Desks

The desk is a staple in any office—home or otherwise.  There are plenty of manufactures out there that make desks completely from recycled materials.  Look for desks made of bamboo and other eco friendly materials such as un-treated wood.  If bamboo and un-treated wood aren’t for you, think about buying a vintage desk.  Don’t forget, this is a form of recycling.

Paper

Recycling should be a given, but using recycled paper might not be yet. The costs are about the same when buying recycled versus regular paper so just do it.  Since many documents can be sent electronically these days, you may not need to use paper at all or very rarely.  Reusing paper is also a great idea—printing on both sides of the paper will help save paper and cut down on paper costs as well (I know I do it and hardly ever have to buy paper).

If you send a lot of mail, you should check out the green options United States Postal Service provides.  Not only do they make green choices as an organization, but they help you with making greener options as well.

Your Home

If you are in the process of building a home, you may want to consider using steel.  Residential steel buildings are a great eco-friendly choice to make for your home.  Steel is 100% recyclable and lasts longer than other building materials.  If you aren’t in the market of building a home, there are other options you can do easily and are affordable.

Make the switch to compact fluorescent bulbs over incandescent bulbs. “They use 75% less energy and last 8 to 10 years,” says Jennifer Roberts, the author of Good Green Homes.

Remember that little changes we all make can make a difference.  If everyone works together we can make the environment better.  What are some options you have made to make your office (home or otherwise) greener?

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A new project by California eco-urban design firm LJ Urban aims to make giving more concrete—quite literally—by matching its sales of homes domestically with funds to build homes in the impoverished African nation of Burkina Faso.

Urban has designed a new eco-urban community of 35 LEED ND Certified homes in the urban core of Sacramento, its home town. The community is suggestively named Good, and for each home within it that gets sold, LJ Urban has committed to funding the complete training of a West African mason to build sustainable homes for families in Burkina Faso. By partnering with the Association La Voûte Nubienne (AVN), which has already trained about 60 local masons to build durable homes out of earth bricks and mortar, LJ Urban aims to go beyond just providing homes to impart enduring skills and jobs to the local community. Taking the notion a step further, LJ Urban has also opted to skip the expensive marketing campaign to promote its Good community, and to use that money to train more African masons instead. So, for every 100,000 people who visit LJ Urban’s new, dedicated website by July 1st, the company will fund the complete training of another local Burkina Faso mason—up to 20 in all through this viral approach.

The Good project was inspired by Toms Shoes, a project that donates a pair of shoes for every one it sells. “[That] approach captivated us because it broke through the ‘charity fatigue’ all of us have felt at one time or another,” LJ Urban’s team explains. “The question then became: ‘What if we could do something like that with our houses?’…” The project is also reminiscent of One Laptop Per Child’s (OLPC’s) “Give One Get One” campaign last year through which consumers could donate a laptop and get one for their own use at the same time.

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Chicken –> Meet Egg

Padosa’s goal has been to prove that sustainability does not jeopardize profitability. In a position to see many opportunities in the sustainable space, these consultants wanted to have even greater impact by reaching a larger audience. A web based business based on this premise hatched.  

Here is a bit from my interview with Jennifer from Padosa.com… 

What do you do? 

Padosa.com helps small businesses get started with their sustainability efforts. We focus on initiatives that improve, profitability in the short term, and long term. We provide practical information and a community to get our members personalized answers. Many companies don’t know where to begin and we want to make it easy for them. Our goal is to build a community of business people and make it easy for them to go green, profitably.

What’s the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome to start your business? 

The biggest hurdle is getting site visitors to contribute content to a site that looks empty. People tend to ignore a community until it looks populated; we are overcoming this by making sure every visitor gets lots of personal attention. We are also giving out Amazon gift certificates to people who contribute substantive posts – that helps!

What would you do over again, if you could?

We are learning as we go which is what is exciting about this process. There is nothing particular I can think of in terms of changing our strategy.

What’s the most satisfying thing about running your business? 

It is great when we connect people to each other. Recently we referred a solar energy company to a member who is interested in installing solar panels and he hired them. The member was really satisfied and the firm we recommended was thrilled to get the business. It feels great to help people accomplish their goals and earn revenue!

