Are
you a small thriving business? Guess what! You are never too small to
incorporate Sustainability into your business strategy. For someone who
observed as businesses in Nigeria gradually but steadily are moving from simple
philanthropic acts of charity (Social Responsibility) to deliberate strategic
inclusion of Sustainability principles, I noticed that small businesses were
not part of this train. Upon inquiry, i realized that small businesses think
Sustainability is for big businesses. My article here is to disabuse that
perception. If a business can understand the need to keep proper Accounts, then
it can understand the need to start incorporating Sustainability principles in
its strategy. The most interesting benefits of Sustainability to me is the
potential to help a businesses be profitable whilst remaining sustainable which
is an attractive quality to investors. Sustainability also provides genuine
content for PR/Communication that will enhance your business goodwill in your
community.
Getting
to the basics, Sustainability simply means “development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.” ...UN Bruntland commission. This is measured in terms of the
positive and negative impacts of a business on the environment, society and
economy. So whatever business you are running, always have this definition at
the back of your mind. Now I’m going to get practical because I want to give
you quick tips that will help you come up with your own Sustainability Strategy
using guidelines provided by the Global Reporting Initiative, Common Wealth
Millennium Development Goals and International Standards Organization. These
are organizations that have provided tested and tried knowledge base as well as
reporting structure in the area of Sustainability.
Lesson 1:
As a
business, you need to have what we call Sustainability Priorities. These are
your focus areas in terms of Sustainability. When coming up with your
priorities, try to consider areas that are relevant to your business type. I am
going to recommend that you use the core subjects provided by ISO 26000 Social
Responsibility guidelines. They are Organizational Governance, Human Rights,
Labour practices, the Environment, Fair Operating practices, Consumer Issues,
Community Involvement & Development. You can browse for ISO 26000:2010 on
the internet for detailed information under these core subjects. Please note
that under Community Involvement & Development, ISO 26000 has already
incorporated the Millennium Development Goals for Common Wealth countries like
Nigeria which makes the guidelines most useful.
