Recession Survival Guide for Small Business

Going Green

By making your business environmentally efficient, you can see a quick return on investments as well as long-term cost savings. Increasing the value of the company through energy efficiency benefits not only the business but the environment as well and can augment the public’s opinion of your company.

"Going Green for small businesses relates to and benefits the triple bottom line - 'People, Planet & Profit'. From a business' economic perspective in these difficult times, making simple changes such as energy use implementations (think using more efficient light bulbs, installing programmable thermostats, and turning off computers during down business hours for starters) provides immediate dollar savings and profit increases, which in many cases pays for the costs of the implementations in a very short amount of time, while providing the savings for a much longer period of time past the payback period.

Going Green also increases Profits when you consider the effect a business has on People and the Planet. Businesses do not operate in a vacuum. They are an intricate part of the community they exist in. Developing recognition among customers regarding the business' respect for and contributions to the people and environment they serve provides a sense of connection and loyalty with customers. This consciousness leads to bigger and better business opportunities, especially in today's green business conscious zeitgeist in America, which is easily recognizable when looking at many successful businesses current marketing and product development endeavors. I challenge you to watch one block of commercials on TV without coming across an ad for a hybrid vehicle, or a corporation's efforts at controlling climate change for instance. If these successful large businesses recognize the importance of people and planet in their profits, small business should recognize the same." – Frank Cetera, Green Energy Aware, Onondaga SBDC

TIPS

Buy recycled printer cartridges
Eliminate unnecessary lighting by using motion sensors and timers
Turn off equipment that is not in use: turning off your computers at night can reduce energy consumption up to 50%
Use laptops, which consume 90 percent less energy than standard desktop computers
Share printers

NEXT: Recovery

Introduction \| Advertising \| The Internet & Your Website \| Doing Business with the Gov't \| Labor Force \| Economizing \| Going Green \| Recovery Going Green By making your business environmentally efficient, you can see a quick return on investments as well as long-term cost savings. Increasing the value of the company through energy efficiency benefits not only the business but the environment as well and can augment the public’s opinion of your company. "Going Green for small businesses relates to and benefits the triple bottom line - 'People, Planet & Profit'. From a business' economic perspective in these difficult times, making simple changes such as energy use implementations (think using more efficient light bulbs, installing programmable thermostats, and turning off computers during down business hours for starters) provides immediate dollar savings and profit increases, which in many cases pays for the costs of the implementations in a very short amount of time, while providing the savings for a much longer period of time past the payback period. Going Green also increases Profits when you consider the effect a business has on People and the Planet. Businesses do not operate in a vacuum. They are an intricate part of the community they exist in. Developing recognition among customers regarding the business' respect for and contributions to the people and environment they serve provides a sense of connection and loyalty with customers. This consciousness leads to bigger and better business opportunities, especially in today's green business conscious zeitgeist in America, which is easily recognizable when looking at many successful businesses current marketing and product development endeavors. I challenge you to watch one block of commercials on TV without coming across an ad for a hybrid vehicle, or a corporation's efforts at controlling climate change for instance. If these successful large businesses recognize the importance of people and planet in their profits, small business should recognize the same." – Frank Cetera, Green Energy Aware, Onondaga SBDC TIPS Buy recycled printer cartridges Eliminate unnecessary lighting by using motion sensors and timers Turn off equipment that is not in use: turning off your computers at night can reduce energy consumption up to 50% Use laptops, which consume 90 percent less energy than standard desktop computers Share printers NEXT: Recovery
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NYS Small Business Development Center State University Plaza Corporate Woods Building, 3rd Floor Albany, NY 12246 In NY State (800) 732-SBDC Outside NY State (518) 443-5398
Partnership Program with the SBA, administered by the State University of New York. Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA. All SBA funded programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis.