Should I Start a Vegan Business If I Don't Believe In It?

[YoungPadawan]

With all of the long-term committed vegans I've come across, you're spot on with this statement.

"If you're not vegan and you're just starting a vegan business to profit, you will not have the support of the vegan community." is what they said to me in 2016.

If you try to be the face of the company, forget about it.

If you're name isn't even shown behind a brand that sells vegan leather belts (or something) on Amazon, you'll build the business in hiding. You could make some money from it, but there are countless opportunities out there in many markets, so why enter one where you know you'll have this resistance?

Other things that come to mind are to stay away from 'vegan for the animals' theme of the company. For companies that don't have vegan as their selling point, but are vegan-friendly, I don't personally see as much resistance as if you advertise as a vegan company.

We are a vegan chocolate company vs. We are a chocolate company and BTW, we our food is vegan.

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@Claude Roy would be great to chime in on this topic too.

That's a good idea with the part about saying it's vegan friendly, but not specifically a vegan company. I've also kind of considered growing organic veggies on a larger scale and maybe making products out of them, so the vegan friendly route might be something I'll look in to

 

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[MetalGear]

Be honest with your desire to explore eating more vegetables and improving your health...and position the products as vegan friendly.

I wonder if vegans typically start out somewhere in the "middle". A good chunk of the ones I know did.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[Cat Lady]

When you're holding that package of Lonnie's Fake Beef™ in your hands, examining the labeling and just making sure it's 100% vegan... would you flip out your phone and spend time researching the company and who owns it? Would you stand there in the middle of an aisle, stalking the company owner on social media to make sure he's 100% vegan as well?

As someone who's been vegan for 20+ years and used to be pretty deeply involved in AR activism, I would say a LOT of vegans will do that. The vegan grocery store in my town won't even carry daiya (an 100% vegan company and the largest producer of vegan cheese products in the US) because they're now owned by a parent company that does animal testing on a completely different line of products.

BUT I would also say it depends on your target market - are you looking for the Early Adopter vegans? The raving excited vegans that run the vegan magazines and blogs and facebook groups - then you don't want to be a non-vegan business owner in the vegan market. If you're aiming at the big class of folks now - folks like Bill Clinton and Wynn and the so-called "power vegans" - people who might not even be considered vegan by the "early adopter vegans" because they occasionally eat fish oil or own stock in a leather shoe company or something etc - then it might not matter. But it really depends on your early marketing plan. If you're going after suburban "health mom" vegans, you can probably pull it off. If you're going after early adopter vegans for buzz (like crowdsourcing on KS) then you probably shouldn't.

 

[Ronak]

For a group that believes in nonviolence, some vegans can be a pretty aggressive bunch (I'm a recent nonagressive convert, thanks partly to the forum). I recently read about a battle between 2 major vegans that devolved into some vulgar sexual claims against the other, all because one was not deemed "vegan enough". Forget it if you're not vegan yourself, it would be a ticking time bomb.

 

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[Roli]

I vote, don't do it. You won't be able to connect with your customers on that level. I've seen other dog leash companies come out with stuff that makes no sense to me and other dog owners. It's like, who would ever use that. On the opposite end, I've invented a few products (provisional patented so far) and people who use them absolutely love them. They were invented out of need when walking my foster dogs.

I don't think you'll ever stop surprising me @biophase ...

I've actually thought of a doggie product while walking my dog, it's on the 'some day' list.

 

[Roli]

It would help a lot to partner up with full-on vegan wacko who's deep in the whole sphere.
[...]
You need a full vegan nutjob as a partner, .

No need to be so disparaging old chap, I don't agree with the lifestyle but I don't consider them 'nutjobs' and 'wackos'.

There are many vegans on TMFF who may end up giving you that golden nugget of advice, be a little more respectful.

 

[GoGetter24]

No need to be so disparaging old chap, I don't agree with the lifestyle but I don't consider them 'nutjobs' and 'wackos'.

There are many vegans on TMFF who may end up giving you that golden nugget of advice, be a little more respectful.

A vegan wouldn't cut it. It needs to be a vegan wack job. Boosts viral marketing effects.

 

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[Roli]

A vegan wouldn't cut it. It needs to be a vegan wack job. Boosts viral marketing effects.

Well you've gained at least one ignore, well done. Maybe you've even alienated the vegan-leaning owner of the forum @MJ DeMarco, nice going buddy, I can tell you'll go far.

See you later, well I won't because I've just hit ignore...

 

[GoGetter24]

Well you've gained at least one ignore, well done. Maybe you've even alienated the vegan-leaning owner of the forum @MJ DeMarco, nice going buddy, I can tell you'll go far.

See you later, well I won't because I've just hit ignore...

Getting a bit tired of people deliberately misinterpreting what I say. Or perhaps it's an ESL thing or something, not sure.

That post clearly differentiated the two groups by using two different sentences: (a) vegans, and (b) vegan whack jobs. And (c) said the latter group would be better for marketing (controversial, like VeganGains, spreads faster).

You can go on ignore too. You're clearly just looking for random reasons to get peeved, or you're allergic to honest reading; not interested.

 

[stallone]

I'm vegan, but I'm also an entrepreneur: if you solve a problem that I have, more power to you.

 

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[Kelly86]

People trying to save the lives of animals aren't going to do business with someone who saves lives in pubic, but kills lives at the dinner table.

Ask @AndrewNC - he hangs out with vegans.

I second that. As a vegan if I found out I was buying vegan produce from someone who agreed with killing innocent animals for their meat I would NOT buy from them again, it wouldn't take long for the person to be publicly named and shamed IMO. It would be like a vegan starting a business selling knives to butchers.

 

[Danny Sullivan]

What vegan products are we even talking about here? Like meat replacements and sweets?

I don't know for all others, but i almost never buy any of that (like once or twice per year). I mean there's plenty of stuff out on the market that doesn't contain animal "ingredients" anyways (at least in germany).

So, what products do you got in mind?

 

[MooreMillions]

Yes.

While it is ideal to represent your opportunity, it will not prevent you in doing good business in a market that you recognize has a need.

 

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