Entrepreneur Spotlight - BuildWithGreenProducts.com

BuildWithGreenProducts.com is a resource website that allows you to search for Green Building Materials (we do not sell the products) in a variety of categories.  You can search the different categories, compare features from different manufacturers and visit the manufacturer’s website to find out more about their product and where to buy their products. There are more products being added all the time as we work to get all categories populated. There are products listed such as cabinet knobs made from recycled material, countertops made from glass or other products, Energy Star appliances and many, many more. Whether you are building new, remodeling, adding on to your existing home or just replacing a product in your home, you can use the database to find the perfect Green products.

This site does not define what Green is since everyone has their own opinions and criteria for what green means to them. What may be Green for you may not be Green for someone else. The site is designed to allow you to find and compare products easily and to make your own determination if a product may be something for you to consider. For example, bamboo products may be green to one person because it is a rapidly renewable resource, but to another it is not green since it typically needs to be shipped overseas.  We do strive to make sure the product has a green attribute that will save energy, save water, save resources or provide improved or healthy indoor air quality.  A lot of products also have third party certifications such as Energy Star or WaterSense.

While on the site, you can read reviews of products or add a review of your own if you have used the product.  You can also share a product so that it can get listed for others to consider or use.  We are also working on additional enhancements and features for the site and our users.

You can also follow us on Twitter so that you can be notified when new products are added to the site - http://twitter.com/bwgp

Q&A

Q. Why did you start your business and what niche does it fill?
A. While working in a home building partnership where we were building green houses, I was having trouble identifying and comparing products from different manufacturers.  There are some websites where you had to pay in order to view more of the product and others that provide you with some descriptions of products.  You can also visit manufacturer’s websites to find the features of products.  What I couldn’t find was a website that allowed the user to compare products side by side without toggling back and forth and then trying to compare more than 2 products was almost mind boggling.  What I felt was needed was a place where users could go to find products and compare them side by side and see which product works best for their needs.  For example, you can view up to 6 bath faucets side by side to see what the flow rate is, which one has the hole spread you need, etc.  Or you can find different reclaimed flooring products, see the features listed and visit the company’s website to learn more about how they reclaim the material and where it comes from.

Q. How did you finance your business?
A.  Building a basic website is fairly easy when using online tools from sites such as Go Daddy, however, the site that I envisioned had a little more to it.  We wanted to be able to compare products, have featured products and more, so we invested our own money into hiring a website design company and worked with them to create what you see today.  Although we tried to get additional funding through the typical channels, we found that since we were not selling the products and didn’t need large sums of capital, we were turned down.  There are many enhancements we want to incorporate into the site and are working on trying to find additional funding or partners as well as putting all money made from the site through advertising back into the site.

Q. Who are your customers?
A. While we don’t have the traditional customer where someone purchases an item, the site is tailored so that anyone can use it.  We have users such as home builders, architects, interior designers, subcontractors, suppliers, and homeowners or do-it-yourselfers.  We have users visiting the site from the United States (about 90%) as well as various other countries such as India, Russia, England and many more.

Q. What are the most critical things you have done to grow your business?
A. Creating a business plan on what direction the company was to go in and how we intend to get there is a driving force behind what we do each day.  We want to make sure we work towards those goals and continue to provide a positive experience on the website.

   Interviewing and selecting the best website developer that both fit our budget and understood what we are working towards was also key.  They asked the questions needed in order for them to understand what we were trying to accomplish and were very receptive to our changes, enhancements as well as when we found issues with what they had done.

   Getting the word out about the website – since we are just a resource website and we do not currently sell any of the products on it, our revenue stream is based off of the amount of traffic we have coming to our site daily.  We utilize a search optimization strategy to help us show up on searches (which is a long process), we have joined numerous social websites where we talk about our website and what we have to offer.  We have asked for others to link to our site, advertised on other sites, written articles regarding green building.  The basic thing is getting the word out – whether you have a store front, a website that sells products or a resource website, you need people to know about you and what you have to offer.  Customer service is a large factor as well.  We are receptive to criticism as well as take into consideration opinions on how we can become better at what we are offering.  We would like to have a large budget to advertise but since we don’t, we rely on as much free advertising we can get.

Q. How have you used social media tools like LinkedIn to grow your business?
A. Since we do not have a large advertising budget, we take advantage of social networking opportunities out there.  The one we take most advantage of currently is LinkedIn.  We started a group called Green Building Products where we currently have over 500 members and joined a variety of other groups that are in the construction industry or involved in the green movement.  We post updates in the discussion sections about once per month to let the new members or the group know about the website as well as provide a short update to those that already know about us. 

   We have advertised on Facebook with minimal success.  You can get your ad in front of a large number of people for a small amount of money and you can set limits on what you want to spend, which is awesome for a site like ours where money is tight for advertising.

   We use Twitter to allow our interested followers to know when we have added a product to the site so that they can visit and see the product.  We also have asked our followers to help get the word out to their followers that we exist.

   Using all of these tools, according to Go Daddy Site Analytics, our unique visitor statistics has grown by about 54% in the last three months and our page views has grown by about 95%.

Q. What are three pieces of advice you would offer entrepreneurs starting out today?
A. It comes down to the basics - we are in a down economy that has some indications of improving, but you need to get back to basics.

   Have a good business plan – even if your business is building custom dog houses, or providing custom software services, a good business plan maps out where you are and where you want to be and helps keep you focused.

   Provide a great customer experience for all of you customers and listen to the feedback generated by your customers.  Don’t be the one that says “It will be done tomorrow” and then not deliver on that statement – be honest with your customers and have the courtesy to contact them if you are not going to meet a deadline or appointment.  They will appreciate it much more and remember you in the future.

Become an expert in your business field.  Write articles about your field or your product.  There are plenty of article submission sites on the internet that you can submit material to for free.  Seek out media and submit your company information to them – you may not get contacted but it can’t hurt to try.  Take advantage of free advertising on social websites, blogging, articles, and anything you can think of – the more people you reach, the more potential customers you have.  Leave no stone unturned.

Q. How does your business "give back" to the community or to society?
A.  While we don’t give back to the community in the traditional monetary sense, we do feel we provide an invaluable resource that people can use to find products that take less energy to run or make, saves our water resources, provides healthy indoor air as well as save our natural resources by helping users find reclaimed materials that do not need to be harvested.  We should all work to save our resources and help save our planet for many generations to come.

Q. How and why was it important to base your business in the Triangle area?
A.  Our business is home based, so it is easy to have anywhere in the country, however, as we looked into areas that we wanted to relocate to, the Triangle area quickly rose to the top of our list.  There is a greater green movement in this area than in other parts of the state or country.  There are tremendous schools and universities in the area.  The area just has everything we were looking for from a personal and family standpoint as well as from a business standpoint with all of the Green opportunities, businesses and the general movement in the area.

To Contact BuildWithGreenProducts.com Click Here

Written by :

Greg Hyer