For people who ask, “Okay, but where does the money come from?”
This track is built for you if:
- You run or work in a business and want to understand circular economy without sitting through academic lectures.
- You like sustainability in theory, but in practice you need to defend margins, capacity, and headcount.
- You’re exploring a new venture or side project and want to know: Will this circular idea survive the spreadsheet test?
- You work in strategy, operations, product, or ESG and need a business framing to talk to leadership or investors.
What You’ll Get From Track A
By the end of this track, you’ll be able to:
- Explain circular economy in plain business language to your CFO, boss, or co-founder.
- See where the money actually flows in circular models (and where it quietly leaks out).
- Recognize 5–6 workable circular business models and how they show up in real companies.
- Spot red flags – ideas that sound “impactful” but are operationally impossible or financially fragile.
- Know what to read next if you want to go deeper (e.g., the Founder & Operator track).
How Track A Works
Track A is a short reading path – a set of curated articles you can read in order or dip into as needed.
You can treat each piece as a “module”:
- Read time: 6–10 minutes each
- Format: examples, simple diagrams, business language
- Focus: clarity over jargon, operations over slogans
Foundation
Circular Economy in Plain Business English
Forget the complex butterfly diagrams. This piece explains circular economy as a series of basic business moves: extend product life, reuse assets, recover value, and design out waste – all mapped to revenue, cost, and risk.
You’ll Learn:
- The simple “linear vs circular” story through a P&L lens
- Why circular economy is not automatically anti-profit
- How to explain it in 90 seconds to a non-sustainability person
8–10 min read · Good starting point for everyone
Follow the Money
Where the Money Flows in Circular Models
This article walks through cash flow in circular businesses: who pays, when they pay, what changes in capex/opex, and where margins are earned or lost. Think of it as a guided tour from revenue line to net profit.
You’ll Learn:
- Common revenue streams in circular models (subscriptions, buy-back, refurbishment, services)
- Hidden cost buckets people forget (reverse logistics, inspection, quality, customer support)
- Simple ways to sanity-check unit economics early
9 min read · Ideal for founders, finance & strategy roles
Business Models You Can Actually Run
5 Circular Business Models That Don’t Hate Operations
Not every circular idea can survive factories, warehouses, and customer service. This piece covers five realistic models with examples: from repair & refurbish to product-as-a-service and take-back programs.
You’ll Learn:
- The basic logic of 5 practical circular models
- Operational requirements: data, quality control, partners, customer behaviour
- When each model is better suited for startups vs large companies
10 min read · Great for product, ops, and ESG teams
Metrics That Matter
KPIs for Circular Economy: Profit, Risk & Impact
Circular projects die when nobody knows how to measure success. This article suggests a short list of KPIs that combine financial health, operational stability, and genuine impact – not vanity metrics.
You’ll Learn:
- Core financial & operational metrics to track (and what to ignore)
- How to balance “impact” with capacity and cash flow
- Simple dashboards a business leader might actually look at
7–8 min read · Useful for managers, analysts, and ESG leads
Red Flags & Common Traps
When Circular Sounds Good but the P&L Disagrees
A lot of circular ideas sound beautiful in pitch decks but crash into reality. This piece lists common failure patterns – from underestimating reverse logistics, to depending on ideal customer behaviour, to ignoring quality risk.
You’ll Learn:
- 6–7 typical ways circular pilots fail in operations
- How to run “pre-mortems” on your own idea
- Questions to ask before you commit budget or headcount
9 min read · Must-read before launching any pilot
Short “India Lens” Strip
India Lens: Why Circular is a Business Question Here
- Fast growth + price-sensitive customers = strong case for repair, reuse, and shared assets.
- Infrastructure, regulation, and informal sectors create unique constraints and opportunities.
- Throughout this track, we’ll occasionally spotlight Indian examples. These show where circular models are already working. They also highlight instances where they are failing in the real world.
Linking Sustainability 