Hi everyone, I'm Priyanka Prakash, senior staff writer at Fundera.
Starting an eco-friendly small business is a great way to combine your commitment to
the environment with your entrepreneurship goals.
And as you might hear people say, “green is the new gold.”
We're going to cover seven eco-friendly small business ideas that can quickly start delivering
returns.
Our first eco-friendly small business idea is opening a sustainable restaurant.
Restaurants are definitely one of the most popular types of small businesses across the
board, and eco-friendly restaurants are blowing up across the country.
Examples include Bareburger, the eco-friendly burger joint popular on the East Coast; Root
Down, a wind energy powered restaurant in Denver; and Mixt, a restaurant that serves
up organic salads and sandwiches on the west coast.
To launch your eco-friendly restaurant, work with local farms to source your ingredients,
try offering a variety of vegetarian and vegan dishes, and offer recyclable packaging.
Even small changes, such as offering compostable cutlery, can make a big difference and keep
your customers happy.
Our second eco-friendly small business idea?
Electric scooter rentals, of course.
You've probably seen scooters from Bird and Lime in your home city or places that you
visited.
These California-based companies have raised millions of dollars in venture capital, but
that does not mean that there isn't room for smaller operators.
In fact, 10 electric scooter companies are currently operating in Chicago's scooter pilot
program.
And every time someone uses a scooter, it cuts down on the number of car trips and the
amount of congestion and pollution.
To get started, you need to find a manufacturer of electric scooters that will sell to you.
And start small, in just one town or city.
If you provide great customer service and a safe and fun scooter experience for customers,
you'll soon find yourself expanding to new locations.
Electric scooters not really your speed?
Then take our third eco-friendly small business idea, city bike tours, for a spin—pun intended!
Instead of a gas guzzling tour bus or van, customers will bring their own bike or rent
a bike for the tour.
And if you don't want to rent out bikes yourself, you always have the option to partner up with
a local bicycle shop.
Then, your only job is to offer fun and interesting insights about tourist sites, cultural sites,
and scenic stops.
You can easily advertise these tours on Facebook or promote your business at local events that
attract tourists.
The sky's the limit with city bike tours.
In fact, one company, BikeTours.com, currently operates in three dozen countries.
For the creative greenpreneur, recycle tech is the place to be.
This is our fourth eco-friendly small business idea.
The challenge here is to transform something old and used into something fabulous.
Great examples include California-based Green Toys, a company that produces children's toys
out of recycled milk jugs, and Bionic Yarn, a New York company that turns ocean waste
into apparel and other consumer goods.
In a study by Nielsen, 66% of customers said they're willing to pay more for sustainable
goods, so you can definitely develop a winning business model from recycle tech.
Green cleaning is our fifth eco-friendly small business idea and a pretty easy one to put
into practice with sites like TaskRabbit and Handy.
Launching a home cleaning business is as easy as a few clicks, but how do you stand out
from the hundreds of other people offering the same services in your area?
Easy!
You offer to use environmentally friendly cleaning products.
Green cleaning products avoid the use of toxic chemicals, which can emit compounds into the
air and cause health problems.
And—bonus alert—green cleaning products usually double as kid-friendly and pet-friendly,
so your customers will be happy and come back for more.
Solar panel installation is definitely a business with a bright future.
The solar energy industry is growing at a rate of 50% year over year, and employs more
than double the number of Americans now compared to 2012.
As an installer, this eco-friendly small business idea isn't as capital intensive as solar panel
manufacturing.
In fact, if you're able to establish good connections with wholesale suppliers of solar
panels and tools in your area, you can get a large number of sales leads rather quickly.
Just make sure to check if your state has specific licensing requirements for residential
or commercial solar panel installers.
The Interstate Renewable Energy Council’s website has a list of state licensing requirements.
And we're rounding out our list of the best eco-friendly small business ideas with green
consulting.
Green consulting is a great option for entrepreneurs who want to get involved in sustainability,
but might not have the budget to open a shop or source the product.
With green consulting, your biggest asset is your knowledge.
You get paid to advise other businesses and individuals on how to reduce their carbon
footprint.
Of course, if you're interested in green consulting, make sure you have the knowhow and training
that your customers will expect.
For example, there's a whole network of consultants that help builders, real estate developers,
and construction professionals build environmentally sustainable homes.
All you need to do is find your niche.
And those are our seven latest and greatest eco-friendly small business ideas.
Check out fundera.com/blog for more business ideas and tips on launching and running a
successful small business.
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Thanks for watching, everyone.