Showing all posts tagged sustainability

In Business & Blogging, Frugal Living

Ethical Business Practices

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on
Ethical Business Practices

Supporting ethical businesses and trying to adopt more ethical business practices in my own business (as well as my personal life) is important to me. Ethical business practices were once unheard of and certainly not something easy to achieve, or affordable for businesses to adopt. Thankfully times have changed and we are living in a more enlightened time, in some ways at least. If you want to make your business more ethical, the following methods give you a good place to start.

Create an Ethical Supply Chain

Making your supply chain more ethical can allow you to show your customers that you’re diligent about making sure everything about your company as green, as sustainable and yes, that all employees are fairly treated and that you are continuing to work towards being as ethical as possible. You can start by ensuring your products are manufactured in a suitable manner and check every stage of your supply chain to make sure it adheres to the same standards and way of working. If your supply chain moves through different countries, following the law in each one is important, as is doing your due diligence to ensure you are certain your supply chain does, in fact, follow the same standards that you want them to.

Create an Ethical Culture

An ethical culture within your company is good for your employees. It helps them to feel safe at work and gives them the tools that they need to speak up if they need to. When you have an ethical business culture, it can help you to retain employees and customers. Don’t just talk the talk though; do your research and lead by example. Ethical business is not just about any one factor, it is about adopting a whole new way of working, trading, training, looking after staff and more.

Focus on Ethical Leadership

Ethical leadership is an important part of building an ethical business culture. A leader should have some key qualities, such as listening to criticism and being willing to take action to correct mistakes. A good leader needs to be able to take responsibility for any mistakes that might occur and learn from them.

Ethical Business When You are a Solopreneur or Freelancer

Is it possible to adopt ethical business practices when you are a one man or one woman band? Of course it is. Identify what ethical working means for you and start small. Choose your vendors carefully, look at green business, look at sustainable business, supporting communities, choosing business insurance from a company that works the same way that you do perhaps. It’s a lot to think about yet worth the effort if you are serious about making the change.


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In Business & Blogging

Sustainability Tips for SMEs

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on
Sustainability
 
There are many challenges facing small businesses these days and while overcoming those hurdles business owners are also looking to go the extra mile to stay true to their own brand values. For example, to be green, to stay true to set ethical values, to support other local enterprises or even national concerns such as charities. 
In addition to this, with increased regulation and growing public awareness of environmental concerns, sustainability is a topic that no business can ignore. Sustainability is something to constantly consider and to plan for.
 

The Challenges Facing SMEs

The commercial marketplace is always evolving, and SMEs face daily challenges to stay competitive. As a result, more than 70 percent find that they lack the resources to put their sustainability plans into action. Most realise that sustainability is an important topic, but if it is not something that directly impacts the bottom line, it is inevitably deprioritised.

There is also a question of know-how. An SME will not have experts on hand to tackle sustainability issues and draw up a strategy along the lines of the larger companies. But that doesn’t mean you can do nothing.

Benefits of Implementing Sustainability in SMEs

These are challenges that apply to SMEs across the board in all industries. The first step is always the hardest, and it is as much about mindset as anything else. Look at the benefits that a sustainability strategy can bring, particularly in a sector where the competition is slow to get started.

For one thing, you will find that your brand image gains a welcome boost. Today’s consumers are savvy people, and you will attract a whole new demographic that is willing to pay more for a product or service from a sustainable supplier.

For another, you will find that many of the simple measures you can adopt will have direct financial benefits.

Simple Sustainability Strategies

You don’t need a 100-page strategy to improve sustainability in your business, all it really takes is some common sense. Here are some examples:

 

  • Recycling – This goes beyond bins for bottles and drink cans and can run through the entire business. Speak to your printer toner manufacturer or supplier about what to do with old toners, and introduce a policy that if paper has only been used on one side, it gets fed back into the printer. Costs and consumption will reduce dramatically.
  • LED lighting – LEDs make the office environment a nicer place to be and use far less electricity. They also last longer than conventional light bulbs. 
  • Car pooling – Offer incentives for employees to car pool. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive, and will increase office morale as people get to know each other better and save themselves some fuel costs.
  • Get everyone involved – make sustainability a topic that everyone is involved in, and ask the team to come up with ideas for new ways the business can reduce its carbon footprint – usually, this will also result in saving money.

 

 

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