Is Your Business Ready to Hold the Line?

Universally around the world and across most industries, business leaders recognize the bottom line as the primarily measure of business success. The survival of a company is ultimately determined by whether there is a red or black number at the bottom of the page.   For each organization, the factors that determine the size and color of this bottom line number may vary. However, there is a common and growing factor creeping into the calculation, yet it often goes unnoticed.

In our sustainability consulting, it is not uncommon to interface with business leaders who are unaware of the potential cost and business risk they may be incurring though misunderstanding or inactivity.   While many organizations recognize the ‘softer’ value of sustainability generated by some of the more well known leading companies, few fail to acknowledge the risk of their own inactivity.

Traditionally our professional consulting tends to focus its attention on value, drawing attention toward ‘positive’ action as a driving and motivating factor. However, the potentially larger and more significant driver for those yet to take action will be the impacts to bottom line results. So where might business sustainability inactivity eventually show up:

•    Increase cost from uncontrolled emissions.
•    Increase cost from measure waste streams.
•    Increase cost from rising energy and uncontrolled consumption.
•    Increased cost in supply and distribution.
•    Increased cost in from the use of unsustainable materials.
•    Increase cost from tax or regulatory changes.
•    Increase in cost from reactive design, engineering and manufacturing changes.
•    Increased cost from obsolete supply or product.

At Taiga Company, we recognize there is often a wide gap between sustainability and business action. Our sustainability consulting seeks to bridge this gap with prospective clients by first asking: “What drives profitability in your organization and what risks do you see to your continued success. Are you taking action to hold the bottom line?”