5 Ways to Monetize Your Work in Ocean & Grassroots Advocacy

How can you — a grassroots practitioner, passionate volunteer, young scientist, or emerging engineer — monetize your ocean advocacy?

It’s a question I encounter frequently and it’s important to me to outline the steps to help you turn your passion into a profitable business that benefits the planet.

1) First and foremost, you’ll need to grasp basic economic fundamentals, such as supply and demand. What products or services are already in the space, are they fully meeting the needs of the individuals or entities seeking your solution or is there a gap that could be filled, and how is the amount of product or service in the market impacting the cost?

If economics isn't your strong suit, you can self-educate and seek out free or affordable courses, such as this one from Coursera.

2) Next, upend the “tragedy of the commons.” A natural resource that is under no specific jurisdiction can be depleted when there is no one specifically being held accountable to ensure its ongoing stability. This is the tragedy that so often befalls large swaths of the ocean. (Side note, that’s why the newly announced international High Seas Treaty holds so much promise to create shared responsibility).

From a business perspective, I’ll illustrate how a startup in the Sustainable Ocean Alliance network, Coral Vita , flipped this concept on its head. They asked a smart question: who has both the financial means and motivation to pay for the restoration of coral?

The answer? Local economic development corporations and hotels in tourist hot spots would willingly finance this essential sustainability work to increase visitation and spending within the destination, benefitting the local economy.

You have to remember that even if you love penguins, the penguins cannot pay you to implement conservation practices. Instead, consider who might be invested in this work. You might apply for government grants from funds allocated to biodiversity preservation, or partner with a scientific research outpost.

3) Next, you’ll want to conduct design thinking exercises. This means you look at your end user and work backward – mapping out their behaviors, day-to-day routine, income, and spending habits with empathy to solve their needs based on their lifestyles. There are all different design thinking approaches, some have 3 steps, others 12. A resource I came across that I think lays this out well and offers practical exercises is available via Innovation Training.

4) Design thinking flows into the next step, which is to determine market size and segment.?

Let’s say your product is meant for a 20-25-year-old professional who cares about the environment. Gen Z encompasses 72 million people born between 1997 and 2012 and is estimated to have over $360 billion in disposable income. According to the World Economic Forum , three-quarters of that market (54 million) prefer to make sustainable rather than brand name purchases.

Now, look at who is already providing a competing product or service to select customers within that market segment of 54 million? Consider THEIR sales numbers and pricing to drill down further into how many of those people are still not being reached and could use what you have to offer at a comparable price point.

5) Then plan ahead to differentiate your product to effectively capture that remaining segment of the market. For example, let’s look at a reusable water bottle. Is your product slightly more affordable (lower quality material) or more high-end (double insulated)? Is there an add-on that comes with your product (like a brush to clean the straw)? Does it do something slightly different (such as innovative tech that makes it self-cleaning)??

When differentiating, referring to the design-thinking exercises will come in handy. Your end-user profile may have revealed that the individual who’d purchase your water bottle works hard Monday to Friday and is active and outdoors on the weekends. Since you know they’re often camping in a remote environment, you can predict they’d be willing to pay more for that double-insulated, self-cleaning water bottle that your competitors aren’t currently offering.

Lastly, consider how to scale. Let’s say you are restoring mangroves in your community. How can you expand that work to have an even greater impact, whether in your country or globally? Will you join forces with another entity, bring on an investor, or create a training program that can be administered virtually? Always think ahead to make the greatest impact.

Let me know in the comments if I can elaborate further on any of these concepts. I can’t wait to see how you take this roadmap and use it to build a for-profit venture for our ocean!