How to Save Money and the Environment

By Greg Nathan posted September 16, 2012

Three of the most frustrating costs for franchisees at the moment are power, wages and rentals. This morning I attended a fascinating talk by greenbizcheck franchisee, Justin Lee, at an FCA breakfast. Justin shared a number of tips for reducing power costs by 25% to 40%, while also doing our bit for the environment. While I thought it was going to be a boring talk on the Carbon Tax, it was a punchy session with clues on how to add significant value to your franchisees and your brand.

Most people aren’t doing these things

The following seven tips shared by Justin are relevant to us all at home and work.. While most are simple, cost free and obvious, a show of hands in the room indicated no-one was doing most of them.

  1. Switch off the lights when a room is not in use. How often do we leave lights on when no-one is around?
  2. Turn off your IT equipment, computers and printers when they are not in use, particularly at the end of the day.
  3. Turn off electrical items at the power point when they are not in use for extended periods, e.g. DVD players, stereos, washing machines. These still use what is called “phantom power”.
  4. Disable screen savers from your computers. Allow the screens to go blank when they are not in use.
  5. Adjust heating and cooling settings on air conditioners to be at more moderate levels. Heating is fine at around 20 and cooling at 24.
  6. If you are in retail, replace halogen down lights and shop lighters with the new LED technology lights. These use less power, don't emit heat or radiation and are cheaper to run. (There is government assistance available in some States to replace light bulbs).
  7. Move your IT server to an external cloud provider. This will create efficiencies on a number of fronts.

Increasing brand passion

Sara Pantaleo from La Porchetta then shared her company's long term green strategy, which is reducing franchisees' power costs, generating enthusiasm from younger staff who care about this aspect of the company’s culture, and is enabling them to promote their brand to customers as environmentally friendly.

While implementing these and other types of environmental strategies will help you to save money, an equally powerful benefit is the pride that comes from knowing your business and brand are doing the right thing.

Field managers would do well to talk to their franchisees about these types of tips to save money and build brand passion.. Speaking of field managers, there are still a few places available in our Field Manager Bootcamps which launch in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne this month. These practical two day programs equip field managers with the knowledge, skills and capabilities to add real value to franchisees.

Until next time,

Greg Nathan

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