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In today’s modern and fully digitalised world, almost everyone is seeking entrepreneurship under some form even if they are unaware of it – such as by starting a Tik Tok account, self-publishing a book, developing a small business, or even making money from a “side hustle”.
However, many are unaware of sustainable entrepreneurship – which could allow for independent workers the same benefits as traditional entrepreneurship while also helping to promote sustainability.
In this article, we’ll explain what sustainable entrepreneurship is, the benefits, and how you can pursue sustainable entrepreneurship yourself.
Sustainable entrepreneurship is referred to as the practice of developing or advertising for sustainable products that will financially benefit the seller while also seeking to benefit society in the long run.
👉 In sustainable entrepreneurship, it is equally important to create both a profitable product and to create “outside-of-the-box” ideas that can help to promote the importance of sustainability.
Sustainable entrepreneurship might be the right fit if you possess the following qualities or sentiments:
Essentially, any individual business owner or company that cites sustainability or sustainable development as a part of their mission statement may be considered a sustainable entrepreneur – such as companies seeking to reduce the environmental impact of their shipping materials or aiming to monitor the life cycle of their product.
These days, it seems everyone is seeking entrepreneurship in one form or another – even if they don’t realise it.
In fact, over 5 million new businesses were created in the United States alone in 2022 – which makes sense, seeing as a whopping ⅓ of people would prefer to be their own boss.
Here are a few other statistics about entrepreneurship you may not have known:
Overall, it’s clear that entrepreneurship has taken on a whole new meaning and has become an accessible dream to everyone – but why?
In addition to this, the pandemic and remote working have allowed for a digital nomad lifestyle – where people work for the day from their villa in Bali before hopping on a flight to India the next day. The fact that this is even possible has sparked the desire for more independence, especially amongst Gen Z – where 75% of this young population hopes to pursue entrepreneurship.
Some other reasons why entrepreneurship has grown in popularity may include:
👉 Overall, entrepreneurship allows for a more personally tailored lifestyle – seeing as people can manage their business anytime and anywhere while still reaping financial benefits.
While both traditional and sustainable entrepreneurship seek to create a profit from a product and allow the creator of the business to experience financial independence – the two types of entrepreneurs have numerous differences.
Here are some of the goals often set by traditional entrepreneurs:
👉 Traditional entrepreneurship is overall more concerned with maximizing shareholder value and curating a business which creates exceptional profit. Therefore, sustainable measures will often be put on the backburner until finances are in order for the entrepreneur – as the success of the business will be measured in dollars over anything else.
Sustainable entrepreneurship, on the other hand, tends to measure its success through its environmental data – such as how much plastic waste was avoided or the amount of emissions reduced as a result of the more sustainable product.
Here are some of the goals often set by sustainable entrepreneurs:
👉 Ultimately, the main difference between traditional entrepreneurs and sustainable entrepreneurship is that traditional entrepreneurship is heavily focused on creating and sustaining a profitable business while sustainable entrepreneurship centers its goals more around its societal and environmental impact.
There are multiple benefits for those who choose the route of sustainable entrepreneurship.
Here are just a few of the perks of pursuing sustainable entrepreneurship:
👉 Essentially, sustainable entrepreneurship allows for the financial benefits of traditional entrepreneurship while also allowing for greater satisfaction and humanitarian purposes.
The majority of businesses would love to become more sustainable, but seeing as 20% of businesses fail within the first year – many are fearful to make a head start down the road of sustainable entrepreneurship when it comes to their business.
Is there a way for you and your business to successfully pursue sustainable entrepreneurship while still making sure you meet all of your financial targets?
Here are a few ways to properly implement the ideals of sustainable entrepreneurship into your own business or at your company:
Ultimately, just like traditional entrepreneurship – sustainable entrepreneurship is accessible to everyone, and you too can implement the values of sustainability in your endeavors in entrepreneurship by starting small and picking the actions that mean the most to you.
If reading this article about sustainable entrepreneurship has made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!
It can be challenging to effectively incorporate the values of sustainable entrepreneurship into your business model and ensure that your company is making progress towards its climate goals, but don’t worry – Greenly is here to help! Click here to book a demo and get personalised expertise on how you can start to reduce your own emissions and decrease your environmental impact.
Greenly can help you make an environmental change for the better, starting with a carbon footprint assessment to know how much carbon emissions your company produces.
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