The Power of Small Businesses to accelerate Sustainable Change

I was visiting with a colleague yesterday sharing the value of personal reward we receive working with businesses to build sustainability into their workplace and the topic of limitation came up. Limitation in the terms that small businesses appear to have the misguided notion that because they are "small" that their environmental efforts have less impact.

Being a sustainability consultant, I confidently state, "That's not true!" In fact, small business is BIG!

The 23 million small businesses in America account for 54% of all U.S. sales.
Small businesses provide 55% of all jobs and 66% of all net new jobs since the 1970s.
The 600,000 plus franchised small businesses in the U.S. account for 40% of all retail sales and provide jobs for some 8 million people.
The small business sector in America occupies 30-50% of all commercial space, an estimated 20-34 billion square feet.

In my professional consulting, I have witnessed and observed how small businesses are more agile and able to quickly respond to changing market conditions, have lower risk than larger organizations, and reduced decision chain - all enabling them to integrate sustainability concepts into their businesses quickly and effectively.

Because small business are more intimately connected with their customers, it's possible to educate their stakeholders more effectively about the company's sustainability plan. By bringing eco awareness and sustainability concepts to employees, customers, and suppliers not only brings value to the organization but also broadens and expands sustainability concepts into the communities and lives of the individuals. Imagine the ripple effect in action here.

From a competitive position, building business sustainability improves your brand and reputation and differentiates your business in the marketplace.

The cumulative impact of the small business sector is enormous. Now is the time for small businesses to claim their position as sustainability leaders in the market and accelerate sustainable change.