Sustainable Thinking while Hunkering Down

While you’re waiting for the business climate to return to a something resembling normalcy, business owners and entrepreneurs could take advantage of this unexpected downtime and ponder how commerce will behave going forward.

Indeed, you, business owners, have to deal with the usual, business-specific matters before you commit to opening your doors and addressing your customers’ needs and desires. You also can’t overlook your employees’ necessities.

Understandably, your patrons will purchase your goods and services tomorrow differently than they did in the past. All businesses, large and small, will be faced with the anxious situation of providing their customers with what they want. To be successful, your task will be to stand out, to be different in a marketplace where everyone is scrambling to do the same after the crisis wanes. Therefore, you should pick a unique approach and promote your exclusivity.

By choosing a sustainable or green approach to doing business, marketing your wares and making a buck, you will be satisfying several criteria for success. First of all, sustainability is good for the planet. Secondly, it is good for humanity in your neighborhood and around the world. Finally, it is good for business – yours – because people in general and your customers specifically are interested in the concept of sustainability. This has been substantiated many times.

First of all, sustainability does not necessarily mean hugging a tree. Ultimately it does but its definition and impact go far beyond that. It is a set of principles that create a constructive lifestyle and multifaceted relationships that benefit everyone while not impeding your doing business and making money. Sustainable business owners demonstrate that they are smarter than others in growing their companies.

If you haven’t yet heard of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, here’s a brief primer.

Launched by the United Nations in fall of 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a roadmap for solving the world’s most pressing challenges by 2030. The conviction is that when they’re solved, almost everything will be better. The 17 goals and 169 targets include important ambitions such as ending poverty, achieving universal access to energy, and eliminating inequality in education. Along with 193 UN member countries that will use the goals to frame their public policies, the SDGs explicitly call on businesses – large corporations and small neighborhood mom-and-pop stores – to play an active role in the process.

Aligning with the SDG is about value creation. When done right, strategic alignment can bring value across the sphere of influence of any business, from customers to investors, and employees to community stakeholders. Businesses, investors, customers, markets and others are interested in the SDGs and stand to benefit from promoting them.

After all, nearly half of the U.S. employment sector is make up of small businesses and the vast majority of private sector businesses across the globe are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). That constitutes eager consumers of sustainable products and services.

The SDGs are intended for all tiers of business, and each company will approach the goals differently according to their operations. It’s important to understand the goals, define priorities, integrate, and, finally, report and communicate the progress of their implementation.

Tracy Triggs-Matthews, associate director of University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler’s Center for Sustainable Enterprise, said SMEs typically do not have the time for higher level strategic thinking on sustainability unless the enterprise started out with such a mindset.

“I think many SMEs would be surprised to see how ‘good’ their company already is and how small tweaks can make them even better,” she said. “Consumers are looking for brands that are making a big difference and being able to tell that story will only help differentiate an SME among competitors.”

Although some incentives to embrace the goals lie in the realm of contributing to the greater good and a better future, there are countless potential benefits for small businesses to consider. In other words, responsible business owners may already be sustainable without knowing it and their roles in the process can be found in their local marketplaces.

“I think the way for businesses to look at the UN’s sustainable development goals is through the lens of business opportunity,” said Tensie Whelan, director of New York University’s Center for Sustainable Business.

According to the Business and Sustainable Development Commission, sustainable business models could open economic opportunities worth $12 trillion and create 380 million jobs by 2030. That is the scope of the powerful investor and consumer attraction to sustainability.

“Putting the Sustainable Development Goals, or Global Goals, at the heart of the world’s economic strategy could unleash a step change in growth and productivity, with an investment boom in sustainable infrastructure as a critical driver,” the report said.

Regardless of size or industry, all companies can contribute to the SDGs. Some of these items may be more relevant to certain industries than others, and there are certainly many other ways that businesses can approach the goals, but any step toward sustainability is a step in the right direction.

Just pick one of more of them. For example:

1. End poverty

• Set and enforce strict non-discriminatory policies.

• Recruit, train, and employ local community members, including those living in poverty, and integrate them in your value chain.

