Sustainability Is Both Environmental And Financial

The Cambridge Dictionary defines sustainability as “the quality of being able to continue over a period of time”. When applied to business, sustainability means the ability for a business to continue making profit over the long term.

But I believe that sustainability in business encompasses not only the financial capacity to continue over a period time but also how we consider our business impact on the environment over a period of time.

Both financial and environmental considerations combined will ensure the long term sustainability of every business. Financial sustainability is based on the demand for products and services, the quality of delivery and customer satisfaction that leads to sales and ultimately to profit and good cashflow.

Like the environment itself, every business is a mini ecosystem where every part of business is interconnected. Change one thing and it has an impact on the rest of the business.

The younger generations are more concerned than ever about the environment, global warming and climate change and they are making their feelings known by the way they spend their money. People will pay more money for a product that has been produced sustainably with a lower impact on the environment rather than buy the cheaper product that hasn’t considered the environment, uses child labour and so on.

Big brands are getting caught out “greenwashing”. This is where they make claims about the wonderful work they are doing for the environment but they cannot back up their claims with scientific data. As consumers, we take offence to that and switch our buying power to alternatives where the claims are legitimate.

Whilst supply chain contracts with large corporations have and will be enforcing their requirements for carbon emissions data from their suppliers as they work towards their mandated reporting and carbon net zero, the impact of those requirements will be felt at the consumer level.

Some businesses and some industries are well on the way to reporting their carbon emissions and those with the data to use in their marketing will gain the early competitive advantage. Not only that, but they will be ahead of the curve in the quantum of reductions as they start changing business processes earlier than those who choose to wait before starting. 

What is interesting is that most businesses find they increase their profits once they start implementing changes that are environmentally responsible. 

What’s your plan for the sustainability of your business? Don’t let the opportunity to gain competitive advantage and make more profit pass you by. Take the Carbon Readiness Assessment to see how ready you are to get started on this important change to your business.

We are proud to advise that this article was written by the team and not produced by AI.