Young Professionals and the Environment
The Facebook revolution is here to stay – new groups are created daily, bringing like minded people together, and sharing all their ideas and knowledge with others on a global scale.
So, why not use this already existing technology?
iNNOgreenie is always excited about utilising innovation and technology to further the cause of environmental awareness and has created the “Young Professionals and the Environment” group in facebook. To join, the link is below:
Young Professionals and the Environment
The purpose of the group is to bring young professionals (including professionals who are “young at heart”) together and thinking up ways to help the Environment. This could be in the form of suggesting books / articles to increase awareness, sharing ideas on initiatives that can be implemented at home or at work, and any form of knowledge to share and discuss about the world we all love.
So, come and join us, and lets think of ways to change the world!
The cost of Environmental Sustainability for SMEs
Small to Medium Enterprises (SME) face many challenges: gaining that extra market share, increasing their exposure whilst running on a tight marketing budget, running day to day operations whilst managing the growth of the business, etc.
And now, there comes an additional challenge: the issue of being “green”. With the CTS (Carbon Trading Scheme) coming into play, momentum is gathering from large MNC’s and big players in the industry to conform to the scheme, as dictated by the Government. Although costly, there’s a lot of benefit with this movement, namely of course, helping the environment.
However, the cost implications for any implementation of “Green” systems in an organisation / business demands a considerable amount of effort and capital. Not only that, the drive and motivator to become Green is slowly slipping away from the SME’s purely on the basis of those two major points: effort and capital.
The impact? Well, lets look at the numbers: According to the ABS (Cat. 8165, June 2003 to 2006), small businesses (categorised as having less than 20 employees – as defined by ABS) accounts for 89.3% of businesses with employees. That amounts to 721,569 people employed by small businesses – that is a lot of people! By sheer volume alone, SME’s have a major impact in our community and society in general – and we generally interface with more SME’s than large MNC’s.
The Government is well aware on the contributions SME’s have to the society – especially in employment rates and impact to local economies – but what about their impact towards the environment? There are many SME’s out that who are willing to get on board with the Green movement, but can’t get the necessary capital and momentum to follow the big guns.
For all SME’s out there (business owners, operators, administrators, workers and customers), think about it: With the sheer volume and impact SME’s have to the economy, maybe its time for us to unite and remind the Government that being Green shouldn’t just be restricted to the MNC’s and Large Organisations – we want to do our bit too. But its just too expensive!
So, for the interim, there are a few things we could do as owners / operators of SME’s:
- Recycle: A simple initiative, and doesn’t cost you a thing – there are companies that are willing to collect the recycled goods on your behalf – its a great start to your way to implement your very own ecofriendly process.
- Switch to Recyclable Paper: Believe it or not – technology has caught up with the humble paper! They’re much whiter, does not affect any photocopy / scanning / fax devices, and the quality is on par with normal white paper.
- Green Time: Get your employees involved – one way to do so is get your employees to contribute half an hour a day to their Green Time. An allocated time for them to participate in activities that would aid in helping the environment. Initiatives like these have many benefits: You could get all your employees together to participate in a volunteer day to plant trees in a local school (this would then increase your profile in the community, brings in a sense of team spirit in your workplace, and gets you and your employees out and about!)
- Align the Green Time to their scorecards: What better way to reward your workers by aligning them towards the green movement! Does it cost you much? Yes, there is a cost implication, but think about it this way: by your employees working towards being environmentally conscious, you can promote the initiative to all your stakeholders, customers, and your target market, and increasing your profile in the industry.
- Join in the Green Community: There are many groups out there really interested in helping out the environment – join these groups! As an owner of an SME, your involvement would not only increase your profile in your community, but also provide you with different perspectives towards increasing your Green Profile and also help out with your business transformation.
Easy steps – for now. There are other ways to help out the environment with low cost initiatives. And who says you can’t market these ideas? Use the initiatives to promote your business!
As the number of SME’s increase, it is up to SME owners / operators to start thinking strategically and accomplish their goals whilst helping the environment.
So, go out there and start thinking of ways to change the world!
Growing the Idea
At one point in time, all of us will have a brainwave and that amazing idea will just pop into our heads. We can’t control it – most ideas come when we see a defficiency around us, or a common social issue has occured, or we overhear someone’s frustration and we say to ourselves “I wonder if this could solve their problems”.
But what happens from there? One of two things could happen:
1) You ignore it, thinking “Hmmm… that’s a great idea, but its too hard, and will take too long to develop. Plus, I don’t have the money nor the knowledge to make it work. I’ll just park it for now. Who knows, tomorrow someone else will come up with the solution”
2) You think about it more, get out a pen and get the idea down to a piece of paper, and start framing the idea – and when you have the time, you can develop the idea. Who knows, it might be the next Post It note phenomenon – but you won’t know it until you explore it!
