It all starts at home
Attitudes in the UK have changed over recent years.
Smoking in public is more and more reviled, fat in the diet now has to be unsaturated,
the numbers of people taking regular exercise has increased, and the sales of
Fairtrade products in the UK rose by 12% in 2011 alone. We are also changing
our approach to throwing things away, too. More and more of us actively recycle
our household waste, use bottle banks and battery bins, and are generally more
conscious of our impact on the environment.
Larger businesses are reflecting public attitudes
In business, the greatest impact of these changes has
been on big ‘household name’ businesses. At first, they all scrambled to
generate Corporate Social Responsibility statements on their websites to try to
persuade us of their green credentials, but now, as a result of the interactive
nature of the internet and sites like Facebook and Twitter, these businesses have
to ‘walk the walk’ as well. It doesn’t take much for the public to create a
Twitter Storm about a product or service that isn’t seen to be ‘playing fair’.
And these businesses are now quick to respond to such criticism and improve the
product or service, fearful of the impact of negative publicity on their financial
performance.
Becoming environmentally and socially responsible is
easier for large businesses with deep pockets. They have huge reputational risk
as well as the significant bottom line impact to consider. But what about smaller
businesses; what are they doing to reflect these changes in public attitudes; can
they afford to be sustainable?
Do small businesses need to follow suit?
For many small businesses the thought of ‘going green’
can be very daunting. They don’t have the time or the money to spend changing
their modus operandi. They often see reducing their environmental impact as
having a real cost, which at a time of economic downturn is a simply one cost
too many. It would seem that what is becoming standard business practice for
large corporates might still seem like pie in the sky for some small
businesses.
It doesn’t have to be that way though. After all, many
of us have changed our attitudes to our personal carbon and environmental
footprint and started switching off electrical appliances, washing our clothes
at lower temperatures, using less water by showering more and bathing less,
changing to energy efficient light bulbs and recycling not only our waste but
also our clothes and mobile phones. It may not on its own save the planet but
it can make us feel that we are contributing to a greener environment and
saving a few quid into the bargain.
The
reality is that similar savings from reduced energy consumption are available
to businesses, too. The Carbon Trust Advice Line’s free guide (see link below) is
a good place to find out how to start.
The Triple Bottom Line
But in today’s changing world it isn’t enough just to
think about the financial impact of business activity. The key for small
businesses is to start to think about the Triple Bottom Line, that is the performance
of the business against Social and Environmental as well as Economic factors.
Think of it as how the business operation directly affects the 3 P’s: People, Planet
and Profit.
But given that some small businesses are struggling to
engage with relatively simple ‘green’ concepts why should they consider these other
impacts? Well, in addition to the fact that going green can actually save the
business money, there are two other key reasons for doing this.
Reasons why small businesses must become sustainable
Firstly, as the customers and potential customers of
these businesses change their attitudes to social and environmental issues in
their personal lives, so they will start to expect similar attitudes from the
businesses they buy from. As mentioned earlier, this has already started with
large corporate organisations that are liable to lose customers if they aren’t
able to demonstrate their Corporate Responsibilities. Customers will start to apply
these conditions to smaller businesses, too.
Secondly, more and more businesses are selling their
products and services through supply chains and in partnership with other
organisations. The reputational risk to the partner organisation, the next
buyer up the supply chain or the end customer in sectors as diverse as the Public
Sector, Retail, Construction or Professional Services will mean that businesses
who don’t think about People and Planet as well as Profit will not be asked to
tender for the business. In effect, such businesses will be left out in the
cold.
The truth of the matter is that becoming sustainable
isn’t an option anymore for smaller businesses. It is now an essential part of
future success. The question isn’t ‘can small businesses afford to be
sustainable’; rather it is ‘can small businesses afford not to be sustainable’?
Further reading
Carbon Trust Advice Line free guide: http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/cut-carbon-reduce-costs/products-services/technology-advice/energy-saving/pages/energy-saving.aspx
The Triple Bottom Line: How
Today's Best-Run Companies Are Achieving Economic, Social and Environmental
Success -- and How You Can Too by Andrew W. Savitz and Karl Weber
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