Sustainability: business, life, environment

Pick up the paper or open your favorite daily feed and you will most likely read about a large corporation making changes and capturing business sustainability value.  Leveraging immense resources to implement change, how can the average business owner relate? 

More small to medium companies are subscribing to the idea that they can save money, increase sales, and improve business value by implementing social and environmental business sustainability practices.  With countless examples of success, some are making the headlines and so many others are not.  Who is truly setting the mark?  Shouldn’t we be asking the small business owners?

Our professional consulting shares in the fan fair with many others in the space by acknowledging the tremendous efforts made by small business.  We find that smaller company actions are in fact a more representative example of practical business sustainability.  Often challenged by the same business sustainability forces, theses often limited organizations drive change under more severe financial pressures and resource constraints.

Small business applications offer practical insights and creative solutions to issues unseen in a corporate environment.  Digging into the true business sustainability drivers and aligned financial incentives, small businesses answer the basic questions:

•    How will business sustainability implementation affect current operations and short-term cash flow?

•    Will desired business sustainability programs be self-financed or will investment dollars be available for capital improvements?

•    Will financing be available to make capital improvements?

•    Which resources could be leveraged with on-going business operations?

•    How will supply and value chain buy-in be attained from an under leveraged position?

For many small business executives and entrepreneurs, just surviving day-to-day is often the ultimate goal.  However aligning business sustainability incentives with daily operations, these same leaders are now initiating proactive business sustainability actions.  The small business financial survivors of yesterday are now the leading-edge examples of business sustainability success today.