Being more environmentally conscious does not just apply to households. In fact, there are many small and large businesses that have started to switch to a more sustainable way of operations. There are a number of ways how sustainability helps businesses, including cost-effectiveness, increased publicity, and therefore, higher revenue.
To understand how sustainability helps businesses, we must first understand how businesses become sustainable in the first place. Becoming a sustainable business simply means using materials in your business that are more environmentally friendly, or implementing processes that help your business reduce its carbon footprint.
For a business to be sustainable, it does not necessarily mean installing solar panels or investing in eco friendly cars for commuting. In fact, it could be as simple as promoting the usage of public transport, recycling more often, or even using sustainable toilet paper in your office restrooms. As I’ve stressed so much in the previous articles, becoming sustainable doesn’t have to mean breaking the bank (even for businesses), it’s all about reducing the impact of the business on the environment, and sometimes the most effective ways are the simplest ones.
So without further delay, let’s begin our journey on how sustainability helps businesses achieve success
The first (and sort of less obvious) benefit of businesses going eco friendly is that it slowly reduces the costs of operation. Again, sustainability doesn’t always mean getting solar panels installed or buying expensive items; aiming to save as much water as possible is one of the best environmentally friendly things a business can do. If your business is using less water, then that means it’s releasing a lower amount of wastewater too. As your water consumption goes down, so does the water bill. If you want to know how to save water, check out my post on how to save water, which applies to both homes and small businesses.
Similarly, if you do someday opt to choose solar panels for your business, the initial investment is likely to save you thousands of dollars over the coming months (Just be sure to check out the things you should be wary of before installing solar panels). If you use a register to keep track of your business operations, using your smartphone or tablet could help save you hundreds of dollars each year that you would use to buy those registers. But if you must use a paper register, here’s a pro tip: Go for those made with recycled paper, they’re cheaper and help save the environment as well.
As you find other simple ways to go eco friendly, you’ll find that each of these little things adds up to not only lowering your businesses’ carbon footprint but dramatically lowering your expenses too!
Increases publicity among consumers
Another way how sustainability helps businesses is through an increase in publicity. People today are more informed than ever, with people moving towards more sustainable alternatives as campaigns continue to rise against the harmful effects of using fossil fuels, as well as the products made from them. Businesses that are revamping their structures to a more eco friendly way of operations have considerably been able to increase their audience compared to those using conventional, non-environmentally friendly ways to run their business. More audience means potentially more customers, and more customers mean, you guessed it, more revenue!
Improves your brand image
One of the perks of being an eco friendly business is that it helps your business improve its image among not just the customers, but also the media, influential personalities, and the government. You don’t want to be running your business in a world that is actively looking towards more environmentally friendly alternatives, and the last thing you would want is for your business to be on the cover page of a newspaper for all the wrong reasons.
The media (and the government) is constantly looking to draw out the businesses polluting the environment; so the sooner you start going greener, the safer your business would be from scandals and possible fines. In fact, being an early adopter may even offer your business a headline opportunity of being the pioneer business embracing eco friendly practices!
Provides you a unique competitive advantage
Who says you can’t market eco-friendliness? A unique way how sustainability helps businesses become more successful is by offering a unique selling point that very few competitors may have in your industry. Referring back to the publicity point I mentioned earlier, becoming more sustainable in your business operations would attract more audience. But what if you market your sustainable practices?
Let the audience know that you only offer products (or services) that keep the environment in mind, and aim to reduce your carbon footprint through sustainable practices. If you’re able to increase publicity by just switching to a greener way of business, imagine what your business would be capable of if you start marketing those sustainable practices; you could sweep the entire competition!
So, what’s the verdict?
There’s no doubt on how sustainability helps businesses achieve their goals in a number of ways. In fact, several multinational giants have gone eco friendly and are now reaping the rewards for becoming the pioneers in embracing green practices. If you’re a small business (perhaps a working mother operating your online business from home), that shouldn’t stop you from going eco friendly either.
As I’ve stressed time and time again, going eco friendly does not have to be expensive; if you’re short on cash, you don’t need to go as far as purchasing a new solar panel installation that costs thousands of dollars. Sustainability has become so much easier these days that even your daily items now have sustainable alternatives; heck, even garbage bags have biodegradable alternatives now!
But where do you start? How do you make your business more environmentally friendly? Well, becoming a more sustainable business is easier than you think, and often involves similar practices no matter what industry you belong to. Check out my article on how to make your restaurant more eco friendly, where I explain simple tips that can be implemented in any business regardless of the industry.
However, you would never be able to experience how sustainability helps your business unless you take action yourself. The question is, when will you?