities to establish a fuel-related sustainable business as well as in the solar power and wind power spheres. All it takes is the will to get involved and the ability to communicate to others why your product or service will be more efficient, less expensive, and better for the environment.

Ever consider a business in bio-diesel? It's basically COOKING OIL from local food shops that's easily processed into an environmentally friendly fuel for diesel motors. The benefits are great. The cooking oil can be collected for re-use, the fuel is ecologically friendly and it's actually cheaper to product than diesel fuel from crude oil
How about a restyling plant for specific products? The growth industry today is in the recycling of computers and computer related products. people are making money not only selling the scrap but also in the collection of the old products. And the good news the number of electronic products for recycling is only limited by your imagination.

Lastly, at least for this article, I offer natural landscaping products. If you're the artistic type, wood carvings make wonderful landscaping decorations while also providing a place for creatures to nest. People love different things and are willing to pay big dollars for unique products that are also ecologically sound.

Look round, think long term and you can find all sorts of sustainable resource businesses.

Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey (M3) -- This survey provides broad-based, monthly statistical data on economic conditions in the domestic manufacturing sector. The survey measures current industrial activity and provides an indication of future business trends.

Guarantee -- To assure the performance of a product, usually within specified conditions.

Contact -- A person you have met or been referred to in the course of doing business.

Monthly Retail Trade Survey -- Provides current estimates of sales at retail and food services stores and inventories held by retail stores. The United States Code, Title 13, authorizes this survey and provides for voluntary responses. Companies with one or more establishments that sell merchandise and related services to final consumers. Retail firms provide data on dollar value of retail sales and sales for selected establishments; some firms also provide data on value of end-of-month inventories.

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