Article written by Fernanda Arreola (ESSCA) and Greg Unruh (George Mason University) for The Conversation.

A start-up launches an innovative, ecological and sustainable product? Great! However, even when full of good intentions, entrepreneurs can often miss out on important aspects of making their business responsible. Delivery, governance, raw materials... What are the "seven sins" of sustainability?

Most well-intentioned young innovators want their products to offer a sustainable value proposition.

However, these entrepreneurs often commit what we are accustomed to calling the "sins" of sustainability. Although they have created a solid product design that largely respects the triple aim of respecting the environment, generating positive social impact and producing equitable economic benefits, their ideas invariably have a flaw.

These sins are natural: the fast pace at which entrepreneurs work rarely leaves them enough time to take all factors into account, especially when it comes to sustainability.

The implications in terms of energy consumption and gender equity, for example, need to be weighed up. To help all those who wish to avoid these mistakes, we offer a few points of reference and a series of questions to ask themselves.

Generally speaking, the mistakes that prevent a sustainable business can be grouped into seven categories.

The first common error concerns the delivery process.

The entrepreneur finalizes a responsible product concept, but relies on an established delivery process. Whether it's Amazon, Colissimo, eBay or FedEx, many entrepreneurs choose to use unsustainable delivery methods to get their products to the customer.

Let's take the case of an eco-friendly clothing start-up that decides to ship its products using standard non-recyclable packaging and high-carbon emission shipping methods.

This choice effectively negates many of the sustainability benefits of a potentially innovative design.../...