I spent Friday attending the GoGreen expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center; meeting people, checking out the scene and generally observing how people are branding and marketing their “green” businesses. As expected, the display booths ran the gamut from those pursuing meaningful contributions, to the occasional “greenwashing” , to those you might find at any craft show across the country.

What stood out was the significant amount of companies with decent ideas, yet their presentations failed to address a few basic questions:

• What exactly do you do?
• How are you different from the next booth over?
• Why does your product matter to me?

If developing a new business was as simple as developing an innovative product, many more companies would succeed. As it turns out, helping people understand the story behind your product and why they should care about it, is every bit as important as the product itself. Unfortunately, this is why so many more companies with great aspirations and products fail to reach their full potential.

POSTED BY Ben
FILE UNDER: Business, Ideas, Sustainability