Expert Tips to Achieve Success as a Vegan-Based Business
Updated: Mar 3
Urban communities are driving towards healthier lifestyles leading to the rise of vegan businesses such as vegan fitness clubs and restaurants.
We connected with German-born, Thailand-based celebrity vegan fitness coach Steve Pilot to share success tips on how to start and run a successful vegan-based business.
Steve Pilot is the founder and CEO of Steve Pilot Fitness.
What Does It Mean to Be Vegan?
People often define vegan incorrectly.
Wikipedia defines a vegan as a follower of a diet or ideals of veganism.
Vegan diets exclude animal products.
Veganism also embraces activism encouraging abstinence from the use of animal products like leather shoes, bags, and jackets.
Starting a vegan business entails more than vegan ideals and necessitates creating an environment that encourages veganism thus abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals.
Have a Business Plan
A great business plan will help you to set up a winning strategy and allocate resources.
Without a proper business plan, it will be hard to get investors on board if you seek to take that route because people intending to commit their money will want to understand how the whole thing will work and how long it will take them to make a return on investment.
A plan will help you take steps and forecast the direction your business is going to take and make amends to attain desirable results.
It will help attach value to your business in terms of assets, costs of production, liabilities, and liquidity.
A business plan makes it easy to understand what your business is all about as it stipulates clear goals and objectives.
You will need a business plan to establish strategic alliances with other businesses and professionals.
Business plans can help you identify the missing gaps you need to fill in terms of funding, assets, or even human resource.
Employees derive strategies and work plans out of business plans which serve as a guide or campus for determining the direction and intensity of their day-to-day activities.
A business plan can guide your business to expand because it will help you see a clear picture of how it will work, and the costs to be incurred, assess the viability, and execute strategies.
Business plans help to allocate roles to team members, identify what should and should not be done, and share strategy, priorities, and specific key actions with partners.
A business plan will also help you identify what your biggest challenges are as well as who your competition is.
Chose a Great Location
Just as the real estate adage goes, "location, location, location,” the same applies to starting and succeeding as a vegan business.
Many non-vegans are interested in vegan things like food, literature, and generally leading a healthier lifestyle.
The location must be easily accessible, and it will be an advantage if the environment already has some vegan-related businesses or health and environment-conscious people.
Let's say that there is a successful Vegan fitness club on a Street, it would give you leverage to open up a vegan restaurant or shop nearby.
Hire Experienced Staff
Experienced vegan staff will be an asset to your business. It takes time and sometimes a substantial investment to master the vegan way of life.
Experienced vegan staff will have extensive knowledge and subtleness and thus will be able to disseminate the correct vegan way and ideals to new clients seeking to lead a vegan life.
They will also know to exercise empathy if clients act in a non-vegan manner. Experienced staff will mean fewer mistakes.
You may have to offer some training to your staff to make sure they have the right skill set and knowledge base for your specific business choice.
Embrace Technology
Using tech will make it easier to run a vegan business.
From setting work schedules and client appointments to activity tracking using fitness and calorie trackers, and heart monitors, tech has a lot to offer vegans.
The tech you embrace will be relative to the needs of your business and clients.
The software can be used to generate reports and cut stationery costs.
Empathy and a Conducive Atmosphere
Everyone loves a great ambiance as it is one of the reasons most people will go to a given place. A great interior and exterior will make all the difference.
A great concept will create an environment that makes it cool or hip to be a vegan.
People like to associate with success therefore it will help to have successful public figures and personalities who are vegan as clients.
Investing in carefully planned and crafted vegan decor and equipment will come in handy.
"The environment should make people want to be a part of it and not feel pressured to be part of it."
Staff who are empathetic and understand that it takes time and work to embrace veganism will keep your client numbers up and growing.
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