As all business owners worldwide, you launch your business intending to establish brand awareness, a competitive edge beyond rivals, a growing customer base, and business longevity. Thus you are always looking for ways to improve your business and choosing to grow greener might give you the competitive edge needed.
As you would soon realize, these things do not happen instantly. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 20% of businesses crumble in the first year of inception, and 65% after a decade. Business success is not a destination but a journey of creating innovative strategies to penetrate the market, concise planning and funding, and flexibility to adapt to emerging trends.
Regarding emerging trends, the world currently faces an environmental sustainability problem. Particularly, pollution is one of the biggest destroyers of human health, resulting in more than 100 million deaths worldwide. More and more individuals and businesses are becoming aware of the current and impending impacts of not properly incorporating sustainability strategies.
Business owners are taking a keen interest in their operating services and revamping processes to stay in line with environmental regulations. Growing your business while staying ‘green’ is essential right now. Thankfully, we have curated some of the tips you should incorporate into making this happen.
Focus on Social Media
One of the best ways you grow your business faster is to have a social media presence. With over 3.6 billion people currently have social media accounts a social media presence is becoming necessary. And according to Statistica, this number is expected to hit 4.41 billion in 2025.
Most of your target audience are on social media to connect with their families and friends. Because of this your business can take advantage of the situation. With a social media account that posts content regularly, users can locate your business and even share your content with their followers.
On the plus side, your business is more trustworthy if you have social media profiles across various platforms.
Practice Corporate Social Responsibility
These days, consumers are willing to patronize brands concerned with societal causes and passionate about improving the world. While some business owners do not see this as a necessity, corporate social responsibility (CSR) should be a priority – especially when you consider the benefits:
- Attract top talents. A great CSR strategy is perfect in hiring and retaining top talents. Nowadays, employees are willing to work for businesses that have a responsibility towards bettering their community. Notably, 78% of Americans expect a company to have a positive effect on society. With an effective CSR strategy, you can influence a positive environment for productivity to thrive.
- Improve consumer perception. Competition amongst businesses is stiff. To thrive beyond this and generate more revenue for your business, you must take up CSR, not as a strategy but as an objective to fulfill. CSR can set up your business as a trustworthy brand for consumers to patronize. Some of the side projects your business engages in can raise awareness and keep your brand in your consumers’ minds, which leads to consumer loyalty. According to a survey, 50% of consumers are willing to pay more for a service or product of the business that is CSR-oriented.
- More investment. Businesses with excellent CSR are ripe for investors to be interested in. Investors generally want a profitable ROI after investing. They see businesses with CSR as not only responsible but accountable. According to a growing sentiment among investors, businesses with CSR is an indicator of corporate culture and not likely to be fraudulent. The report also notes that investors consider CSR to reduce investment risks due to ethical corporate behavior.
Thriving faster in today’s world requires your business to look beyond the sole objective of generating revenues and giving back to society. This brings us to the next tip:
Become ESG Compliant
Another way you can effectively grow your business faster, and greener is by becoming ESG-compliant. We are becoming more aware of potential environmental hazards threatening our survival on the planet.
If current waste disposal methods persist, we may be generating 43.08 billion metric tons of waste in 2050. For your business to remain relevant, it is essential to be compliant with regulatory ESG laws.
Your business needs to get the Edenark Group ISO 140001 sustainability certification. It is the world’s leading environmental sustainability program that enables SMEs to improve competitive performance, increase profits, and maintain environmental regulations simultaneously.
Research shows that 9 out of 10 consumers (either B2B or B2C) want their vendors sustainably certified. Thus, the certification program from Edenark Group is best suited for your business.
Edenark Group ISO 140001 Sustainability Certification
The Edenark Group ISO 140001 sustainability certification is backed by the UN, the World Bank, SEC, COP25, FINRA and is currently utilized by over 56% of the world’s largest 79,000 businesses and buildings. It is a prime example of how to grow your business greener. Some of the benefits you get from the certification include:
- Becoming carbon neutral
- Competitive advantage over other businesses
- Become a part of the solution, not the problem.
- Get more productive employees.
- Ripe for investors seeking ESG-compliant companies.
- Improved financial performance (growing 20x faster than non-certified businesses).
- Improved brand image for consumers and top talents
- Get you in a framework of over 300k firms and organizations.
Growing your business is not an easy feat, but incorporating the tips mentioned above will help you faster achieve your short and long-term goals.
You can also reach out to us to see how we can help you increase your profit while reducing expenses.