Customer Reviews

Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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This book gives a great deal of ideas on green businesses and how to go about starting one. It is primarily concerned with service type businesses but I think the basic thought process applies just as well to manufacturing ventures. Probably the most valuable part of the book is the chapter helping you to understand if a green business is really for you. There is also a lot of supporting material including work sheets on Scott's website that the book couldn't accommodate due to space restrictions.

One of the challenges many budding green entrepreneurs face is figuring out what type of business to start. Scott Cooney's book is a great resource to this audience. It's a sort of recipe book for green business ideas. He provides clear descriptions of dozens of businesses, explains how to "green it" then covers everything from how to start to finding customers to what to charge. To add some perspective and inspiration, he includes an "Ecopreneurs in Action" snapshot of folks who have operated each type of business listed in the book. This is a very practical, down-to-Earth guide that's easy to read and understand. One reason why this book makes good sense is that Scott speaks from experience, having started several successful green businesses. As an advocate for green and values based business, I am thrilled to see books like "Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur" available.
--Doug Freeman, CEO-Producer, Arnold Creek Productions, Inc., the producer of the DVDs "Naturally Successful: Entrepreneurship that redefines the bottom line" and "Architecture to Zucchini: The people, companies and organizations pioneering sustainability" Here are links to these videos: Naturally Successful: Entrepreneurship that redefines the bottom line and Architecture to Zucchini: The people, companies and organizations pioneering sustainability

Scott has done a tremendous job of breaking down many of the best green business opportunities into actionable ideas for the next generation of entrepreneurs. He lays out a broad swath of business ideas and gives concrete steps to take to make them happen. He has created a quick resource for someone starting out with direction, and an easy to follow approach for a passionate someone who may not be sure about what kind of business would be best for them.
If you want to start a sustainable small business, this book is for you!

Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur, is a look at the opportunities and recent trends in the green economy as well as simple but effective ways to plan and create your green business, market economically, and find your customers. Cooney points out valuable resources and sage business advice that could make a significant difference for the fledgling green entrepreneur. This book is obviously the result of extensive research and a true passion for a cleaner planet and a better way of doing business. My copy sits on my desk and I refer to it all the time.

Scott Cooney really knows his stuff. His knowledge and passion show in this exhaustively researched, informative tome on such an important subject. Well-organized and easy-to-read, Cooney knows how to inspire the ecopreneur in all of us. From travel planning to sustainability consulting, from organic foods to landscape design, there is something for every interest. Cooney's case studies really bring home the point that this is not only possible but happening now! We can save the world and make a living at the same time. Required reading for anyone worried that business and environmentalism are mutually exclusive.

Loved the book. With the economy the way it is, this book was really relevant for me. I am going to start a green landscaping business and winter is the perfect time to get started. "Build a green small business" had a lot of good ideas for this business and many more.
Good Luck

This book was OK. When I pulled it from the B&N bookshelf I thought I would find a presentation of how to build a small business that was both friendly to the environment and not wasteful of resources. Instead, what I discovered was pretty much just an idea book of the various small businesses that have been or can be run in an environmentally friendly way. These ideas have been grouped by the author as follows:

1. Dry cleaning services & laundromats (2)
2. Ecotourism & related services (3)
3. Entertainments & events (2)
4. House & office services (8)
5. Manufacturing & wholesale production (3)
6. Personal services (6)
7. Publishing & related businesses (3)
8. Retail & food services (7)
9. Retail nonfood operations
10. Services to businesses & nonprofit organizations (6)
11. Other types of green businesses (4)
12. Green franchises & other opportunities

The book is well written, so I will bump its rating up from 3 to 4. But I didn't find all that much value in the book. Owning and operating a small business is tough enough without trying to run it in a "green" way. By calling yourself an ecopreneur you are stacking the deck against yourself in becoming a successful entrepreneur. I think of such a business as trying to play baseball with a cast on your throwing arm. Until the government dictates that all businesses must operate in a green way. And all inhabitants of the US (and probably the world) have to stop wasting resources and polluting the world, then this whole idea of green businesses is kind of out in left field as far as I am concerned.

I would have rated the book with a real 4-star or better if the author had not just presented ideas for small businesses, but also provided an explanation as to how such businesses could realistically be profitable and also make a difference. But I didn't find such prose in this book. And without that I cannot see how this book can provide much value.

If you are someone who wants to become an ecopreneur and you are unclear as to what that entails and how to go about becoming one, then you might find some guidance from this book. However, if you are not already a successful entrepreneur then I doubt you will be successful as an ecopreneur. It's just too difficult to own and operate a small business with a cast on. At least learn to play baseball without a cast first. Then you might want to handicap yourself later. 4 stars!