Small Business Going Forward in the Age of Climate Change Needs to Embrace Sustainability to Thrive

When Jori Hamilton sent me an article she was writing on businesses becoming more sustainable, at the time I was attending a virtual conference entitled, “Our Planet, Our Future,” a Nobel Prize summit put together by the Nobel Foundation, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and the Stockholm Resilience Centre/Beijer Institute. Business sustainability was front and centre in a number of the presentations and discussions I attended, and from one of the sessions came a principle that resonated with me: businesses need to plan operations around the principle to “do no harm.”  Then I started reading Jori’s submission and realized in collaborating with her we could flesh out better strategies for small business practices that adopted that principle. The end result is what follows, a collaboration between Jori and me that I hope you enjoy.

It is not easy to practice the “do no harm” principle when you’re a small business. Having operated one myself as a consultancy for two decades I am sympathetic to what usually dominates small business thinking: flying by the seat of your pants, operating day to day, and looking backward rather than forward knowing you have survived another year.

Does sustainability enter the equation? Maybe if you are a publicly traded corporation with investors like BlackRock issuing sustainability marching orders or face divestment, but certainly not when you are business with a few employees or even a hundred. For the latter, the idea of sustainability is “a nice to have” more than a reality.

But that may be changing as consumers become more cognizant of the environmental impact that climate change is making around the world. To attract future customers, therefore, small businesses are starting to take the first steps to achieve sustainability goals. Their customers are thrilled. 

But what is sustainability? Our definition is as follows. Sustainability is a business approach designed to create long-term value by taking into consideration how an organization operates in the ecological, social and economic environment. The assumption is that such strategies contribute to a company’s survivability and longevity when competing with others in the marketplace.

Note that nowhere in the definition does it state “do no harm.” So why bring it up? Do no harm means for every operational aspect and business decision, from the selection of suppliers, the sourcing of materials and services, the manufacturing, the distribution, the consumption and the post-consumption, businesses need a plan. You may not be familiar with the term the circular economy, referenced in an article posted on this site last year that focused on decarbonizing industry. Whereas the article looked at the macro impact of applying circular economic principles, in this case we are applying it to small business. No business, however small, operates in a vacuum. Its relationships are numerous and in creating true sustainability needs to embrace the larger universe in which it operates, the global business ecosystem.

Reaching the goal of not harming the planet requires significant changes to the operational mindset, business structures and culture. It can be very challenging for a small business that doesn’t have lots of investment capital to alter its way of doing things. But small businesses can begin to incorporate best practices in sustainability incrementally as they work towards full circularity within their business ecosystem. 

Changing the Business Incrementally

Many businesses begin their sustainability journeys through small changes: things like like starting a recycling program and removing disposable utensils and cups from the breakroom. Over time the business might become more ambitious by encouraging employees to work more from home to limit carbon emissions from driving, by installing energy-efficient building upgrades, or by encouraging customers to bring their own bags. 

Evena small business can seek to influence its suppliers to be more sustainable, or it can search for more sustainable alternatives. This is where sustainable supply chain management comes into play, cleaner, eco-friendlier management is a big driver of circular sustainability regardless of industry. 

Then there are the social and government policies, pressures and incentives to make these changes easier than ever before. Although many would have never dreamed it to be a reality, the green movement is making a real difference with consumers willing to make sacrifices to support businesses trying to do the right thing for the environment. Taking steps to become more sustainable may end up being the most important decision a small business can make in the 21st century. 

Involving Customers to Achieve Small Business Sustainability

But just because your small business is taking steps to become more environmentally friendly doesn’t necessarily mean that customers will know about it. This is where sustainable marketing comes in. Marketing sustainability is a means to communicate a company’s values and achievements to its customers as well as a way to attract them to its products. 

Many argue sustainable marketing has become more important than ever. This is something customers are looking for and if the business isn’t telling this story then no one else will. That’s why any long-term marketing plan needs to include sustainable goals and strategies with messaging to keep customers engaged in the process.

Interacting with customers can also mean asking them to become participants in meeting the sustainability challenge. For example, customers can be asked to bring their own bags when they shop. It can also mean explaining why some products come shipped with less packaging, or cost a bit more than similar items sourced elsewhere. It is all about adhering to the principle to “do no harm.”