2. Zero hunger

• Support and encourage small-scale farming, practice farm-to-table or ‘farm-to-office snacks’ sourcing from local entities whenever possible.

• Demonstrate transparency in the agricultural supply chain.

3. Good health and well-being

• Offer employee health benefits.

• Make investments in health a priority in business operations.

4. Quality education

• Create programs (e.g., internships, work-study programs, traineeships, etc.) that give students earlier access to the corporate environment.

• Provide employees with continuous opportunities to improve their (job) skills for their current and future employment.

5. Gender equality

• Pay equal remuneration, including benefits, for work of equal value.

• Support access to child and dependent care by providing services, resources, and information to both women and men.

• Establish a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of violence at work, including verbal/ and/ or physical abuse.

6. Clean water and sanitation

• Prioritize water efficiency by installing best-practice technologies for water conservation.

• Educate employees about the importance of water efficiency.

• Prohibit the use of chemicals and materials that can be particularly detrimental to water quality if improperly disposed.

7. Affordable and clean energy

• Pursue efficient certifications, like LEED or Energy Star.

• Prioritize energy efficiency across all operations, preserve light, heating, cooling, etc. whenever possible.

8. Decent work and economic growth

• Offer apprenticeship opportunities.

• Foster entrepreneurial culture and invest in/mentor young entrepreneurs.

• Install a firm policy against unfair hiring and recruitment practices.

9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure

• Establish standards and promote regulation that ensures company projects and initiatives are sustainably managed.

• Promote innovation by giving all stakeholders the opportunity to offer creative solutions to sustainability challenges.

10. Reduced inequalities

• Invest in business-driven poverty eradication activities (e.g., develop living wage policy).

• Partner with civil society networks to provide education and entrepreneurial skills training.

11. Sustainable cities and communities

• Jointly develop and/or participate in a sustainable community that brings together relevant stakeholders through a common and neutral platform to jointly analyze, discuss, and act on urban functionality, resilience, and sustainable development.

• Support and utilize public transportation services.

12. Responsible consumption and production

• Reduce manufacturing impacts by substituting virgin raw materials in products with post-consumer materials through recycling and upcycling.

• Significantly reduce waste and ensure that any unavoidable waste is utilized to the fullest degree (e.g., organic waste as fuel or fertilizer).

13. Climate action

• Retrofit the lighting systems of the company’s facilities to energy-efficient LED lighting.

• Understand climate risk and build resilience into the company’s assets and supply chain.

• Expand sustainable forest management through responsible sourcing practices and product substitution.

14. Life below water

• Track the life cycle of products and materials to understand how they are disposed and which products could likely find their way into marine environments.

• Record and disclose information on the chemical and material usage within products, packaging, and processing systems to facilitate closing the loop.

• Prevent waste mismanagement or littering that could pollute the marine environment.

15. Life on land

• Measure, manage, and mitigate impacts on ecosystems and natural resources.

• Scale up best practices for land-use planning and management.

• Commit to and implement responsible sourcing practices beyond compliance – applying environmental and social safeguards – for all raw materials and commodities.

16. Peace, justice and strong institutions

• Comply with laws and seek to meet international standards; require and support business partners to do the same.

17. Partnerships for the goals

• Partake in SDG-related partnerships like the UN’s Make the Global Goals Local campaign, the SDG reporting initiative and locally based sustainability initiatives. Network.

Once you embark on this path, tell your marketplace, neighborhood and world about your decision. Network with your business partners, supply chain, customers, officials, and community. This will bring you marketing benefits and start a sustainable snowball. Communicate your practices to consumers regardless of how you address this responsible operation, whether it be with the SDGs, a certification or employee initiatives.

You should also inform your current and future employees of your business direction since they too will be impressed by your progressive move.

In New Jersey, you can register with the New Jersey Sustainable Business Registry, which will give you assorted door or window decals that will give you marketing traction on the street.

On a larger scale, investors are becoming more interested in companies’ sustainability risk profiles as well understanding sustainability-related business opportunities.

Finally, note that global research by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that 78% of customers are more likely to buy the goods and services of companies that had signed up to the SDGs. Something to consider while you’re waiting to open up again.