For many companies focussing on sustainability has significantly improved its profits, branding and marketing appeal.. For a growing number of companies and the value chains that they are part of, it has become increasingly apparent that sustainability is vitally important and individuals, companies, and countries are finding ways to cut back on their emissions and pollution levels. While some companies have taken great steps to become more sustainable, others have not. If we avoid making sustainability a priority, we’re going to see serious consequences from it down the line. Here are some of the reasons why we need to focus more on sustainability in business and keep making efforts to improve how we rely on energy. The competitiveness of our companies depends on it.
Variety of options
For a business of any size, there’s a virtually endless amount of ways you can make the company more sustainable. You might start in small ways, such as switching to as much digital communication and storage as possible, instead of using an unnecessary (and expensive) amount of paper. There are more major ways you can be sustainable, such as saving on energy costs, changing something about your product to cut down on waste while reducing packaging costs, giving employees the opportunity to work from home one day each week to cut down on costs, or moving to a new building or location. You’ll need to research and find out what works best for your business.
Customer appreciation
Consumers value businesses that care about sustainability. About 66 percent of global respondents have said that they’re willing to pay more for a product that is sustainable and comes from a business that values this ideal. Find ways to become sustainable and then be vocal about its importance to your company. Including sustainability in your communication campaign also significantly improves chances to be part of a large companies second or third tier of suppliers.
Happier board
Like consumers, those on your board also likely value sustainability. Over 90 percent of CEOs believe that sustainability is important for businesses and nearly 90 percent of students in business school think addressing sustainability issues in business is important.
Increase company value
By making your business sustainable, you’ll inherently increase its value. I mentioned above how important savings and impact on customers and your board will be appreciated and the effort to make the company more sustainable will have an impact on your bottom line; when people see the value in what your company does, it’ll increase its value. By putting thought into sustainability, you’ll also be able to find ways to cut back on costs by switching to more sustainable practices.
Larger companies have done it
Regardless of the size of your company, sustainability should be a priority because some of the world’s leading companies have stated their focus on sustainability. Athletic companies, Nike and Adidas, have both shifted their focus to ways to cut down on waste in the production lines. All companies can find ways to improve sustainability in a way that makes sense for their business. Many automotive companies want their suppliers to become more sustainable.
Innovation
Embracing sustainability in business drives innovation. Leading companies are becoming more competitive as their production becomes more efficient and new products grab important market share. More and more regulations protect businesses that improve environmental standards and companies that fail to comply are left behind. Delaying modern regulations often limits companies from expanding to new markets and sooner or later, when customers make their choice these companies struggle and incur high costs to modernize and catch up. While there are certainly reasons that directly benefit the business, the biggest reason is to make the world a better place than it is now and to secure the future health of the environment.