Can Business and Sustainability go Hand-in-Hand?
Nikita Rai | Aug. 26, 2020, 11:05 a.m.
Business and Sustainability, on hearing these two terms together, we tend to think that these are opposites. Business is often associated with monetary values and creating new things while Sustainability is about saving and preserving that already exists. On one side, sustainability is not just a trend anymore instead the need of the hour. On the other side, several rules of running a business cannot be bent. So, can these two co-exist anyhow? Can these two together set a new example? And Can these two bring a new way of running businesses into existence?
One notable initiative that is helping in integrating Business and Sustainability is the Circular Economy approach. Circular Economy is a method in which a brand closes its circle of manufacturing products. This means that the brand does not only care about selling products to the customers but also about safe and sustainable disposal or recycling of the products once they have been used by the customers. For example, Sumitomo Chemical Group has introduced its policy towards a Circular System for Plastics to ensure resolving issues related to plastic waste. This fulfills both their objectives: Business and Sustainability.
Apart from the Circular Economy approach, there can be several other methods that can take your business on the roads of sustainability irrespective of the current stage of your business. In his book ‘Strategy and Sustainability’, Mike Rosenberg has talked a lot about bringing Business and Sustainability together. In the picture below, four strategies have been shown that can lead you in your quest of integrating Business and Sustainability.
Let’s get a clear idea of how these strategies work;
1. Wait and See-One of the major problems that arise while adopting a sustainable model for business is the response of customers, investors, and also the environment. Most of the customers react positively if sustainability is involved in the certain industries like food and lifestyle products, such as skincare. Even though the prices get slightly higher in sustainable variants, if compared with the other unnatural variants available. But this might not prove true in other markets such as clothing and automobile. In such cases, the manufacturers could start following the legislation that is defined in their country for the parameter of sustainability and take a step ahead on this road. Wait for a specific period to be able to see the response of your customers and investors. Meanwhile, keep conveying the positive reaction of the environment to them, if a sustainable model is adopted.
2. Show and Tell- Another important strategy but this needs a lot of attention while being applied. Show and Tell means a brand should be active in showing its sustainable activities and telling the impact that those activities are leaving behind. But Show and Tell must include only the genuinely adopted sustainable activities because if found otherwise, the brand's strategy might fall trap to 'greenwashing' which is about showing much more of sustainable steps and their impacts than the brand has genuinely taken. This can cause a huge loss to the reputation of your brand, so be sure of the sustainability report of your brand before bringing it out to the world.
3. Pay for Principle- Keep a track of what your brand is investing for and question yourself whether those investments will stay in the long run or will they vanish faster than even they have appeared. Initially, the production and distribution of sustainable products might cost more than the fast products but remember that the principle of sustainability will keep paying your business as well as the environment in the long run.
4. Think Ahead- This strategy goes a step further and involves the future of the business along with its present. We have already caused much loss to the environment through various channels and with rising awareness about the importance of sustainability, anything that is still harming the environment only for its benefit might lose relevance soon. So, choose your business model wisely!
We just saw a few points that can help your business to either start walking in the roads of sustainable development or take a turn towards those sustainable roads. Remember that sustainability is the utmost need of our planet to survive in a greener and happier way and with the right amount of sincerity and dedication, your business can contribute to the survival of mankind.
Thumbnail image from Inside Small Business
Opening image from Ensia
