Sustainable business: why does your business need to be sustainable?
Have you ever thought about sustainability in business? Did you know that sustainable businesses have some advantages that lead them to be more popular among a wider range of customers? We will tell you the details of why your business needs to be sustainable and how you can make this change to be more impressive.
What does a sustainable business mean?
Sustainability in businesses has a 2-part definition, one refers to offering sustainable products and packaging, and the other refers to the flexibility of a business model with long-term growth.
This definition is not only a perfect condition for every business to have a place in people's lives but also impacts the brand's reputation as well as having a role in saving the environment.
Benefits of sustainability in business strategies
Caring for the environment, people, and species living on the earth
Enhancing productivity, and profits and having an excellent competition with other companies
Minimizing the extra expenses
Maximizing talent attraction and increasing employee engagement, motivation, and retention
Becoming a trusted and reputable brand among consumers
Reach out to new opportunities to grow and expand the business
Enlarge the business size and establish new branches even globally
Completing your responsibility on the earth to follow sustainable ways
5 Reasons to be a sustainable business
There are various points of view to evaluate sustainability in businesses and give you reasons to consider this modification. However, we tried to shorten the list into 5 main points.
1. Customers do care about sustainability
First and foremost is that there are millions of consumers around the world who do care about sustainability. If your business cares about this concept and tries to be sustainable, it will have a place in its cart.
Almost more than 60% of people are more likely to spend their money on products with sustainable packaging or manufacturing process. This means if you change into a sustainable business by just offering a sustainable package, you will have a higher chance to sell the product than your competitors. So, you are creating value and selling this value.
Another point is that when your business tries to be eco-friendly, they tell consumers that this business is thinking about big growth. Consequently, when consumers want to choose a product, they will think about choosing your brand due to their mindset. Finally, you will have a sustainable supply chain because of sustainable demands in the market.
If you want to have better growth, you need to update your brand's social media and website to become a sustainable business. This is because nowadays, everyone searches for you through the media before choosing you.
2. Increase profits while reducing the expenses
According to research, sustainability can increase productivity by up to 60%. While many businesses assume turning into a sustainable business may lead them to higher costs, sustainability, in fact, can reduce expenses while increasing profits. You can implement strategies in your business plan to reduce costs meanwhile enhancing eco-friendliness. This is not only beneficial for the business's survival but also creates the value mentioned in the reason above.
At the same time, productivity has grown, and you can consider using less water and energy in the manufacturing process, which is not only environmentally friendly but also decreases expenses. It is estimated that due to the future lack of energy and water, the prices of these two main elements in every production process can be raised.
3. Increase the chance of having better contracts
40% of job seekers in the 21st century, are looking for a sustainable business to work with. Since the new generation of the workforce around the world is now fully understanding the issues related to unsustainability, they prefer to have a role in sustainable businesses rather than others. If you are looking for a talented younger employee, you must offer a sustainable trace in your brand to catch their attention.
You can also impact employee retention and motivation. Deep in their heart, everyone feels a personal responsibility to save the environment. Once they start working in a sustainable company, they are motivated to work better and stay with your brand.
On the other hand, sustainability gives you to chance to compete with top companies in your field and also be an option for great contracts from major suppliers.
4. New government regulations
Due to the impacts of every single business on the environment, nowadays, countries are providing new regulations about the sustainability of businesses. In some countries where caring for the environment is more important, such as the U.S. and the U.K., businesses must follow competition laws and energy legislation. This means they have to be careful about energy consumption and emissions produced while sticking to the sustainable competition guidelines.
If you become a sustainable business, you will automatically follow these regulations and become a government-guaranteed brand.
5. Impact on brand image and competitive advantages
Since sustainability is a popular topic worldwide, when people hear your brand offers sustainable products and follows a sustainable business model, they become more interested in learning more about you. Once they learn, they start WOM marketing (word-of-mouth marketing- when consumers start talking about your brand with their friends and family). This helps your brand image spread quickly.
Once your brand image is widespread, you will become a serious competitor in the market and can have a lasting advantage from this result. Note that you must stick to your sustainable rules in a competitive market to look like what people are talking about. If you don’t, your brand image will be ruined.
Things to consider for becoming a sustainable business
Follow the steps below to start sustainability in your business:
Start with reducing the environmental impacts. For example, try reducing plastic use, recycling, reusing things, etc.
Find what suppliers need from sustainability and implement this in your manufacturing process.
Prepare an engaging atmosphere for the workers and let them suggest sustainable ideas.
Look after the employees and ensure they are happy to work with you. You can guarantee it by educating them, paying on time, and communicating positively.
Don’t miss out on the technology. Wherever you can, use technology to boost productivity.
Have a B plan! All businesses may face obstacles, so it is necessary to have a plan B or even C for bad times.
Embrace innovation. This means not sticking to routines and thinking out of the box to have innovative solutions for new problems and be adaptive when needed.
Do charity work. Consider a part of the profit for dotation, which could be environmental donations or other charity works.
Is it your responsibility to grow sustainable businesses?
After all, every member of the earth is responsible for caring for the environment and preparing a condition to avoid hurting other species. You, as a member of earth, and your business, as a community on this planet, have this role too.
The main reason is businesses produce things that others consume. Consider the manufacturing and packaging process in all businesses turned into a sustainable way! Then certainly, the earth could be a more peaceful and lovely place for all human beings and other species.
If the other 5 reasons didn’t convince you to become a sustainable business, please look at the ethical side!
FAQs
What does sustainable business mean?
A sustainable business tries to create long-term values for consumers by producing sustainable products and packages or having positive competition in the market with other brands, to last longer.
What is the importance of sustainability in businesses?
It can lead businesses to have healthy competition with others while helping to have a better environment for all human beings and species. There are also branding benefits for the business mentioned in the context.
How can I figure out if a business is sustainable?
Some certificates and badges, such as green certificates, are offered to businesses with sustainable products, services, and manufacturing processes.
