Cheap and Easy Secrets to Being Green

Green this and green that. Before the economy free fell, the hottest thing around was keeping the environment cool by acting green (sustainably).

The good news is, being green means a return to the simple life. Not the Paris Hilton one. The real, old fashioned one. Here are some ideas, probably not secrets realistically:

1. Walk. You’ll save on gym and transportation fees and enjoy getting to know your area.
2. Get to the farmer’s market at the end of the day. Eat well and eat less. You can afford organic and will likely get a discount if you arrive just before the farmers are packing up for the day.
3. Re-invent leftovers. Almost everything can become a stirfry. And a stirfry can become ingredients for an omelette. Eggs for dinner. Yummy, cheap, and fun.
4. Get and give on Freecycle. Free what? If you don’t know of this resource, immediately check out Freecycle.org. It’s a karmic exchange where you can de-clutter and share, while requesting things you need—all for free.
5. Check SustainLane for more ideas and shopping tips.
6. Wear warm clothes in the house. I’ve lived in drafty old Victorians in California, where I enjoy bundling up indoors. In colder climates I often find blasting heat is the norm. Moderate wherever you live and enjoy the feeling of being bundled up indoors.
7. Borrow and lend to your neighbors. Do you really need your own weed wacker? Throw a block party and sign up to share various tools and machinery that you don’t need all the time. Less for the landfill. More for your bank account.
8. City folk? Join the urban garden movement. Whether you have a 1×1 foot dirt area, pots on a terrace, or a small yard, explore the many ways people are “growing their own” for good taste and economy.

Ask questions or add more tips here. I’d personally like to help you live sustainably on a budget!

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Want to Own Your Own Cafe? Things Not to Do…

You’ve made a goal on your life list to open a coffee shop. Every time you’re in a great cafe you think about the coffee shop you’ll open one day.

When planning your big dream, focus on the details. It’s the details that make or break a small business. Based on a cafe I visited recently, I quickly compiled this list of “don’ts.”

5. Forego a bathroom unless you really want your customers to grab and go. An old cartoon that still makes me chuckle: “How can a cafe serve bran muffins and coffee and not have a bathroom?” I wonder what the cartoonist was doing when he wrote this.

4. Scatter bibles around the cafe unless you’re targeting only a certain demographic. The bible example comes from the cafe I visited recently. Once I sat down I glanced around and wondered exactly who owned this cafe. Same idea goes with other materials or decorations. If your goal is to express yourself or appeal to certain types of people, make that decision as part of the business plan instead of by mistake.

3. Open late, close early. Morning = coffee time. Evening = coffee time if you’re near a college. Know your customer, their habits, the competition, and when you’ll get the most traffic. Post the hours outside. What about copying some online techniques like a “feedback form” so people who arrive when you’re closed can say they wished you’d been open?

2. Make a naming blunder which could include negative associations or being hard to spell. The cafe I visited had a spelling like: Ccool Cat Coffee (not the real name). But you get the idea. Like any business concept, test it out with a few people and use their feedback to adjust your name.

1. Have really bad coffee then make up a nonsensical reason why the coffee isn’t up to par with, at least, a gas station.

Start with some research to learn how to do things right. Or explore coffee franchises, which can remove a lot of the guesswork!

My Pics of Great Coffees

I may not own a cafe but I certainly have done my research!

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Top 10 Goals List Leads 21 Year Old to Success

Inc. Magazine has a great profile of an entrepreneur who found success by focusing on his goals, after reading The Power of Positive Thinking, by Norman Vincent Peale:

“Flat broke at the age of 21, Joe Cirulli made a list of 10 things he wanted to accomplish in life. One by one, he pulled them off — and built a health and fitness empire.”

Whether you think positively about Cirulli himself, the story is yet another confirmation of setting goals and sticking to them! Read The Believer…

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Turning Your Passion Into a Business

Recently I engaged in a discussion about chocolate with someone where I rattled off my extensive chocolate resume.

Her response: “With all that passion around chocolate I am surprised to hear you’re not more involved. ”

Tis true. I first dipped chocolate as a tyke. I worked for several years at a chocolate store. My MBA thesis related to chocolate. I’m a chocolate industry trivia nerd. I’ve thought about starting a chocolate business. The list goes on and on.

Why have I not done so?

Because whenever I embark on anything new in life, I imagine the realities of the outcome.

When the pedal hits the metal, there’s much to NOT like about running a chocolate business. As I mentioned in my blog post about test driving things, I’ve been there and don’t want to do that.

A chocolate making business entails:

• Perfection (When I make chocolate, it usually comes out with those grey stripes. And I don’t care.)
• Quality control and carefully managing demand (Or risk losing big $$$)
• Temptation day in and day out (Who needs that?!)

And no, I don’t get sick of chocolate. So fear of diabetes and weight gain is always there.

The question of whether to pursue artistic endeavors—as well as Internet passion projects like SuperViva (which I do think has a viable business model but went on my “back burner.”*) To which I ask myself: Do I want to make a living from them. Or do I just want them “out there,” and that is the raison d’etre.

[*Based on a comment someone made I wanted to clarify I meant pursuing SuperViva as my sole work and income went on the backburner. Not the site itself which we are going to get up ASAP and will notify everyone right away when it's up.]

Barbara Sher promotes a concept of having a “good enough job.”

That’s a job that will pay the bills and enable you to pursue your passions on the side. While ideally you will love your work, the idea is that you have a job that enables you to enjoy your passions without forcing them to be the way you earn a living.

Envision the Incarnations Your Passion Could Take

Often when people think of a chocolate or other food business like a bakery, a store or a stand at the farmer’s market comes to mind. The hours can be grueling. Consumers are fickle. If people say restaurants are hard business, these may be even harder.

There are so many ways to pursue an interest as a business. Ask yourself:
1) What do you want to get out of it?
2) What don’t you want?
3) What will it be like in day to day reality? Would you get tired of it? Does it provide the lifestyle you want?

My “requirements” for a money-making chocolate endeavor would include:

• Knowing people are enjoying my creations through firsthand input or getting feedback.
• No worries about storing chocolate or keeping it intact (like at an outdoor venue).
• Flexibility, not wanting to be in a store all the time.
• Varieties of chocolate that could withstand flaws
• Avoiding down times like the slow summer season.
• The chance to interact with customers.
• It’s not my only work, as I don’t think it would be fulfilling compared to the work I do now.

Options could be:

• A seasonal business that closes for the summer
• English toffee or candied fruit…varieties that are all weather friendly!
• Wholesaling to caterers or cafes etc
• Chocolate on demand or for special occasions only
• Giving chocolate making classes
• Having a “learn to make chocolate” party business

As it stands, I still have many interests that override my desire to start a chocolate business. Instead, I’m throwing a chocolate-making party like the one at the top of this post. And much like my last chocolate party, it will fulfill many of the things I would seek in a chocolate business, only for a much briefer time. Voila!

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Have you turned your “passion into profit?” Or chosen not to do so?

More importantly, are you drooling over the numerous mentions of chocolate?

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