How Can I Make My Business Profitable While I Protect The Planet?

Sustaining the environment is not just for conservation professionals. It is the duty of all to make certain that our world still stands for our children, grandchildren, and beyond. As a business owner, you have many options for ensuring that your business is both profitable and that you serve as a good steward for Mother Nature.

Getting Started

As with any business endeavor, you have to just do it. If you have yet to start your business, establish a solid foundation by forming an LLC. This not only removes liability from you, but also results in less paperwork, which is great for your green efforts. You can form online without an attorney if you don’t mind checking into the process and laws in your state. If you use a formation service, understand how the various companies vary, and choose a service that has the best customer service and a satisfaction guarantee.

Optimize Your Site to Showcase Your Efforts

Your website not only needs professional appeal; it should also be customized based on its viewers and what they expect to see. Look for web personalization tools that allow you to share what you’re doing with individuals based on the types of content they consume on your site. This not only helps best share your message, but also ensures that your customers know that you “get” them.

Get Your Employees Engaged

Employee engagement is one of the most important parts of having a green business. After all, if your employees aren’t showcasing your company’s mission, who will? Reward sustainable behaviors, such as carpooling or riding a bicycle to work, the latter of which UCLA explains causes no pollution or harmful chemicals.

Put Your Location to Work for You

Consider how you can make the most of your office location. Walking meetings are a great way to give you and your staff an opportunity to get some exercise and are shown to increase productivity and creativity. Promote events that involve the community, like hosting charity walks or collaborative events with other nearby businesses, which is made so much easier if you’re in an area with a high Walk Score. Foot traffic is a boon to profits and easy on the planet.

Understand Your Marketing Angle

Marketing yourself as a green business should not be done solely for profit. All of your advertising, communicating, and marketing efforts should be built around how you, as a business owner, can best benefit the environment. There may be added cost associated with this, so you also want to be prepared for that. For example, switching your packaging material over to recycled materials may be more expensive, but, as McKinsey & Company points out, the right customers may be willing to pay to reduce their own environmental impact.

Switch to a Sustainable Supply Chain

Make a point to work only with suppliers who are as committed as you are to sustainable business practices. They might, for example, only source their own raw materials from sustainable sources or look for ways to improve fuel consumption during the transportation process. You also want to look into how your suppliers and vendors treat their customers and whether or not they maintain their environmental practices behind closed doors.

Enhance Your Waste Reduction Efforts

Waste reduction is more than just recycling. Look for ways to reduce the amount of trash your office contributes to local landfills. A few ideas here include utilizing paperless documentation methods, putting real silverware in the break room, buying supplies in bulk, reusing office materials, and getting rid of your single-pod coffee maker and going back to good old-fashioned carafes.

As a business owner, you are in a unique position to create sustainability both at home and at work. For the latter, begin by weighing the pros and cons, and then make sure that your website is optimized to help sell your efforts to your customers. Then, it’s a matter of making sure your business uses less paper (such as by going to digital documents in the office or filing an LLC, which doesn’t require a great deal of physical documentation) and taking other steps to reduce waste and choose responsible suppliers. It takes work, yes, but it is a labor of love that will ensure your positive impact for generations to come.

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Whether you are a sales development representative just starting out or a more seasoned sales professional looking to up your closing rate, Matt Jennings can help you get to the next level. Contact Matt today!