Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Environmental Goods and Services Industry

Scholars, government agencies and policy makers all agree that the world faces serious environmental problems and that the development and application of environmental technologies is essential to solving our environmental problems. Because of the need for environmental goods and services, the demand for these goods and services has been increasing rapidly and has created tremendous opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). According to the Northwest Regional Development Agency (2010), the transition to a low carbon economy with increasing access to and use of environmental goods and services represent the most significant economic opportunities ever known.

This paper explores how SMEs can play a more significant role in the environmental industry. It focusses on the entrepreneurial opportunities for SMES in the environmental industry and suggests policies and incentives that are needed to help SMEs take advantage of the opportunities. The paper began with a discussion of the meaning and importance of SMES and the meaning and evolution of Environmental industry. It then reviewed the size and growth of the environmental goods and services industry and the main drivers of the industry growth. The next section gave the theoretical rationale for the environmental goods and services market and why entrepreneurial opportunities exist in the market. Finally, it discussed the entrepreneurial opportunities for SMES and presented several policies and incentives that government and other agencies could use to stimulate SME participation in the environmental industry.