The Business Of Less

The Business of Less rewrites the book on business and the environment. For the last thirty years, corporate sustainability was synonymous with the pursuit of ‘eco-efficiency’ and ‘win-win’ opportunities. The notion of ‘eco-efficiency’ gives us the illusion that we can achieve environmental sustainability without having to question the pursuit of never-ending economic growth. The ‘win-win’ paradigm is meant to assure us that companies can be protectors of the environment whilst also being profit maximizers. It is abundantly clear that the state of the natural environment has further degraded instead of improved. This book introduces a new paradigm designed to finally reconcile business and the environment. It is called ‘net green’, which means that in these times of ecological overshoot businesses need to reduce total environmental impact and not just improve the eco-efficiency of their products. The book also introduces and explains the four pollution prevention principles ‘again’, ‘different’, ‘less’, and ‘labor, not materials’. Together, ‘net green’ and the four pollution prevention principles provide a road map, for businesses and for every household, to a world in which human prosperity and a healthy environment are no longer at odds. The Business of Less is full of anecdotes and examples. This brings its material to life and makes the book not only very accessible, but also hugely applicable for everyone who is worried about the fate of our planet and is looking for answers.

Millions of Americans are out of work. Their savings accounts have shrunk, and they’re taking out second mortgages and cashing in their retirement accounts to pay off overdue credit card bills. But the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in America, as clear in initiatives like Small Business Saturday and Entrepreneur.com. And hundreds of thousands of courageous innovators have decided to start their own businesses. The question is—how much money will it take to do it successfully? Here are innovative, exciting ideas for businesses based on what the reader can afford. For each venture author Richard Walsh outlines start up expenses, probable earnings, qualifications, and gives the low down on what the business is really all about. This is the essential down-and-dirty guide for every aspiring entrepreneur who wants to select a business, get a business plan together, and join the small business revolution.

Millions of Americans are out of work. Their savings accounts have shrunk, and they’re taking out second mortgages and cashing in their retirement accounts to pay off overdue credit card bills. But the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in America, as clear in initiatives like Small Business Saturday and Entrepreneur.com. And hundreds of thousands of courageous innovators have decided to start their own businesses. The question is—how much money will it take to do it successfully? Here are innovative, exciting ideas for businesses based on what the reader can afford. For each venture author Richard Walsh outlines start up expenses, probable earnings, qualifications, and gives the low down on what the business is really all about. This is the essential down-and-dirty guide for every aspiring entrepreneur who wants to select a business, get a business plan together, and join the small business revolution.

Millions of Americans are out of work. Their savings accounts have shrunk, and they’re taking out second mortgages and cashing in their retirement accounts to pay off overdue credit card bills. But the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in America, as clear in initiatives like Small Business Saturday and Entrepreneur.com. And hundreds of thousands of courageous innovators have decided to start their own businesses. The question is—how much money will it take to do it successfully? Here are innovative, exciting ideas for businesses based on what the reader can afford. For each venture author Richard Walsh outlines start up expenses, probable earnings, qualifications, and gives the low down on what the business is really all about. This is the essential down-and-dirty guide for every aspiring entrepreneur who wants to select a business, get a business plan together, and join the small business revolution.

The Business of Less rewrites the book on business and the environment. Promoting the concepts of 'net green' and 'labor, not materials', the book provides a roadmap for businesses and for every household, to a world in which human prosperity and a healthy environment are no longer irreconcilable.

What happens when the bottlenecks that stand between supply and demand in our culture go away and everything becomes available to everyone? "The Long Tail" is a powerful new force in our economy: the rise of the niche. As the cost of reaching consumers drops dramatically, our markets are shifting from a one-size-fits-all model of mass appeal to one of unlimited variety for unique tastes. From supermarket shelves to advertising agencies, the ability to offer vast choice is changing everything, and causing us to rethink where our markets lie and how to get to them. Unlimited selection is revealing truths about what consumers want and how they want to get it, from DVDs at Netflix to songs on iTunes to advertising on Google. However, this is not just a virtue of online marketplaces; it is an example of an entirely new economic model for business, one that is just beginning to show its power. After a century of obsessing over the few products at the head of the demand curve, the new economics of distribution allow us to turn our focus to the many more products in the tail, which collectively can create a new market as big as the one we already know. The Long Tail is really about the economics of abundance. New efficiencies in distribution, manufacturing, and marketing are essentially resetting the definition of what's commercially viable across the board. If the 20th century was about hits, the 21st will be equally about niches.

George Hedley owns a $50 million construction and real estate development business as well as HARDHAT Presentations. Over the last five years, as a much-requested popular professional speaker, George speaks 50 times per year to business audiences, conventions, associations and at company meetings. As many as 25,000 people see him present keynote speeches or seminars every year. George is based in Costa Mesa, Calif.

This book includes chapters on selecting a business, finding small business help, writing a business plan, taking advantage of low cost advertising and marketing, handling budget and finance, and solving the unique problems involved with production, sales, service and creative mini-businesses.