Wednesday, 22 July 2009 12:30 by
MonicaFIt's time to relax a little bit, and stop, and think. What is valuable to you? What do you find soothing, relaxing, energizing, entertaining, or engaging? What inspires you to be green and to share your respect and care for the planet with others in your community?
Delivering value is what your business is all about.
If you're building a green business, what do you offer that's valuable to your customers?
If you're interested in starting up your business, what unique green product or service do you believe in --- enough that you will launch your company to create, build, distribute, and share it?
The more you create systems for your business, the more you will be able to sell of your particular process, product or service, because the whole enterprise is no longer dependent on just one person.
As a green woman in business and as an entrepreneur, your task is to create a system that delivers valuable products and services to your customer. Your primary objective is to convert your time and unique knowledge into a physical item or experience that makes life better for your client.
A lot of this requires dreaming, thinking, believing, and envisioning what your successful green business "looks like" so I encourage you to meditate. Take a moment to envision what makes you happy about participating in our economy -- what do you feel good about buying? What do you feel good about selling? Do those items contribute to the health and well-being of our planet?
Your task as you grow your business is to work "on the business" more than you work "in the business"-- just because you're a good electrician, or cakemaker, or child care provider, or gardener, does not mean that you can grow your electrician, or cakemaking, or child care, or gardening business into something beyond your personal self.
My advice is to find a way to create a "widget" (a product, service, tool, or monthly membership plan) --- that you sell to a wider audience. A widget is an instructional video, or a recipe book, or a franchise informational service, or a set of landscaping plans--- it's anything that takes your knowledge and distills it into a sellable format.
In your own business, figure out what is your underlying metric and think about how to increase it: if you're currently serving 10 people, what will it take for you to serve 1000? If your current market is 1,000 core customers, what products or services are valuable to a marketplace of 10,000 customers and more?
Let's think entrepreneurially by understanding what would create more value to our customers, then let's create systems, products, and services that serve more and more people. Then we'll have a successful business model that will expand and help others. If we "keep it green" all of us will ultimately benefit our planet.
What can you do to reach more people in your own business? There are many different solutions. Pick one answer and start fine-tuning it! And if you need ideas, please let me know -- I'm always open to learning and sharing.
List your green business for free in the national directory at www.greenbusinesswomen.com. Follow me on Twitter at @monicadear and let me know about your green business!
Monica S. Flores of 
is committed to educating, empowering, and connecting women in business -- she believes in the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profits. She is available for consulting on web development, green business practices, and women in business.
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