How did you fund your business in the beginning? 

Our consulting company, A2X Consulting, funds our business. We have a small staff and low operating costs at this point.

What’s the biggest dream you have for your business? 

We would love to grow Padosa.com to be the Linked In for Sustainability - a place where people connect and help each other with their sustainability efforts. We also want to provide best practices on sustainability initiatives from around the world and have a global presence.

What is your passion?

Making it easy for people to go green! And, making sure each visitor feels welcome and gets the answers he or she needs.

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1. Why will people pay you? (money, votes, donations)
2. What does it cost you to sell your item…margins?
3. What protects you from competition, price-feature battles?
4. How will you turn an agnostic audience into loyal customers?

Early on when transactions had no costs, doing anything at a huge scale was very cheap. In order to be successful (a subjective term), you didn’t have to be very big at all. Some efforts don’t look at revenue as the only sign of success, and it’s probably safe to assume they have no real business model.

Identifying tribes and determining the success of working with them is not a new idea; the concept of tribe mentality or acting in a way that benefits the tribe has been around since cavemen. But, the concept of bringing people together, of building tribes, makes the internet is the best friend of people focusing on the third component, differentiating yourself from the competition. Once a network is in place, it is extremely difficult for someone else to disrupt it. I’ll add to this that the network must be active, relevant and provide value. 

The internet, it’s “isms” and even some of our online behaviors are permeating our culture. It is affecting business models offline as well. Local t-shirt and records stores, traditional advertising firms, and political campaign have different business model than they did ten years ago—can you imagine Dukakis, Stockton, Bush Snr, or Dan Quayle, figuring out what tweeting means?

Viral marketing and the growth of cash-free marketing means that people can spread an idea farther and faster than ever before. It also makes it far cheaper for a competitor to enter the market.

Here are three examples of companies leveraging online to create mini movements:

What mini movement is driving your business?

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Traditionally, companies that “do good” are generally non profits, and when people find out that a traditional small business is also “doing good” they feel like somehow the company must be taking advantage of the community it is serving if it is also turning a profit. I do not believe this to be the case and formed my consulting company based on the premise that small businesses would contribute to a triple bottom line if they knew where to find it.

Creative Capitalism has been around for a while. Formerly known as social entrepreneurism, it is a concept newly labeled by Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and other market leaders and the premise is that “we should attempt to stretch the reach of market forces so that more companies can benefit from doing work that makes more people better off.” The book is available on Amazon (unsure of where the profits go). So far, it’s a pretty foreign concept to most bottom-line discussions. Having spent time reviewing the giving trends of big tycoons in the past (land trusts, libraries, parks), there is something different about the timing of this idea: the generation that is receiving it.  

The 30 and 20-somethings have grown disillusioned with where the 1980s consumption and 1990s holding on behavior have gotten us. Those that have the means to get out and travel, see the disparity in the world, come back and want to do something about it. With technology to reflect back their experiences they are twittering, facebooking, myspacing and texting what they are seeing to one another – and a small group are doing something about it.

Why profile TOMS?

Two reasons: 1) Anyone who has seen true the true spirit of leadership in play knows it is the eagerness to lose oneself in the group for the good of the group. This quality is best exemplified in Blake Mycoskie for the simple reason: that is where the heart of his business began. One for One, from day One. 2) Any size business should learn that a social model (something that takes into account the community in which it survives) thrives 10-fold compared to businesses that have tunnel-vision on bottom line sales. There is something to be said for karma.

About the Company

TOMS Shoes promises to give to children in need a pair of shoes for each pair it sells. The company  has given over 140,000 pairs of shoes and expects to give more than 300,000 pairs this year.

TOMS Shoes launched in Venice, California and sold 10,000 pairs during the first year in business. As a result, Blake returned to Argentina in October of 2006 with family and friends and unveiled the second phase of his business plan: the Shoe Drop Tour. To meet demand, TOMS now offers Shoe Drop Tours throughout diverse regions of Argentina. These are volunteer opportunities where TOMS Shoes supporters hand-deliver shoes to children. Since its beginning, TOMS has given over 140,000 shoes to children in need around the world. 

