It's Getting Easier Being Green

I am the founder and managing partner of Eco Home Improvement, a retail showroom in the San Francisco Bay Area that sells paints, flooring, wall coverings, kitchen cabinetry, and countertops that are eco-friendly and safe for people to use. My business took shape in my final semester at Presidio School of Management in San Francisco, where I was part of the first graduating class in this new MBA program dedicated to integrating social and environmental values with the application of practical business (see BW Online, 7/15/05, "It's Getting Easier Being Green").

I saw the intersection of quality, price, and style in eco-friendly products and an underserved market of people who care about their health and the environment. So, just days after graduating, I put my business plan into action. After scouring for months with my managing partner, Nina Boeddeker -- a pharmacist and biologist whom I met while working at Gilead Sciences (GILD ), a biopharmaceutical company that develops drugs to treat HIV and hepatitis B and C, among other illnesses -- we found the perfect storefront on a busy, up-and-coming street in Berkeley. We opened on Nov. 9, 2005.

SPREADING THE WORD.  Our products come from my online research, trade shows, and dealers looking for showrooms. Before we sell them, Nina determines if the products meet safety standards, such as having a low volatile organic compound (VOC) finish or releasing a minimal amount of chemicals in the home. Nina and I also ask the manufacturers a series of questions and look for third-party certifications from places like the Forest Stewardship Council, which confirm the manufacturers' commitment to the environment and people's health.

I manage the day-to-day operations, sales, brand management, and the long-term vision and goals. Nina manages the finances and our two employees. We have been relying mainly on word of mouth and a number of trade shows and green building events -- where people interested in promoting the construction of environmentally responsible homes and workplaces gather -- to get our name out to the public. In just three weeks, and with limited marketing, we are already serving upward of 100 customers a week.

So, what's in a day of an eco-entrepreneur? Here's my typical schedule:

7:15 a.m.-- Off to work. I leave the Toyota (TM ) Prius and biodiesel truck at home and start my morning by walking three short blocks to the store. My first step is going through the to-do list for the day. I need to start with this because once we open, it gets busy with customers and it's easy to lose track of goals.

8:00 a.m. -- A delivery comes in. It's the kitchen cabinetry display. The door displays are not FSC certified with zero VOC finishes. I call the dealer to request a different item from the "Naturals Collection" line. I then pull the display onto the floor and set up. With so many inquiries, I need something on the floor to represent the cabinetry we're selling, but how do I tell the customer that the display is not eco-friendly?

8:30 a.m.-- I rearrange the storage room. Several of our flooring customers prefer to have their flooring delivered to our store instead of their homes. But our storage space is limited, so I need to move things around in there. In my planning, I assumed the floors would be largely shipped to customers' homes. How nice it looked on paper. So now, I'm measuring to see how much room I'll have to install racks to hold boxes of flooring.

9:00 a.m.-- A photographer arrives and we work to get my vision across. We are shooting photos of the store and our Paint Bar, a unique structure that provides a space for customers to spend time selecting colors through color wheels, swatches, and books while sipping tea and listening to music. I want these photos to capture the essence of the experience we are trying to create, a warm and inviting place to spend time creating a home with eco-friendly products.

9:30 a.m.-- I have to go pick up the vendor of one of my more complicated products, so I leave the store to walk home to get my car. The vendor is flying in from Los Angeles to give us a two-hour training session on his products, which are formulated for people with chemical sensitivities. I spend the first 30 minutes discussing the packaging and shipment of the products and suggesting ways for improvement.

10:00 a.m.-- We are open. Nathan, currently a contractor and soon-to-be employee, arrives. The photographer is finishing the morning shoot. I am deep into learning about the chemicals in paint, stains, and cleaners, as well as how to actually use the products. Having a background in chemistry - I was a biochemistry major as an undergraduate - is certainly helping here.

11:30 a.m.-- Training wraps up and I start to draft a full-time employment offer letter for Nathan to have him assist with the management of the Paint Bar and stocking and receiving. I look up industry averages and payroll burden information, and I make phone calls to similar retail stores to find out just how expensive it is to hire an employee. All the while, I am answering phones and helping customers.

12:30 p.m.-- A customer calls to request 50 gallons of paint. Yolo Colorhouse Paints, a zero VOC, Green Seal approved paint, was recently featured in Sunset, a West Coast lifestyle magazine known for setting trends, and we are the only Bay Area dealer. In a phone call with Yolo we work out an efficient solution to fulfill the order. I call the customer back and we seal the deal.



1:15 p.m.-- A flooring sale. A customer drove 75 miles to our store after I quoted him a competitive bamboo flooring price. Since this is my first time placing a flooring order, I call the vendor and have him work through the procedure with me.

2:00 p.m.-- A bevy of customers come in. I answer all types of inquiries: "What is ecological paint?" "How do I seal the off-gassing in my home?" "How much is your eco-flooring?" "Who installs eco-flooring without using toxic glues?" "How does this paint hold up?" "What color goes with this color?"

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