Franchise Thinking

Sustainability is a dirty word to some business owners. Business is a dirty word to some serious sustainability advocates. So whether you say green, sustainable, socially responsible, or environmentally conscious the idea of adding the word in a positive sentence regarding business or industry can seem counterintuitive, but like any important conversation engaging in the conversation brings benefit to all of the participants.
The first book that really helped me understand this was Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way we Make Things, by Michael Braungart. You can’t read his book without thinking seriously about both business and sustainability, and the fact becomes clear that getting people to be serious about being green, means helping them understand the benefit to them. Entrepreneurs are fascinated with creating value and benefiting financially from that value, we just need more entrepreneurs to engage in the green conversation, and believe me, they will find the value. That is what entrepreneurs do!
Anything that forces entrepreneurs to the edge of the conversation, reduces the chances of those win/win moments when incremental progress becomes exponential. Interest in green oriented businesses and franchises has skyrocketed. One concept that has seriously caught the attention of those interested in business is that of retrofitting LED lighting into existing spaces. Incandescent light is expensive and energy consuming. (Notice how I put a business word in and a sustainability word?) Compact florescent bulbs are more energy efficient, and less expensive to operate, but contain mercury. LED lighting hasn’t really been a viable option for years, but beginning sometime around 2009 that began to change.
One franchise opportunity that has taken this to the masses is LED Source. LED Source is a franchise that provides the expertise, exceptional buying power and special software to help building owners, business people, to see the value of doing retrofits. LED Source franchisees focus on the serious business concept of ROI – Return on Investment to help clients see the long term benefits, both financial and environmental, to switching to LED lighting.
Is this a business conversation or is it an environmental conversation? Of course, I am advocating that it can be both, and it can be good for both, and it can raise awareness of social issues. What is your motive for being green? Is it the welfare of your grandchildren? Is it a love for the world we live in? Is it a desire to leave behind something better than they way you found it? If it were, profit, would that be a bad thing? Indeed entrepreneurs are motivated by profit, but if the profit motive creates more engagement in the pressing issues of social responsibility, I believe, and hope that that will be a good thing. Engage in green.