Perhaps appearing counterintuitive, one business stategy for green businesses during a recession that your business might consider is to invest in expansion.
Expansion can take many forms, of course. There is a great deal of interest in people starting green businesses these days. My personal blog has several pages, and by far and away the most popular is the “Green Business Opportunities” page where people can learn about green franchises, partnerships, consulting or outright purchases.
This may perhaps seem the most counterintuitive of all strategies, however, when taken to its basics, there are sound fundamentals that emerge. Why not make your business an opportunity for other aspiring eco-entrepreneurs? It’s part consulting, part franchising, but without the logistical paperwork mess. With so many people put out of work right now, there are many who are looking for opportunity, and might just pay you to find ways for themselves to make some money doing what you, in essence, do. Mark Dullea, of Drysdales 1-2-3, a Massachusetts green carpet cleaning service, has seen good growth in this part of his business: “Whereas my Boston-area natural carpet cleaning business is more or less holding its own right now, the real growth is occurring in my spin-off business start-up program.”
Scott Cooney is the author of Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw-Hill), and hopes that the green economy will someday just be known as…the economy.
Photo Credit quadrapop on Flickr Creative Commons
About Scott Cooney
I agree with Scott 100% on this. Right now Proforma Simonetta Freelance is hiring independent sales reps and looking to acquire traditional promotional item businesses that don’t have the resources to weather the turn down.
We are also trying to expand our co-branding relationships with non-profits and other organizations, the idea being to increase our exposure as others are reducing theirs.
This is a good time to grow.