Vegan business ideas are popping up everywhere. There is a BUZZ around the vegan movement as an increasing number of people around the globe adopt a plant-based vegan lifestyle. This means the demand for vegan businesses, and opportunities for vegan business owners and entrepreneurs, continue to grow.
When you hear the term “vegan business” you may initially think of businesses that are focused on food options like vegan ice cream, vegan restaurants, vegan catering or vegan bakeries. However, the vegan movement has room for all kinds of businesses! In today’s article, I want to offer up some vegan business ideas on how you can start a vegan business, even if your skills and talents aren’t grounded in food.
If you’re looking for a way to save animals, help the environment, and contribute to healthier communities, starting a vegan business of your own may be a great way to accomplish all of those things. There’s no shortage of vegan business ideas to explore, however, the key is finding a business model that can drive sustainable growth. So let’s get started.
Service-Based Businesses:
When someone makes the leap to a vegan lifestyle it’s often not long before they begin to wonder how they can better support the movement and the vegan community. We spend much of our time and passion at work, so it’s not surprising that many people look to their occupations for answers. And it’s a good place to look because there is a big difference to be made in the marketplace.
It doesn’t matter if you’re not in a traditionally “vegan” job. Do you need to quit your career to open a restaurant? No. It’s much more powerful if you take the work that you’re already doing—the work that you (hopefully) love and are great at—and create a viable vegan version of it for your existing or potential new customer base. This is especially applicable for careers based in services that help clients accomplish specific goals.
Let me give you an example. Imagine for a minute that you are an interior designer. You might start your transition by offering innovative new services for existing or new customers who are interested in incorporating more sustainable and cruelty-free options. This would allow you to continue doing what you love while ensuring that the furniture, materials and design elements complement your vegan values. Adding this as a new offering (rather than overturning your whole business at once) allows you to transition your career in a sustainable way.
It gives you time to gauge the interest-level of your existing customer base, and expand your customer base to include more vegans, environmentalists and cruelty-free advocates.
A service-based vegan business is ideal for many vegans because of these types of opportunities, which exist across a wide variety of industries.
Vegan Business Ideas For Service-Based Businesses:
- Accountant: help businesses or individuals balance their financial goals with activism opportunities. Imagine helping a vegan grocery store, food truck, or fashion band.
- Financial advisor: identify funds and business investments that align with clients’ ethics
- Hairdresser: exclusively offer vegan and cruelty-free hair and beauty products
- Writer: develop vegan characters to help promote veganism in a positive light
- Landscaper: reduce/eliminate the use of pesticides; offer natural solutions and products for beautification projects
- Tattoo artist: use only plant-based inks
Want to hear more business ideas? Watch my recent interview with Vegan Financial Advisors, a Vegan Marketer & a Vegan Puppeteer.
Coaching Businesses:
I’m a strong advocate for coaching businesses because so many of us have valuable knowledge to share, and coaching businesses are fairly easy to launch without a lot of capital. If you’re looking for a way to take your skills, training, and expertise to a whole new level, creating a coaching business is one of the best ways to do it.
Veganizing a service-based business is about adjusting the services and options that are used to deliver a service. But in a coaching business it’s more about exploring how your existing expertise can help people accomplish their goals within an ethical vegan framework.
Vegan lifestyle coaching businesses are currently a popular option. As new vegans many of us are passionate about helping others discover the information and tools they need to transition successfully, and understand all the implications and intricacies of this amazing lifestyle. Becoming vegan is a big change for most people, one that can be fraught with pitfalls and obstacles if support is lacking, so coaching can be a great way to help.
Vegan Business Ideas For Coaches:
- Fitness & Exercise Coach
- Career Transition Coach
- Public Speaking Coach
- Relationship Coach
- Wellness Coach
- Nutrition Coach
- Social Media Coach
- Vegan Life Coach
Recently I interviewed a few vegan coaches. If this is a path you are interested in, check these out:
The Vegan Subscription Model:
A great way for businesses to grow and generate consistent revenue is offering a product or service that clients/customers pay for monthly or annually.
One of the biggest challenges in running a business can be stabilizing the revenue stream. One way to tackle this is developing a successful offering that customers sign up and pay for on an ongoing, regular basis. Knowing that you have a steady income allows you to build your business with more confidence. It goes without saying that people will subscribe and unsubscribe over time. But as you build retention you won’t have to work so hard to attract new customers, and instead much of your marketing can be adjusted to ensure the satisfaction of your existing customers.
This is a very different marketing strategy, and can be much less stressful than having to acquire new customers all the time. Another benefit is that when you work with a subscription model you can start to build a sense of community around your business and brand, which is very valuable.
A subscription model can work whether you sell a product or a service, so it can cover many different types of businesses. This is a particularly good option for people who are creative or crafty because subscription businesses can be built around things made from scratch, or personalized, unique options. In addition, subscription-based businesses don’t have to keep a ton of inventory in stock, but can adjust according to the number of subscribers they have.
Vegan Business Ideas For Subscriptions
- Handmade jewelry: use cruelty-free and sustainably sourced materials
- Skincare & beauty products: vegan and cruelty-free lotions, cleanses, masks, and more
- Personalized gifts: offer unique clothing designs or artwork with a theme (the subscription could be sold as holiday or birthday gifts)
- Recipe club: monthly veganized recipes with videos, shopping lists and a community to share cooking experiences with
- Curated vegan subscription box: a hand-picked collection of some of your favorite vegan products sourced directly from a vegan manufacturer(s)
Recently, I interviewed a number of vegan business owners who offer subscriptions in their business
There has never been a better time to dip your toe in the world of vegan business, and every passionate vegan can do it! As the examples above illustrate the most important thing is thinking outside the box about how you can participate in this exciting new marketplace. It’s going to take all of us, with all our talents, skills and offerings, to create a better, more compassionate, more sustainable world. What do you have to offer? How can you tweak your work life or business to help move the vegan movement forward?
