What's the secret ingredient to make your small business evolving?
Acting responsibly is one of the secret ingredients to make any business evolving. Particularly for small companies, it is as simple as the advantage some have over others due to their image of responsibility.
Consumers are today demanding a much transparent picture and as much as possible information regarding products and services. "Buy items that last longer from those who understand what you are looking for" becomes the consecrated purpose for consumers.
Deciding on actions to be taken to achieve a certain level of responsibility for a company, is not always easy. Normally there is a person (usually named a sustainability or a corporate social responsibility expert) who will set up the strategy and implement the activities to help you achieve it.
But what if you do not have yet such a person and you still want to do it? If you are a small business,here's how to start with.
1. Keep an eye on energy conservation: make sure you turn off the lights in the places where it is not necessary, turn off electrical equipment whenever you are not using it. If you are a new business, try to buy electrical items with the best energy efficiency. Look for energy providers that use renewable sources such as sun, wind, water. Install energy-saving light bulbs throughout your buildings and fit light sensors in rooms that are used infrequently, such as bathrooms, kitchens and stationary rooms. Whenever possible buy goods you need from your suppliers locally to cut down on the number of travel to supply them. And if you need to travel for business, make sure there is no chance to save on that by having it as video-con, Skype, etc.
2. Go paperless: e-mailing and sending information electronically is a sure way to save on paper and paper associated costs, being also a less carbon intensive way to communicate than sending a letter. And, if you really must use paper, just use a recycled one.
​3. Recycle, reuse, re-purpose:​ separating your general waste into glass, plastic and paper and contacting local recycles when you update your office equipment it’s a first important step. Offer anything you want to dispose of that's usable and can't be recycled to a local charity before sending it to a landfill. Recycle your ink cartridges, gather the plastic bottles and aluminum cans, call animal shelters for donations of newspaper and plastic bags.
​
4.​Encourage employees participation: remember, as business owner you are in a unique position to encourage your employees to follow your lead. Simple changes, like adding a second trash can just for aluminum cans and plastic bottles to the lunchroom or installing a drop box where workers can leave their spent inkjet and laser cartridges, encourages employees to recycle and help the environment. Asking them ideas on what else to do for making the work more responsible is a great way to grow the business into something unique, where every employee belongs to.
5. Communicate your efforts: no matter the size, making your clients aware of your efforts of taking responsibility part of your business will motivate them to come back to your products/services, a unique bond between your offer and their needs.
Do you want to know more about what it means to take specific initiative for a responsible approach? We have prepared a short material here.
