Small Business Owners Willing to Pay More for ‘Green’ Products

The latest survey results from the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index reveal that two-thirds of small business owners surveyed say they would be willing to pay more for goods and services to run their businesses if they knew they were environmentally-friendly. I don’t know about you, but I certainly was surprised to see the above headline in yesterdays EARTHtimes. Big companies I can understand, with all the media pressure and public scrutiny, it’s no surprise to see massive enterprises launching a ‘green’ initiative. Plus, In a large corporation, certain ‘green’ initiatives can actually trigger an accelerated ROI. In other words, large scale socially responsible actions at major enterprises can be tantamount to increased savings, and in some cases actually help the bottom line. For example, replacing your existing power supplies with more efficient alternatives could save a large server US$50,000 a year for a 400-server datacenter. But, how long will it take the little guy to realize those savings? Probably more time than it’s worth. But yet, here they are willing to go the extra mile, even if it costs more, to show their customers they care about the environment. I think that speaks volumes about our global culture and the positive direction we are headed in. It would be really nice to see the small business owners rewarded for their efforts. Many small business owners have concerns that their customers being reluctant to share the added costs. Fewer than half (43 percent) of all small business owners surveyed believe their customers would be willing to pay more for environmentally-friendly goods and services, while one in every two (49 percent) did not think their customers would be willing to pay more. What do you think, would consumers pay more; and, if so, how much? Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com Joshua Levitt Text/image Syndicate the Green Your Network Blog via RSS