8 Things To Consider When Starting Your Sustainable Business

Julie Starr • May 19, 2020



If you’re thinking of starting a sustainable business but you don’t know where to begin then don’t worry, you have definitely come to the right place. Whether you have had your idea for years or it’s something that has only just come to you, you need to be sure you’re making the right decision. Whilst it may be overwhelming, there are lots of questions you can ask yourself to ensure exactly that. From deciding on what your business is going to be doing to working out how it’s going to make a profit in a sustainable way, the more questions you’re asking yourself the better. With that in mind, here are 8 things to consider when starting your sustainable busines s:

What Will Your Business Be Doing?

One of the first things you need to consider is what your business is going to be doing, as this will be the basis of your journey as an entrepreneur. Whether you’re going to be offering sustainably made products or you have developed an app that encourages people to think about their energy consumption, you need to clearly plan out exactly what it is your business is going to be doing. The sooner you do this, the easier the process will be.

How Will It Be Sustainable?

When thinking about your business and what they’re going to be doing, you also need to detail how it’s going to be sustainable. Although this will be obvious to you, it may be something you have to explain during pitches to potential investors or buyers.

The best way to approach this, of course, is to come up with a thirty-second elevator pitch that details what your business does and how it helps the environment. For a guide to putting together an elevator pitch , you can visit this site here.

What Are Your Overall Business Values?

Another important thing to consider is your values, as these will help to define your business. Although it may take some time to perfect them, thinking about what you will offer your customers is incredibly important. For a guide to putting together your business’ values , you can visit this handy site here.

How Will Your Business Make A Profit In A Sustainable Way?

When it comes to running a sustainable business, often it’s a little harder to make a profit. Whether you’re paying more for materials or you have a smaller target audience, you need to think about exactly how your business is going to be making a profit and whether or not it’s something you can sustain.

Have You Considered Your Costs?

When it comes to profits, you also need to think about your costs as chances are when you’re running a sustainable business, your costs are going to be much higher. If you don’t know what your exact costs are going to be right away, it might be worth putting a rough estimate together as you’re finding the best suppliers for your business.

Do You Need To Employ Any Staff?

Another important thing to consider when it comes to starting a sustainable business is whether or not you’re going to need to hire any staff. Although this may not be something you do right away, hiring staff is the perfect way to free up your time to work on business growth. Whether you outsource or bring someone on full-time, you will notice the difference in no time.

If you do need to employ staff, here are 8 Payroll Reports Every Business Manager Needs To Know.

How Will You Promote Your Business To Others?

As you start to launch your business, you need to think about how you’re going to promote it to others. When it comes to sustainability, online is often the best place to start.

What Are Your Targets As A Business?

Finally, you need to think about your targets as a business. Whether you’re looking to make a difference in the world of sustainability or you’re looking to make a profit during your first year, setting goals is a great way to keep you motivated. For a guide to setting goals , you can visit this site here.

With lots of important things to consider before starting a sustainable business, you can be sure you’re doing all that you can to protect the environment at the same time as following your dreams. What else do you need to consider? Did we miss anything off of the list? Let me know your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

