Why America’s Small Businesses Aren’t Going Green (and How ACCION USA is Changing That)
“Going green seems like a no-brainer—businesses can save both money and the planet, what’s not to love?” When we set out to launch our green loan product, that’s what we thought. And then we dug deeper, into the psyche and daily experience of the small businesses we serve. In addition to traditional market research, in April 2009 we executed two focus groups and what we found may surprise you. While small businesses report to “strongly believe in green”, they also:
- Are confused on the definition of a green businesses
- Feel there is a lack of transparency in the small business green market;
- Feel most businesses are not serious about helping the environment, but are looking for a “pat on the back” or a marketing gimmick; and
- Think going green is not economically viable, and should be heavily subsidized.
We can’t ignore the data. Going green can bring green ($) if you have green ($). Microfinance organizations are perfectly poised to pull small businesses out of the same old “I can’t, it’s too expensive” mentality. With the right loan product and support services, small business will see a return on their investment and, at the same time, make the planet a more hospitable place to live. To address the concerns we discovered in our initial research, ACCION USA will launch a green loan program that is:
- Clear on its definition of “green”,
- Focused on energy efficiency and provide clear-cut guidelines to defining green,
- Affordable if not low-cost,
- Industry-specific in terms of support services and marketing, and
- Supported by trusted organizations.
Stay tuned, this month we’re finishing up our second round of focus groups and will release preliminary results right here on Main Street Microfinance. In the meantime, check out our client and green-preneur Brian Duda.
Tags: green business loans
February 16th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
I’m interested in hearing more about these focus groups and how they were conducted… What kind of transparency would small business benefit from in the small business green market? Also, you could boil down many of the campaigns promoting breast cancer awareness a “marketing gimmick”, but if it works to promote a good cause, who cares?
February 16th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Green entrepreneurship is a fantastic idea! I think its awesome that Accion is starting up this initiative!
February 17th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Are there short term and long term gains to going green? Are some more economically viable or attractive than others? Going green seems to be the responsible way forward – good for Accion working to make it a realizable goal for small businesses.
February 17th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
The focus group participants felt that some small businesses use green as a marketing “gimmick” instead of sincerely making efforts to provide green products or reduce their carbon footprint. “Greenwashing” is the name created for the trend: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwash. While leveraging serious topics to turn heads may work in some cases (to promote breast cancer awareness, using your example), greenwashing seriously undermines the movement’s credibility and deters consumers from making greener choices.
Erin – thanks for your enthusiasm. We’re just tickled green!
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Elizabeth, thank you for your comments. Without giving too much away from an upcoming post, I will say that setting goals (for ourselves and our small business clients) will be key to our success. For example, we’ve taken the Energy Star challenge to hold our feet to the fire. Please let me know what you think of our goals in my follow-up post.
June 30th, 2010 at 3:03 am
everyone should Go Green so that we can help the environment.;*~
July 21st, 2010 at 2:16 am
going green is always the best thing to do. it helps the environment a lot.`”*
December 13th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
it is always a good idea to go green because we always want to help the environment -,:
July 15th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
I am very glad that I found your blog. Excellent information!