If you want to enter the business world without burning a hole in your pocket and polluting the environment with its fumes, low cost, eco-friendly franchises can show you the way. Read on to know how you can earn money while doing your bit to keep the env
In the times where renewable sources of energy are becoming scarce by the day, where the need to look for alternate sources of energy is gaining momentum by the hour and where the chorus to save the environment is growing by the minute, entering a business that answers to all these calls is a good idea.
Welcome to the world of eco-friendly ventures that can be set up with small investment.
From home accessories to clothing, from office machinery to auto industry, the need to decrease the carbon footprint is being felt everywhere. Though green businesses form a significantly small portion of various industries, the trend is slowly and steadily catching on. And when the investment to set up such a business is less, it becomes all the more lucrative!
Consider this Lucrative & pollution-free ride
With a vision to offering efficient, economical and eco-friendly transport mode to the Indian commuter, Lohia Auto Industries was established in the year 2008, with two models of electric bike. Five years on, the company has more than 35 dealers in the states of Delhi, UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, J&K and Gujarat. Lohia Auto Industries is now looking to expand its business throughout the country.
“We provide our franchisees with assistance in all aspects of locating and setting up. This assistance includes demographics and on site visits, regulatory approvals, architecture and design, etc. A comprehensive training is provided to all the dealers on service operations, which will cover quality checks, accounting, customer service standards, etc. We advertise via different media in coordination with dealers”, says Ayush Lohia, CEO, Lohia Auto Industries.
Lohia further elaborates: “These bikes require no maintenance, no license or registration. The running cost is as low as 10paise per km. With better technology and government support, the electric two- wheeler (ETW) segment is experiencing a steady growth. The ETW market is about 1.8 lakh vehicles per annum. This represents about 1.6per cent of the total two- wheeler market in India. This market is growing at over 64per cent YoY (2011) at a CAGR of 31per cent (2009-2011).”
Talking about the competition in the industry, Lohia opines: “The electric vehicle market in India is small even by the standards of the fledgling global industry. But electric motorbikes, like their conventional gas-powered counterparts, generally sell better than cars here.”
Wealth of beautiful & healthy homes
Here's a healthy alternative to chemical based wall paints- Decor Coat, which provides environment friendly and unique three dimensional textured decoration materials for interior walls.
Discovered by Meenakshi and Pulek Agrawal, in one of the hotels while travelling abroad, DécorCoat is natural, odourless and easy to apply. It also covers cracks on the walls unlike paint or wallpaper and can be cleaned up easily with water.
With seven years of experience in interior designing, and good feedback from retail customers, interior designers and architects, Meenakshi and Pulek Agrawal now want to decorate walls throughout India.
“We have planned detailed training for our franchisees covering the application procedure. We'll support them with marketing at national level and any other kind of local support that they might require”, says Meenakshi Agrawal, Managing Director, Resources Enterprises Pvt Ltd.
According to a recent research by Market Research.com on BRIC countries, the interior products industry in India is increasing at a CAGR of 9.99 per cent.
With people becoming more aware of advantages of eco-friendly products, Resource Enterprises feels that in future, chemical based products used for interior decoration will lose their shine.
Agrawal says: “DécorCoat's USP lies in being an eco-friendly product. Also, it doesn't need any specialist for its application. Anybody can apply it easily; it is a do-it-yourself (DIY) product.”
Warming up to solar power richness
With electricity bills rocketing through the roof, solar energy is being tapped for both industrial and domestic use.
Bhambri Enterprises, an ISO 9001:2008 certified company which has a nationwide dealership network, is looking for franchisees/ dealers to partner with.
Pioneering in Evacuated Tube solar collectors in India, Bhambri Enterprises has established a name for itself in the solar product market, as a one-stop solution for all solar needs.
It was the vision and realisation that electricity prices will shoot up in the country that led to Biren Bhambri, Managing Director of the company, coming up with such an idea, nine years back.
Bhambri Enterprises is about to open two franchise outlets this month and four others within this year. They plan to take the number of franchise outlets to 200, pan-India.
“We provide technical training of all products to our franchisees. Training for marketing of the products and after-sales service is also provided. One week onsite training in Delhi and one month training at franchisees' premises are also arranged for. Extensive advertising support is also extended. A relationship manager would be there to support the franchisees for all back end purposes on a daily basis”, says Bhambri.
Benefitting from styling babies organically
Nino Bambino is a young brand that aims to provide 100 per cent organic cotton, chemical free, sustainable and affordable clothing for babies. With over 8 years of experience in garment manufacturing, Vickram Kumar decided to introduce eco- friendly, organic baby apparel for the Indian market in 2012. With good online response, the company now wants to dress babies all over the country offline as well. At the moment Nino Bambino is operating via the dealer distributor model but is open to franchising as well.
“Good location is a must-have for our potential franchisees. They must have experience in selling garments, preferably kids' clothing and should be financially stable. Franchisees can expect product knowledge, training material and market knowledge from us. We'll also provide customer support executive, who will make personal visits at regular intervals”, says Vickram Kumar, Director, Sales & Marketing, Nino Bambino.
With awareness about organic clothing on the rise and parents ready to splurge on their babies, this may be a good opportunity to latch onto!
Reap early-bird benefits
At present, the eco-friendly industry is at a nascent stage in India, but expanding steadily. So investors can hope to reap early-bird benefits. Go green!
Business Opportunities
Our Group Sites
Popular Cities
