The Unconventional Entrepreneur
Conventional entrepreneurs value profit over people and the planet. As an unconventional entrepreneur, you can value social and ecological impact while also creating wealth for yourself, your community, and others in your organization.
We support local, micro, social, circular, and regenerative entrepreneurs to create profitable organizations for the common good. Join our weekly exploration into Unconventional Entrepreneurship.
The 70/30 Rule: Working in Cycles
Welcome back to the Unconventional Entrepreneur! In preparation for 2025 we are teaching our strategy for getting shit done while reducing overwhelm. This week, we're diving deep into a critical aspect of business success: working in revenue-driven cycles. By understanding and implementing this s...
by Laura Baringer, Sarah Trudeau —
Dec 12, 2024
entrepreneurship
small business
What happens when you work with a business coach
Here is a real-life example of our approach and the typical results our clients experience working with us. Â
We started working with Lauren, the founder and CEO of Memory Lane Jane last year. She came to us for the same reason many of our clients do. She needed to talk about her business with s...
Dec 09, 2024
coaching
Urban Farming
Welcome back to Laura & Sarah’s newsletter where we explore Unconventional Entrepreneurship.Â
We are continuing our series on circular business ideas, starting with food. If you missed our intro to the Circular Economy check it here.
For this series, we're exploring small circular businesses that...
Dec 07, 2024
circular economy
entrepreneurship
small business
Our simple strategy for knowing what’s important.
Bookkeeping, getting organized, researching long-term systems and processes, learning new software and tools, looking at the competitive landscape, thinking about [fill in the blank]. These are all examples of non-revenue-driving activities where many overwhelmed entrepreneurs are spending 80% of...
by Sarah Trudeau —
Dec 03, 2024
entrepreneurship
small business
The Circular MicroMarket
Welcome back to Laura & Sarah’s newsletter where we explore Unconventional Entrepreneurship.Â
We are continuing our series on circular business ideas. If you missed our intro to circular economy, you can check it here.
For this series we are exploring small circular businesses anyone could start ...
Nov 20, 2024
circular economy
entrepreneurship
small business
Circular Business Series: For The Micro Entrepreneur
I can’t seem to stop shopping for my kid's clothes at H&M.Â
This is a problem for me because it goes against my values and what I believe in. I know the fast fashion industry is problematic, from waste and pollution to labor exploitation; it was the reason I founded a circular second-hand clothin...
by Sarah Trudeau —
Oct 28, 2024
circular economy
entrepreneurship
small business
When leaving a job is more than just leaving a job
If we haven’t talked in a few years, this new business that I co-founded with Sarah might seem off-brand. You might be confused about how I went from being passionate about gender, global women’s and adolescent health, and the NGO and public sectors to starting a business that focuses on supporti...
by Laura Baringer —
Oct 19, 2024
career change
mid-life
Better Future Businesses: Childcare Member Owned Co-op
How often a day do you wish you could stop the genocides, atrocities, and disasters happening across the globe? Do you feel overwhelmed by daily life and your responsibilities? It can all feel a bit hopeless.
I am with you. I can fall into a pit of despair at my limits and capacity c...
by Sarah Trudeau —
Oct 17, 2024
business ideas
bussiness plan
entrepreneurship
Starting A Childcare Business as a Solution to the Childcare Crisis in Your Home and City
This is a series where I (Sarah) use our business plan tools to create plans for imagined businesses using our “good business” strategy. Stay in the loop by subscribing here.
I was lucky (?) to be raised as an 80’s latchkey kid. This came with the benefit of being deemed at the ripe age of 11 as ...
by Sarah Trudeau —
Oct 16, 2024
business ideas
entrepreneurship
Carework Business Ideas: Get Paid for Essential Labor
Parenting is critical to keeping our economy and society functioning. But it’s unpaid and often underestimated. Yet all this free labor is essential.Â
Thankfully the trope of couch potato bon-bon-eating mom from the 90’s has all but disappeared. A recent study found that stay-at-home parents do a...
by Sarah Trudeau —
Oct 15, 2024
business ideas
entrepreneurship
Not Another Business Bro Newsletter
We do things a bit differently. Explore what it means to be an anti-capitalist entrepreneur with us.  Learn how making a profit while prioritizing people and the planet is possible.Â