There are some fast growing franchises embracing the “go green”-related practices and policies that attract environmentally-conscious franchisees.
The fastest growing green franchise categories
According to an article on Entrepreneur.com, there are three fastest growing areas:
- Areas of public concern: This includes energy conservation and recycling. Some offer federal tax incentives or incorporate significant recycling programs for the products they sell, which brings in additional retail business. Areas of public concern franchise companies include Cartridge World USA and Solar Power Inc.
- Home and personal care: There are green solutions in car washing, house cleaning, lawn care – Solutions like house cleaning services that use nontoxic cleaning solutions and better waste disposal practices. Home and personal care franchise companies include The Cleaning Authority and Ecowash Mobile.
- Food service: Environmentally friendly eateries and other businesses in the category range from those built entirely around being sustainable to those that perform a specific green function, such as helping restaurants filter used cooking oil for reuse. Food service franchise companies include Pizza Fusion and Spoon Me.
Green franchises stumbling blocks
However, one issue is looming in the midst of all the hype surrounding green franchises:
Can green franchises prove themselves to be ‘legitimately green’, thus rewarding franchisees who are not only seeking monetary achievements, but also the socially ones?
From the same Entrepreneur.com article, Joel Libava – the Franchise King – warns that while the right franchise opportunities can be rewarding for green franchisees, some franchisees may ignore good business practices if they become too enamored with the green concept.
Mr. Libava adds that it is challenging for the green franchisees to evaluate the ‘green practices’ of the green franchises – While established franchise categories can be evaluated with traditional benchmarks, evaluating new franchise businesses can be tricky, because newer products and services may not have the objective success criteria that more established business sectors have.
Being tricky means more risks for the franchisees. Green franchisees need to do their due diligence, evaluating everything to minimise the risks.
And, again, there is no such thing as 95% success rate in franchising – This also applies to green franchises, no matter how prospective they are.
Ivan Widjaya
Green franchising
Image by James Cridland.
