An Insider's Experiences with Environmental Entrepreneurship

Most entrepreneurial principles apply to environmental ventures as well.Ecopreneurship (i.e., environmental entrepreneurship) is outlined from a practical and an academic perspective, based on previous research.Environmental businesses are classified in four categories:nature-oriented enterprises, producers of environmental technology, providers of environmental management services, and producers of environmentally friendly products. Each classification is discussed in terms of the drivers (geographical influences, reason for market emergence, degree of enforcement) that influence their existence.Three major barriers to ecopreneurship--the challenge of market creation, financing barriers, and ethics-based decision making--are described, and implications are discussed.A typology of ecopreneurs is created based on a desire to change the world and a desire to make money.Concluding remarks provide an overview of these drivers and barriers and explain how they contribute to the market-creation difficulties experienced by environmental businesses as compared to non-environmental businesses. (AKP)