Not long ago, sustainability was looked at more as a public relations perspective than a robust component of the business. Today, it has become one of the most robust components of growth in the modern economy. Companies are beginning to realize that eco-friendly strategies are not just about meeting regulatory requirements but about trust among conscious consumers, which are now turning to be the majority of consumers.
The rapid evolution of consumer behavior has accelerated this change. Research has established that consumers more often support companies with similar values and are more deliberate about supporting brands that share their beliefs, particularly relative to sustainability.
Technology is supporting these various transitions. From energy-efficient machines to digital services that replace traditional resource-heavy actions, and new tools for supply chain transparency that allow companies to be more sustainable and still make money. For many, sustainability is an opportunity, not a block.
How Small Businesses Can Leverage Eco-Friendly Strategies
The idea that green initiatives require significant budgets is antiquated. The capacity for global corporations to deploy large-scale initiatives, such as solar farms or fleets of electric vehicles, is obviously different from what smaller businesses have available as resources to onboard sustainability. However, smaller businesses have created avenues to incorporate sustainability into their business plans in innovative ways. A local café might procure ingredients from farms in the region, which reduces transportation emissions, and a software start-up can plan on their products operating optimally on devices to decrease the users’ energy needs.
The other notable consideration is customer loyalty. Loyalty to companies that are taking actions to become sustainable and timing is crucial to the company’s sales. A small clothing brand that captures a more sustainable brand identity for decision making in switching to biodegradable packaging may not only save on costs associated with waste but also gain a competitive advantage through marketing as environmentally-aware buyers.
A digital marketing company deciding to turbo-charge their company goals by offsetting their carbon footprint and use this as an opportunity to build their brand around this choice, could use this facet of their brand to garner contracts with clients that actually have sustainability interests in their supply chain.
Digital Efficiency and the Entertainment Example
An example of sustainability in business is located within the entertainment industry. Traditional land-based casinos are good energy hogs, consuming large amounts of energy powering slot machines, cooling facilities, and keeping them lit every day, 24 hours a day. They also require tons of physical infrastructure and entire teams of people to run. Online casinos and online gaming resources have demonstrated much higher eco-agility.
With online casinos, you now have recreation produced via servers and digital platforms rather than via a physical plant to accommodate the recreation all day every day. Players can still access and bet on real money slots and online games from their electronic devices which results in a smaller overall energy footprint. This shift mirrors the way many other industries are moving from physical to digital operations in pursuit of lower costs and reduced environmental impact.
This lesson applies in all areas. Sectors that digitize with meaningful purpose will often learn that their operational efficiencies make them socially, economically, and environmentally greener. Whether it is a small accounting operation that now operates entirely in the cloud with no hard copy documentation, or a retail operation that has started a digital inventory process before moving to all digital inventories and assets thereby reducing waste, each one of these makes a positive difference environmentally.
Sustainability as a Long-Term Strategy
While sustainability is becoming an essential growth driver, it is also core to the way business is done today, as opposed to a niche issue or a transient fad. Small companies that choose to embrace sustainability today will, in the long term, be well positioned as consumers and governments redefine their expectations of organizations.
Sustainability is also an innovation driver. Sustainability encourages organizations to think differently about how to operate. It encourages organizations to develop more nimble, smarter and more prudent business practices. Often innovation emerges, with organizations dabbling with new products, new market opportunities, and new avenues for growth. The green movement is repositioning the notion of green away from just an environmental initiative to one of business potential.
The path is clear for small and medium enterprises. Sustainability is not a choice for them as a pathway strategy. Sustainability is a proven approach for building customer loyalty, staying ahead of regulatory requirements, and increasing efficiency to remain competitive. As companies recognize that green business is really big business, the movement will only continue to accelerate.
