616-730-1861 / 616-648-9221
joppenhuizen@oppenhuizenlaw.com

Category: Business

startup business with social entrepreneurs

Startup Business and Social Change: What Every New Social Entrepreneur Should Know

Despite many socially responsible businesses using their company profits to further social and environmental goals, the fact remains that almost all of these entrepreneurs repeatedly favor a low-risk approach that breeds less than desirable results. Examining closely the things that do make national enterprises successful in their efforts to make a positive impact, here is…
Read more

new years goals for business owners

New Year Goals For Business Owners

Planning season is well underway.  Those of us who own and operate businesses are looking at the year that has now nearly ended, at our successes and failures, at how we spent our time productively and unproductively, and at our goals met and those we did not meet.  We look at all of these things…
Read more

the road to becoming a b-corporation

The Road to Becoming a B-Corporation

In our last blog on the Rise of B-Corporations, we discussed the foundational constructs of the B-corp model. There was a brief explanation included on the path to becoming a B-Corporation, but for this blog let’s dive into the specifics of that path. We already know there are three parts to becoming a B-Corporation: Completing…
Read more

B-Corporation

The Rise of the B-Corporation in Modern Business

Business has the ability to impact more than just its shareholders, it can (and should) take responsibility for its surrounding environment. B-Corporations are the best example of a company that has taken on this social and environmental responsibility through a unique business model. Considered publicly transparent, B-Corporations are a trending movement in the economic realm.…
Read more

Hands showing map of the earth representing the global impact of impact investing.

Impact Investment: The Future of Capital

Where EB-5 investment is intended to be a means for job creation in the United States, impact investment is becoming an increasingly popular form of economic growth for social or environmental development. While the field is still in its formative years, the practice of impact investment is becoming more mainstream. What is Impact Investing? Impact…
Read more

Natural resources in Honduras provide economic opportunity for business development.

Developing Economic Opportunity in Honduras

Each time I visit, or am fortunate enough to speak with a Honduran here in the States or elsewhere, I am reminded of what an amazingly beautiful country Honduras is, and how wonderful the Honduran people are.  Despite all of the difficulties, corruption, gang violence and poverty the country is beautiful.  I don’t just mean…
Read more

Developing world citizens enjoying their d.light lightbulb

Lighting the Way for Capitalism in the Developing World

Sam Goldman, co-founder of d.light, has figured it out. Investing in developing countries isn’t financially prohibitive, and it certainly doesn’t need to be purely charitable. The margin for growth is enormous in the developing world. After living in Africa during his time in the Peace Corps Sam witnessed firsthand the dangers of using kerosene as…
Read more

Planning for Anti-Competitive Behavior

Among the various barriers to entry or growth of a company, but not often considered at the outset, is how a new business’ competition will react to it.  Today’s buzzword is “disrupt,” but despite a lot of advice regarding how to disrupt a market is available, not enough is said about how to respond to…
Read more

Transparency, Trust and Certainty

Proper functioning of an economy over the long haul requires certainty; that is to say, it requires trust in a system, whatever that system may be.  A desire for certainty does not justify the proposition that a government ought to seek stability as the highest goal or means to protect its economy; rather the governmental…
Read more

Business Done Right

During my travels last week, I had the honor of meeting one of the most inspiring individual entrepreneurs I have ever talked with.  His name is Leonel Herrera, and he has thrived in an environment far more difficult than your everyday entrepreneur.  He has done so because of his strong principles, and the fact that…
Read more