Andre Joseph Gallant

In a post today, Ecopreneurist asked “How does the Wall Street mess impact ecopreneurs?”

“[T]he real impact of a tight market for money impacts entrepreneurs first.

Businesses need money to grow, to meet short term obligations like payroll and to pay suppliers. The immediate impact of the credit crisis has been increased borrowing costs for short-term loans. For manufacturing based businesses that rely on working capital to fund purchases this creeping interest rate increase means either a profit squeeze or potentially increasing prices which, as we know, should be undertaken with caution in a recessionary climate. For any business with employees, tight credit can mean the ability to meet payroll each month is compromised.”

If the economy tanks as bad as some say it will, if we experience suffering at Great Depression proportions, then the entrepreneur, as well as the ecopreneur, will be in great need. 

Not only will we need new jobs to keep the economy going, an entrepreneur’s innovative spirit will be in high demand.

But that innovative spirit needs to be community oriented and thoughtful of environment and ecology, which may require us to stop using words like venture capital.

In response to the proposed Wall Street bailout, John Ivanko at sustainablog writes:

What about Congress and the Fed investing in an America that offers the kind of America we need for the 21st Century? An America where we purchase things (when we need them) from our neighbors, in our communities, and that are made without destroying the planet or exploiting people in how they’re designed? What about energy independence with renewable energy that does not contribute to climate change or harm ecological systems on which we depend? What about a food system that lessens its addiction to natural gas and oil (used for chemical-based agriculture)? How about a transportation system that reconnects communities by a more energy efficient railroad system and cities that showcase safe bike paths and zoning that encourages people to live closer to where they work (perhaps, even, in a home office). How about a healthcare system where people don’t get sick worrying about it?

Our economic system is so overwhelmed with greed that the notion of a business being a pillar in a community and a sustainer or stakeholder in society has been lost.

An obvious statement, you might say, in the midst of the blame war being fought in headlines and on podiums.

But don’t forget the place consumers have in all this mess: we buy the corporation’s weak products, even the shifty loans; we got so wrapped up in our new Guilded Age and forgot that every gas tank, gallon of milk and t-shirt purchase has repercussions far and wide.  

And despite what Letterman said, the tiny, positive things you do each day matter.

With this in mind, I’ll share some great business ideas found on Springwise.

• my farm – a mix of CSA and urban farming
• your backyard farmer
• spinfarming