Here is a bit of my discussion with Blake:

Why shoes?
BLAKE: Walking is the primary mode of transportation in developing countries. Children walk miles just to get food and water, to make their way to school, or to reach medical help. In some communities, children can’t even attend school unless they have proper footwear. And the leading plague in these countries is soil-transmitted parasites. Shoes are such a simple answer to these problems children face every day.

See TOMS educational videos: One Day Without Shoes and Why Ethiopia (warning on the second video for graphic images)

Technology is required in today’s job market. Is TOMS Shoes looking to attract a blended workforce, or does the average age of the workers in the company reflect a standard .com?
BLAKE: For the first few years, our staff reflected the young, evolving company that we were. But as we grow, TOMS is definitely looking to attract a diverse workforce. We’ve become much more aware of our needs, and therefore able to hire individuals with specific skill sets, relevant experience, and worthy knowledge. I am still the CEO and Chief Shoe Giver, and I continue to immerse myself in TOMS because it’s my passion. I have creative ideas and feverish curiosity, and my team is receptive to that. But I definitely have trust in those who are facilitating the every day, drafting direction, and establishing strategies.

Your company is for-profit. What sort of profit sharing model exists for the employees and how did you arrive at the decision to not do a nonprofit?
BLAKE: My earnings from other businesses I had started before TOMS are what kept us afloat in the earlier days- TOMS was not funded by an outside 3rd party. I never had to present a business plan or get approval, I just had trust in myself and the One for One concept. Of course people laughed when I said TOMS would give a pair of shoes away for every pair we sold, but now TOMS is proving One for One as a viable business model. Our customers have been amazing supporters since day 1.

I created TOMS as a for-profit business to ensure a sustainable way of giving. We’re able to give shoes weekly in Ethiopia, and monthly in Argentina. I also wanted to prove that you can build giving into your business model from day one and still be profitable. We get a lot of inquiries from all types of organizations wanting to get involved with TOMS in one way or another. It’s a blessing, really, but we have to be careful in these first critical years of building our brand.

You are an example of an individual whose actions will help define the generation they are in. Your generation is described as both the “me generation” and the “giving generation.” How do you think your generation should be characterized?
BLAKE: This generation is one that thrives off of action. We don’t dream about change, we make it happen. We don’t imagine a way to incorporate giving in to our daily lives- we do it. TOMS has so many young supporters who are passionate about the One for One movement, and who share the story and inspire others every day they wear their TOMS. Seeing them support this business model is proof that this generation is ready and able to create a better tomorrow.

People connect with TOMS beyond just owning another pair of shoes. There’s something more every time you slip on a pair, every time you share the story, every time you suggest a pair of TOMS as a gift because no matter what brought you to purchasing a pair of TOMS, you are making an impact on a child’s life. Will there be saturation of cause-based marketing? Most likely, but TOMS has paved the way for other entrepreneurs to incorporate giving in to their businesses.

The One for One mission is sticking with this generation, and causing a new way of thinking. We grew up with parents who were taking those first small steps, and now we are just charging full speed ahead towards a better tomorrow. We have to. One for One is proving that you can bring closure to an issue by incorporating a conscious decision in to the actions you already take- whether its as a consumer purchasing a product, or a business looking for ways to inspire a better tomorrow. It makes consumerism and philanthropy come together full circle.

Carpe Diem!

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But the ROI for us at StartupNation is something quite different, which I realized as soon as I received this unsolicited email at 7:41pm. Beyond the financial goals we all have, a much more meaningful and motivating ROI comes in the form of creating success stories and putting people on a path of empowerment in the pursuit of their dreams.

“SK” clicked on our CONTACT option under our HOME tab. And as the email shows, the ROI is real. Just wanted to relish this publicly with our friends here in the StartupNation community. It is one little contributing factor to what we call “sweet success” at our company.

From: SK [mailto:xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 7:41 PM
To: info@startupnation.com
Subject: Inspiration and Determination

Hi Rich,

You have done it again!.  Another great article in the Costco Connection giving me the inspiration to continue with my home based business, www.sandysshimmeryshoulders.com.  Even as the economy seemed, at one point, to be in a downward spiral you continue to give me hope.  The five points that you gave in the article are giving me the determination to do more with the slow down.  Fine tuning my advertising, updating my brochures, re-stocking with the most popular items as opposed to just ordering depleted stock, converting my final carry-away packaging to “Green” to help the environment etc., has given me new life. 

