Nowadays, terms like âsustainabilityâ and âESGâ have become so ubiquitous in the modern world of business that we sometimes feel inclined to dismiss them as meaningless jargon. Yet as our world and economy become increasingly unpredictable, the need to ensure your businessâs sustainability is more pertinent than ever.
Creating a sustainable business is great for the future of the planet, but itâs also crucial for your future success. If you adopt a sustainable business model, you can guarantee a wide range of results for your business: leaner budgets; higher customer retention; satisfied stakeholders; improved innovation; and reduced risk.
Here are three ways you can achieve sustainability and future-proof your business in 2023:
1 | Source Local Products And Supplies
Avoid Supply Shocks and Back Your Local Community
With the worst days of the recent supply-shock crisis behind us, many businesses are returning to their old dependence on products and supplies sourced from complex, overseas supply chains.
While this may be attractive in the short term, particularly from a cost perspective, the reality is that if, or more precisely when, another supply shock occurs, youâll be leaving your business in a precarious position. Of course, sourcing all of your products and supplies locally may be an unrealistic goal, but building relationships with local suppliers, even on a smaller scale, will mean you have a solid network to fall back on if your main source dries up in the future.
Moreover, in the current age of technology and globalization, we sometimes forget the importance of improving the health of our local economic ecosystems, without which our own businesses have little chance of success. Try to see sourcing products and supplies locally as a sustainable investment in your local community, which will ultimately benefit the strength and security of your business in the long run.
Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
When youâre running a small-to-medium sized business, tracking your carbon footprint and environmental impact may seem like an abstract exercise, especially if the industry in which you operate isnât a well known carbon emitter.
Nevertheless, if youâre sourcing your products from overseas, especially from countries that donât have the best track record when it comes to sustainable practices, your impact on the environment may be larger than you think. One way to remedy this is by working with local suppliers, which can drastically cut down on the emissions of transport. Moreover, by âgetting closerâ to your own supply chain, you can reduce risks and ensure your business is dealing with ethically sourced products and supplies.
2 | Adopt Green Products And Technologies
Again, if youâre operating a small-to-medium sized business, making significant changes to your day-to-day operations for the sake of climate and sustainability may seem like fruitless exercise â especially when taking short-term costs into account. Yet the truth is that smaller firms have a vital role to play in creating a more sustainable world and business landscape, and unless small business, the engine room of our economy, gets on board, this goal will be difficult to achieve.
Healthy Planet, Healthy Balance
One example of a company that has had a positive impact on both the environment and its balance sheet by adopting green technologies is Back to the Roots, a California-based organic gardening company, which was recently featured in an article for the BBC.
According to Nikhil Arora, Back to the Rootsâs co-founder and CEO, the company has taken a drastic shift towards adopting greener products and reducing harmful plastic packaging, all while attracting $18 million in its latest venture round.
Green Technology Boom
One of the main barriers to small-to-medium sized businesses adopting green technologies has long been prohibitive costs; however, a combination of rising fossil fuel prices, increased government incentives, and a green technology boom are making sustainable technologies more accessible than ever.
In states like Nevada, for example, since June 2020, businesses that install solar panels can receive up to 75% of the retail price for every unit of electricity they sell to the stateâs electricity company â a big win for the environment and companiesâ books. Moreover, across the country, clean energy tax credits are helping drive down the price of solar, with the cost now about a third cheaper than that of coal.
3 | Align Sustainable Objectives With Your Companyâs Strategic Goals
One of the ironies of setting sustainable objectives for your business is that the objectives themselves also need to be sustainable. No matter how driven you are, if you go in too hard and too fast, your plans risk backfiring, leaving you with the opposite result you intended to achieve.
Rome wasnât built in a day, so remember the key to creating a truly sustainable business is ensuring your objectives align with your companyâs wider strategic goals.
For example, if youâre planning to switch to a local supplier, make sure your new supplier has the capacity to keep up with your company as it grows, otherwise you might end up leaving your customers in the lurch. Moreover, when working with a new supplier, donât forget to seek out customer feedback â the last thing you want is to lose business when implementing changes.
Consulting with your team when you want to implement your sustainable objectives is also a must. Itâs vital that every team member in your organization knows exactly what you want to achieve and, more importantly, what they can do to ensure the success of your objectives. Team members can also provide valuable feedback on how objectives may be improved to better align with your business objectives and, in some cases, may be able to point out flaws in certain areas.
Strive for Sustainable Growth
Creating a more sustainable environment and business landscape is, without a doubt, in everyoneâs best interest. Even if the changes you implement today are small, if you go about it the right way, youâll be thanking yourself down the line when your business is secure and thriving.
If youâd like to learn ways to create sustainable growth for your company, while developing your team, aligning stakeholders to your companyâs core mission, and fostering inclusive leadership, reserve your place at our 2-day Executive Strategy Leadership Workshop, which features the SUMMi7 signature Business Scaling Methodâ˘.
Secure your executive workshop session if:
- Your business has 50 or more employees with more than $5 million in annual revenue.
- Your business has experienced barriers to growth.
- Your team lacks alignment on strategic direction and morale is low.
What it includes:
- Pre-work to develop an outside-in perspective of your business, inclusive of market research, customer insights, and employee interviews.
- A 2-day facilitated workshop session for you and the executive members of your team to collaboratively develop a strategic roadmap supported by data and market insights.
- A strategy playbook custom to your company to help you implement your plan with all levels of your team.
- Access to SUMMi7 Chief Growth Office engagements for continued strategic execution support with a team of implementers working side by side with you.
If this sounds like a fit for you and your company or for more information, contact Shelli Howlett at [email protected].
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