The second option is much more fulfilling! But what do you need to do to ensure that you align yourself to the second option?
There are 5 easy steps you can start doing to ensure you set yourself up for success:
1) Give yourself the opportunity to capture any moment of opportunity: I always carry a small notebook with me and the moment I get the “brainwave”, it gets written down in my notebook. Then, I can continue with my daily grind until I have time to reflect on the notes, and really start to flesh out the details of the idea.
2) Revisit all of your ideas: There’s no point capturing those ideas if you don’t give the idea some time to grow. The beauty of the notebook is that you can reflect on your idea at any point during the day where you have the time and space to dedicate on growing the idea. Revisit your ideas on the train, or during your coffee break – sometimes, all you need to do is to constantly revisit the idea. As time goes by, you are constantly exposed to different things, and each time you revisit the idea, you’ll be looking at it from different perspective. Sometimes, this is enough to give you a different angle on the idea to initiate the momentum.
3) It doesn’t hurt to ask: Most people falter at some point during their reflection, thinking “I don’t really know what’s involved here. What materials should I use? Is there another way of doing this? This is not my field, I don’t even know the right questions to ask!”. My tip: Look at the three key points of the idea:
- What is the purpose of the idea? This about what the idea would solve. Base your reasoning behind the problem it is trying to address in the first place. I usually start off with the problem, listing all of the issues identified, and then seeing how the idea can solve each of the problems identified.
- Why would people buy the idea? Lets be realistic – If the idea can provide you with additional income, why not pursue it! But you have to ask yourself: why would people buy the idea? Would they pay money for your idea? Or, would they tell their friends about your idea? By focusing on this point, you will start to see what your customers would value, and ultimately your idea should focus on catering for these values.
- Why is this idea important to me? It is much easier to sell an idea if you believe in it. If your main goal is just to make money out of the idea, more often than not it would be the breaking point of the idea. Find out why its important to you, and then you’ll discover that majority of it can be used for your pitch to potential sponsors or clients.
If the idea is beyond your knowledge base, turn towards the internet first! Research on existing products in the marketplace, find out if people are looking for a solution to the problem you’ve identified, etc. Sometimes, forums are a great place to ask questions to industry experts. Be warned: once you talk about your idea in the public domain, its up for grabs. So, if you do want to ask questions, frame it to only answer your question without giving the whole picture away.
Also, start using your friends and family. They will give you different perspective and add value to your idea. They probably won’t steal your idea because they know that when you’re successful, they’ll share in that success!
4) Success = 1% idea + 99% research: Research, research and more research! Really understand the context of you idea. How can it be applied in the market place? Research existing products in the market place – you might find a product that’s already out there but doesn’t exactly cater for your market segment or fit in your customers value base. Work on collecting statistics about your market: How many potential customers are out there? What is the current market share your potential competitor holds? What is the demand out there for your idea? These questions will solidify your idea, and most of this material can feed into your business plan later down the track.
5) Never give up: Persistence pays – Thomas Edison once said (and step 4 is a variant from this quote):
“Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” – Thomas Alva Edison, Harper’s Monthly (September 1932)
This is extremely true – with everything in life, if you commit and dedicate your time to the idea, it will grow. It can grow into something you least expected, and it might even open up other opportunities. The worst that can happen is that you discover that the idea has already been developed – but don’t be discouraged: look at ways to improve it! Remember: ensure you dedicate a portion of your day solely on working on your idea. You’ll be amazed on what you think of when you dedicate time to really flesh it out!
What happens after you’ve thought it through? You have discovered that the idea is sound, there is a market, the customers are willing to pay an amount for the idea, the idea holds true to your heart, you’re passionate about the idea and you are ready to take the next step. Keep on the lookout for the next post: Protect your idea as I will take you through the process of applying for a patent, what to look out for, and what you need to know to ensure you set your idea up for success.
So go out there and start thinking of ways to change the world!
Welcome on our journey
Who says you need to have a doctorate in Environmental Sustainability to make a difference? But upon saying that, great ideas gets lost into the ether and never gets discovered – a sad fact for the green community and for our earth.
This is where this blog steps in – at iNNOgreenie, we would like to share our ideas, our thoughts and knowledge, and hopefully enrich the community with ideas on how to contribute towards building a sustainable future.
So welcome to our blog, do drop a comment or two, and lets work together to build a sustainable future!
Just a few things you can find on our site:
About Us: Just a bit of info on who we are and what we believe in.
Green Kit: Find all downloadable materials and tools we’ve developed for you to start your very own Green Kit- and its all free!