I cannot express just how much www.startupnation.com has helped me.  I usually visit the site four or five times a week to acquire information, read post in the Community, and check on what others are saying / doing. 

Just want to say:  Rich, Thanks to you and Jeff for not being selfish and sharing your knowledge of business with me.  Thanks for all of the help and continued success to you and StartUp Nation.

Sincerely,

SK

 Thanks, SK, so much for your feedback and encouragement. It makes it all worthwhile and makes us feel rich in all the important ways. Glad to see you using Microsoft Office Live for your website service. They’re great folks.

Way to start it up, stick to it, and press on!

Rich (and StartupNation Team)

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‘but someone’s making money off of it! Here is some copy from their web site…I’d love to know what qualifies as a “special drying technique.”

Do you know someone who will be 30, 40 or 50 years old? Don’t let this birthday pass by without the gift they will remember forever. Whatever the occasion, your sentiments will be clearly expressed with Dead Roses. This expression of your thoughts will make a lasting impression. We will deliver your own personal message with your roses… The ideal way to let them know how you really feel.

Imagine the look on their face when they open the Priority Mail box to find a dozen Dead Roses! These are high quality roses, dried using a special drying technique to preserve the color and appearance of the rose. For only $24.99, with Free USPS Priority Mail shipping, you can make the statement you’ve been wanting to make for a long time. What if they’re not worth $24? Just send a half dozen for only $17.99 or a single Dead Rose for $10.99 The roses are shipped via USPS Priority Mail in a crush proof Priority Mail box.

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The Small Business Startup Kit was assembled in collaboration with Office Depot, which is supplying all the cool equipment and services included in the Kit. Here’s what in it:

• 1 Toshiba Satellite® U405-S2911 Notebook Computer With Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor
• 1 Fellowes® PS 79ci 100% Jam Proof Cross-Cut Shredder
• 1 Lexmark X 7675 All-In-One Printer/Copier/Scanner/Fax Machine
• 1 $100 Gift Card to use at Office Depot

So, why are we doing this?

For StartupNation, this is all about helping you remove the barriers to starting and growing your business. That’s why we included essentials like the notebook computer, all-in-one printer, and the jam proof shredder. (By the way, trust me - you want to use a shredder. I just visited a transfer station where our garbage is dumped. You could see people’s personal papers flying all around in the wind.)

In any event, with these necessities on hand, the winner will have a well-oiled machine ready to support him or her on a path to success.

Here’s all you have to do for a chance to win this giveaway:

Leave a comment below in this blog as to why you look to retailers like Office Depot for your small business needs.

It’s that simple, folks!

We will then select a comment/answer AT RANDOM and name that person the winner. One comment is allowed per person. Must be 18 years of age or older to participate and based in the U.S. 

We will stop taking comments in this blog post at midnight EASTERN TIME on March 13, 2009. We will announce the winner on March 16, 2009 within this blog entry as a comment with instructions on how the selected winner should contact us with a SHIP TO address. The suite of equipment and gift card will be delivered shortly thereafter. Your only problem at that point is… what excuses do you have left NOT to “start it up”?!

All StartupNation spam rules apply and StartupNation retains the right to delete any blog comments it deems to be spam. If the selected winner does not respond to instructions by March 18, another winner will be selected at random on March 19, and a similar process will be used to reach them.

Jump in! Become a winner! We look forward to reading your comments.

As always, we want you to start it up and we hope this Small Business Startup Kit helps!

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Malcolm related stories about Bill Gates programming at the age of 13 on a mainframe at the University of Washington campus, or a team of students tackling a tough math problem and how, through persistence and honest effort, great results are achieved. Leaving the session, I considered how many of our VerticalResponse non-profit customers I meet take the time to thank me in person for our free service offering and discounts for non-profits (VR’s version of 1:1:1). They are so passionate about their cause and their story, it can’t help but inspire my team in our efforts to provide better service and share in their success. Whether it’s our non-profit customers or business owners, it’s the passion behind our customer’s intellect that catapults their success.