Things to Consider When Creating a New Product

By Julie Starr • 04 May, 2024
If you're thinking about creating a new product for your business there's a lot you need to keep at the forefront of your thoughts. When you have a new idea it can be exciting and you want to jump right in and test whether or not it will bring in some much-needed capital into your business. However, before you forge your head you need to put some brakes on your ideas. This is because you're going to need to go through a few steps to make sure that you are not wasting your time. Here's a look at the things you should do when you want to create a new product. Do Market Research Market research is the first thing you're going to need to do. No matter how great the idea you may have, if there is no demand for it then you're wasting your time and your business capital. You want to do market research to see whether people will be willing to buy your product. Once you have validated that there are customers for it you can move on to the next step. Unique Selling Proposition In the next stage of the entire process, you're going to look at the unique selling propositions of your product. How is it different from what is already out there? Why should someone buy it as opposed to another product? You have to make sure that you have some kind of innovative features that are superior in quality that will catch your customers' eyes and get them to reach into their wallets. Product Design and Development The next thing you're going to do is to make sure that you put a design and developmental system in place. This is the only way that you're going to end up with a high-quality product to put on the market. You may have to get other people to assist you or select the employees that are skilled to help create the product. If you have to do the creation of a product that requires a lab, you can use lab facilities that are located in your area. In some cases, you might have to get manufacturing help from outside of the country but with all the communication technology available this should be a breeze. Do a Cost Analysis You're going to need to do a cost analysis of the product that you are creating. You don't want to have to empty your company's piggy bank to create a product. You need to make sure that you are going to make enough of a profit based on what you will be spending to actually create the product in the first place. You don't want to shoot yourself in the foot. It's up to you to make sure that you're going to get back every penny that you are spending and then some. The type of products that you are creating should create a sense of excitement in your existing customer base. You do a survey and find out if excitement is bubbling up in them to see a new product. This can gauge how successful it will be.

6 Effective Ways To Offer Value To Customers

By Julie Starr • 02 May, 2024
Understanding that acquiring new customers can cost up to five times more than retaining them empowers you to make strategic decisions. If you're not offering value to your customers, you won't be able to retain existing ones or attract new ones. In a world where there are seemingly a million customers all offering the same thing, standing out above the noise and offering value to your customers can boost retention. Look At What You Do Well To offer value and identify the reasons why people do business with you or what makes them choose you, take pride in what you do well. Where do you excel? What entices people? What are you most proud of? It is in these areas that you find value and get a better idea of what customers want and expect. Improve Your Brand Image and Perception How people see and perceive your brand will show them what you have to offer and can be a great way to help people connect with your brand. Be clear about who you are and what you represent. It might be that your whole company is built on sustainability, and if people know this and can align with your beliefs, then you can develop a relationship with them based on mutual goals and ideals. Take some time to see what your brand perception is and what message you are putting out there about who you are, and if it doesn't wholly represent you, then you can work on changing this so the message is clear and representative of what the company is about. This can be a great way to offer people value and something another brand provides. Improved Quality The quality of what you should always be top-notch, but you can still go a little extra. It doesn't matter if you're selling whole podcasts, parts, repairs, or services; the level of quality received by the customers for the price point will often play a massive factor in whether or not they will make another purchase or become a regular customer. Even if you don't offer anything else that seems exemplary, if people are more than satisfied with the output level, you can guarantee they will definitely be back. So whether you upgrade the quality of your ingredients for food and drink-based products, offer additional content or support for your services, or outsource to machine shops for fabrication requirements, improve the quality of what you do to give you that edge over competitors. Provide A Positive Experience Value isn't always about something you offer for a price point; it's about the experience as a whole and, oftentimes, the things you don't do. By providing all customers with a positive experience , you can leave a lasting impression in their minds that they really enjoyed their contact with your company. This will help to ensure they come back to you time and again, feeling they have received a good service and this is of value to them. Many customers want to know their business is appreciated, and you can do this by ensuring that each and every interaction with your company is a smooth, positive one that requires little to no effort with a good payoff at the end of the transaction. Quality Over Price Sure, you can go out there and undercut your competitors, but this tactic isn't always the best, nor does it work for everyone. However, what you can do is emphasize the quality of the product and justify its price point. Even if it's slightly more expensive than your competitors, you can win people over by showing exactly what they're getting for their money and why it's worth its price tag. Don't be tempted to hike the price point up to give it an air of superior quality. You still need to be pricing realistically; however, by focusing on the benefits of the value of what you're offering over the price, you can show people lie in purchasing from you. Educate customers By offering tutorials, demonstrations, trial products or services, FAQs, and practical assistance, you not only offer a good value product or service but also give customers a chance to learn more about you, what you do, what you stand for, and what your company is all about.  This, in turn, along with good customer service and knowledgeable representatives, will offer your customers value as they will be able to understand your product or service better and know you're investing in our product and that you care about their experience. There are many ways to offer value to customers besides discounts or freebies. Any of these options can directly benefit your business and require little outlay.
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