Inspiration
One Question That Can Grow Your Business
June 6th, 2008 by Bill Baren
One of the main themes I loved at the Sustainable Brands Conference 2008 is that Sustainability is a Journey. The paradigm shift from looking at sustainability as a destination to seeing it as more of a process that never ends has a allowed me to embrace more of my own journey as citizen of this planet and as an entrepreneur.
Sometimes our journey towards innovation and towards a more sustainable world can start with a simple question.
One question that launched a company: “Can a sandal protect your toes?”
The answer was the Keen Newport.
Fast forward less then 5 years, and you’ve got Keen Footwear with sales nearing $150mil per year.
Here are some questions that successful companies have asked:
For Dow Chemical it is, “How do you bring drinking water to every person on this planet?
For Seventh Generation, a socially-responsible company selling environmentally-responsible products for a healthy home, it is, “What does the world most need that we are uniquely qualified to provide?”
For Burgerville, a sustainable fast food chain in the Pacific Northwest, it was, “How can we provide affordable healthcare to every one of our employees?”
And for Green Business Innovators it is, “How can we help 10,000 small and medium sized businesses be more successful by being green?”
Innovation can spring from the desire to answer the question and can serve to unify and inspire your entire team.
What question do you have that can start the next important innovation in your company?
(Imagine photo taken in Prague at the John Lennon wall by Patrick Dominguez)
Interview with Mark Pastore, Founder, Incanto Restaurant
May 25th, 2008 by Bill Baren
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
- When starting a new business, is passion more important then experience?
- Innovation comes from being conscious about what you do and continually asking the question, “How can I do this better every day”
- “Sustainability is leaving the world better off before you touched it.
- How serving foods that aren’t popular can be the best marketing tool you’ve got… a sustainable business is not based on a marketing ploy, it’s simply a commitment to live your life and run your business sustaineably.
LISTEN NOW (press play below)
TRANSCRIPT
Bill Baren:
I’m Bill Baren of Green Business Innovators and I’m here at the back offices of Incanto Restaurant in San Francisco. Incanto is committed to delicious Italian food with sustainable practices. I’m joined by Mark Pastore, the founder and owner of Incanto. Thank you, Mark. Thank you for allowing us to enter your world.
Mark Pastore:
It’s nice to be with you, Bill. Thank you.
Mark Pastore: Sure. I grew up in an Italian-American family and had a life changing experience when I was 21 years old in Italy. I always loved cooking growing up, but when I went to Italy, it made me really think about eating. Europeans eat differently than Americans do. When I came back to the United States, I started a career that lasted about 13 years. But at the back of my mind, I was always interested in food and I would spend all of my spare time reading cookbooks and traveling on food-related vacations. Ultimately, the passion grew strong enough that in 2001, I left my old life and decided to start an Italian restaurant.
Bill Baren: So you’ve made your passion and your love your career these days?
Mark Pastore: Yes, which many people warned me about, but I can’t say that I have any regrets.
Bill Baren: Did you have any formal training or a methodology that you used when you first started?
Mark Pastore: No, I would like to tell people that I’m an untrained professional. I guess, I had started two businesses prior, neither of which had been in the food world. So I had a little bit of background about how to hire people and, hopefully, manage a business. But I was a complete novice to restaurants and to the food world. In fact, I’d never even worked in a restaurant until the day we opened our doors.
Bill Baren: So was that training in the line of fire?
Mark Pastore: It was, I was a deer in the headlights for the first few months, but I’ve been fortunate to be able to work with some exceptionally talented people in this field. I think, why train somebody who’s never been in the business if you can work with really smart people who have more experience than you and you’re going to end up learning.
Bill Baren: So how were you able to come upon these partnerships?
Did You Hit the Snooze-Button Today?
May 21st, 2008 by Bill Baren
In the last 50 years we have increasingly seen major changes in the social, political, economic, scientific and spiritual structures of our society. And in the last 10 years, more people then ever have been empowered to steer the direction of our planet and the people on it.
We are living in a critical time…
Our Ideas ** Our Innovations ** Our Actions
…are going to dictate the course for human kind in the next century and beyond. We can either thrive or perish. We are beginning to wake up to the power we each have to create, to be conscious and to change. Each of us has the power to innovate and push the evolution of human kind forward.
Our planet will be fine. It will adapt. Let’s hope we adapt right with it.
It will take shifts in consciousness and it will take tremendous innovation in order for us to come the next level of our existence.
Crisis is a great catalyst for change. It is vital that we admit that we have a challenge ahead of us and look at this challenge as an opportunity to evolve to create a world of unparalleled abundance for all the people of this planet.
Let’s change our businesses. Let’s change our thinking. Let’s change our planet. Let’s do all that with FEARLESS abandon!
The time is here. The time is NOW. We’re up to the challenge! Come along, join our conversation and INNOVATE.