How sustainable is your business?
Sustainability is a hot topic for all of us. We all know the benefits of going green – and many of us are taking small actions every day to reduce our impact on the planet.
But what about businesses? In fact, for businesses, sustainability is becoming ever more important as consumers look to make choices about where and how they spend their money based on the practices that a business employs.
Here we look at some of the main benefits of taking a more serious approach to sustainability.
Blaze a trail
Having a social and environmental policy somewhere on a website is no longer enough in this day and age. Customers can see through businesses that simply pay lip service to being sustainable, and to be taken seriously, changes may need to be made across a business’ operations.
This could be a real opportunity for businesses with a passion for the topic to set themselves apart from competitors. Businesses that are willing to invest time and potentially money in improving their practices – and their messaging around it – could begin to be recognised for all the right reasons.
Attract a new wave of employees
Just as customers are increasingly becoming more conscious about the companies with which they spend their money, so too are employees ‘voting with their feet’. Socially conscious employees may leave an organisation if they do not agree with their ethical or environmental practices. Equally when looking for a new job, they may compare potential employers based on their ESG policies, and base their decision of where to work on what they discover.
Meet customer expectations
Sustainability is no longer a niche – it’s becoming mainstream and as such, consumer expectations are changing around the topic. Where having policies and practices to reduce the environmental impact of your business may once have been a ‘nice to do’, its now more or less expected. If a customer can find the same thing from two companies and one has a clear environmental impact message where the other doesn’t, this could be a deciding factor in where the purchase is made. And the consumer may even be willing to pay a bit more!
Save costs
Making financial savings is often something that goes hand in hand with looking to make better use of resources. From reducing the amount you print to using less disposables, the savings to be made can often add up over the course of the year. Asking for input from employees and getting them to play their part can also be a collective project that can work well as an ongoing form of team building.
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