A point I think both the great speakers failed to note is the contagious nature of attitude. Like the smallpox virus that can just as easily spread to destroy, the more we share and hear about other’s efforts to affect the greater good and fulfill our dreams, the more likely we are to push ourselves just a little bit harder - putting our heart and mind behind our own work. Then, collectively, we are one step closer to achieving the capitalization of an entire community!

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What items are required to be compliant?

All products that are marketed or could be perceived as being marketed to children under 12 years old.  This is NOT limited to toys.  It includes many items including clothing, jewelry, shoes, books, dinnerware, hair accessories, sunglasses, furniture, art materials, and musical instruments to name a few.

What does the testing require?

Lead content must be below 600ppm as of February 10, 2009 … then lowered to 300ppm on August 14, 2009… under 100ppm by August 14, 2011

Lead paint must pass a General Conformity Certification as having less than 600ppm for goods manufactured after November 12, 2008. Third party testing is required if the product is manufactured after December 21, 2008. These amounts will be lowered to 90ppm on August 14, 2009 and 3^rd party testing will be mandated

Phthalates in children’s toys and “childcare articles” are banned. Whether this includes children’s apparel items such as footed pajamas for a child under 3 years old is unclear at this point.  (Phthalates are used to make vinyl soft and flexible and can possibly be found in footwear or in this case, the rubber coatings on the non-skid bottoms of children’s footed pajamas.)

(More requirements here http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html )

What if I am not compliant?

As of February 10, 2009 non-compliant goods will be treated as Hazardous Materials and must be destroyed.  The civil penalty caps have been increased from $5,000 to $100,000 for each violation.

Why refer to February 10th as “National Bankruptcy Day”?

For starters, the legislation applies to EXISTING inventories.  Manufacturers commonly produce their goods 6-12 months in advance.  Any inventories that are currently in production or being warehoused now must be compliant.  If they are not compliant, they will be treated as “hazardous materials” and must be destroyed according to the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA).  For manufacturers (and retailers) of these goods, this could be devastating to companies already suffering from the current economic crisis.

Secondly, the 3^rd party testing is cost prohibitive for small manufacturers.  As the law is written, the finished product will need to be tested with separate tests done for each product variable.  For example, my company www.Glamajama.com manufactures embellished baby onesies, outfits, and t-shirts for toddlers.  Under the CPSIA testing requirements, I will need to test each design and clothing style that I offer.  With 20 designs each season on 40 different style combinations, that would equal 800 separate tests that need to be done at around $300-500 a test.  It would be an understatement to say that the cost of testing would be “cost prohibitive”.

Isn’t getting lead out of children’s products a good thing?

ABSOLUTELY!  I don’t believe any manufacturer in the children’s industry would want lead in their products.  After all, many manufacturers (myself included) started a children’s based business after having children themselves.  Why would we want to endanger our own children-much less someone else’s?  We can all agree that the CPSIA has many benefits for ensuring the safety of our children, however, there are flaws regarding how it is being written and implemented.  For manufacturers, the problem isn’t with producing a lead-free product; the problem is proving that you have a lead-free product.  .  These issues must be addressed before they inadvertently bankrupt small businesses in the children’s industry.

Where can I get more information?

The best advice I can give is to educate yourself regarding the new law.  There are many manufacturers out there that don’t even realize they are being affected.  Also, what about the retailers that carry these products?  Or the eBayers and Etsy artists? The publicists who represent the designers to the media?  The sales professionals who make their living selling these goods to retailers?  This legislation has many far reaching negative effects, many of which are being underestimated.  I encourage you to visit these following sites for more information as well.

http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/cpsia.html  Official site of the CPSIA

www.thesmartmama.com , Site by Jennifer Taggart, a Mom, Attorney, and Consultant specializing in environmental safety standards for children

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/cpsia-requirements/ Fashion Incubator

Please comment below or email me at heather@glamajama.com …I’d be happy to try to answer any questions you might have.  Also, you can follow me on twitter (www.twitter.com/glamajama )

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