Crisis as an opportunity
Every change is an opportunity if we are wise enough to recognize it and fast enough to implement our ideas into reality. One of the changes that we can benefit from is the transition from fossil-fuel to renewable energy sources. The world is on its first step into the transition to green energy technology – baby steps, if we can say like that. There are many opportunities that can be exploited. Here, we will represent to you a green business idea that you can start with less than $10,000.
“EcoHome” will be a company that will represent a good example of how you can sell technology that will help regular people to live healthier and greener lives in harmony with our environment.
The basic business idea
EcoHome noticed three things. First is that the standard technology that we use for electric and energy supply for our modern cities and towns damages our environment. Based on that, governments all around the world have started with the implementation of “ecological law” that incentivises companies and householders to transfer to green energy sources. Standard technology to greener, renewable technology that has less negative impact on our environment.
Secondly, EcoHome noticed that our modern cities, towns and even some villages are already damaged. The air that we breathe is full of dust and toxins and people need better technology not just for energy supply but they also need technology that will provide them a better standard of life – a healthier life.
Finally, in the wake of the energy crisis that occurred this year, EcoHome decided to sell its AC power bank, which will help people to have at least some amount of electric energy in reserve.
That’s why “EcoHome” creates two main services and sells two types of technologies to its clients. First one is related to environmental protection by selling greener technology that does not have a negative impact on the environment. And the second group of products are related to human health like air cleaners, water cleaners, etc.
The first group of products are solar panels and a power bank. The second type of products that are related to a healthier lifestyle are air and water filters.
With these two types of product, “EchoHome” will cover two types of industry that are in high demand: renewable energy tech and healthcare technology, both of which are crucial for our life and environment in the days to come. That’s because our tempo of life every day creates a bigger and bigger “social distance” from the natural and normal way of life. The modern way of life takes us away from normal life. Plus, our technology that must supply every human being with basic needs destroyed our planet. So, doing this business will not just help you to use the current energy and healthcare crisis to make good revenue, but it will help people to live better and save our planet from climate disaster.
So, let’s see what is the first step to make this eco dream into a sustainable reality!
EcoHome’s main products
The main product of the company will be solar panels. As a small startup company, you don’t need to offer the most expensive options like fully-equipped solar panels technology with high prices. You can do the absolutely opposite: you can offer a small, affordable-to-everyone offer so that anyone can buy it. For example, you can offer mini solar panels that can be connected to a phone or laptop so that customers can charge it in their living room, terrace or during picnics.
Also, you can offer a power bank that can supply devices like computers, phones, lights and have enough energy if a situation like in China occurs where people stay without electricity for a long period of time. This AC power bank has solar panels installed, so they can be charged without electricity. This represents a good example of greener technology.
Water and air filters are also good investments for your company as people want to live longer and healthier. Devices like this basically become mandatory if we want to survive in cities full of dust and toxins.
These four products are enough to start selling, but let’s see first where you can find and purchase products like these.
Get “EcoHome” products in stocks
These days, if you have a decent internet connection and credit card, you can start your company from a living room. That’s exactly the place where the “EchoHome” will start its journey. And the internet connection is exactly what you need to get products for your company.
Let’s speak about the main company product and how to get it. If you plan to start selling, you must have a few pieces of each device that you have offered to people. The simplest way to get a product for your company is to go to Alibaba’s website. It’s a website where you can buy any product that you want to sell. All you need is a business bank card and a few dollars to start. Manufacturing companies all around the world compete with each other on this website to sell you their products. That means that there’s plenty of choice when it comes to price, quality and functionality of the product. If you, for example, want to order 50 pieces of solar panels to have in stock before promoting to customers, you can choose between plenty of different suppliers. Here is an example of a few different options for the same product.
Sunpal Power offers a Solar Panel with the cost of $0.215-$0.225/watt – with a minimum quantity order of one piece. Logically, the more panels you order, the cheaper it will be and you will earn more by selling it to the customers. On the other side, companies like Bluesun Solar offer a Solar Panel with a price of $100-$89/watt – depending on how many pieces you order. With that difference, Bluesun Solar put a limit on a 10 piece minimum quantity order. It’s up to you to choose the best option between the price and quality of product you buy, and what you want to offer to future customers.
Cost of start
The main cost for you will be to buy the product in advance and have it in stock, which is the main expense, then to promote your company, to open a functional and practical website and to register a company. Let’s start with the first one: buying products that you will sell.
You can do it in many ways, from “old fashion” buying it from local stores in your town, to a smaller e-commerce specialized company or buy using a service of giants such as Alibaba, Global Sources or Allbiz company.
If you want to find your best product supplier and compare it, we suggest that you visit this website, where you can find plenty of e-commerce websites and choose the right one for you.
In this article, we will use Alibaba’s website as an example. So, let’s say that you want to buy 30 pieces of each product: solar panels, water and air filters and the AC power bank devices. On average, each piece costs $50, which is $6,000 in product investments. After that, you would need to open a website. A good website average costs from $100-$1,000 depending on your needs. As we want to put the maximum price here, so we will not have an unpleasant surprise, let’s say you will need the most expensive option, as you will promote your products worldwide.
Now we come to the price of $7,000. Furthermore, you will need to promote your company. As these days people mostly spend time on social networks, all your focus and money should be put there. If you invest $1,500 in your marketing campaign that will last for two months at Facebook, you will reach 4,000-12,000 people per day, with a conversation rate of 10 clients.
You don’t need to hire a professional agency for your marketing campaign. If you invest a month of your time, you can pass Google’s “Digital Marketing Course” and HubSpot’s “Social media marketing”, which is mainly created for entrepreneurs who start a business, and you can do it by yourself.
And the last but not least is registration of the company which costs around $100-200.
With all of this we come to a number of $8,500.
The last thing before you start a business is creating promotion video material which you can use for your website and social media advertising. Video is one of the best forms of promotion as its visuals, sound effect and video can demonstrate much more in one minute than a textual format. Depending on your need, a video also can cost from $100-500. In our case we will count the maximum, which leads us to $1,000 cash in reserve. It’s not a fortune, but it’s not bad either for a startup company.
Here you are at the end of this blog, which means that you are very serious when it comes to opening a new company. After you finish reading this blog, register your company, start to sell your products and make your company greener and more energy efficient, there’s nothing more to say from our side than an honest…
… Good luck! 🙂