"Stakeholders" and “stakeholder engagement” are prominent sustainability buzzwords. Stakeholders usually get associated with large companies tromping about in remote areas, or companies that are on a mea culpa tour for doing something bad. But stakeholder engagement can be crucial in building a smaller business. Businesses can use stakeholder relationships to boost their sustainability practices, or just to strengthen their business.

If you’re still deciding if this will be the year of sustainability, contemplate your options using an opportunity cost model. The benefits of sustainability are well documented in the press.

How do you tell your sustainability story without releasing a sustainability report? Large companies use sustainability reports because they are required to publish annual reports. They can be useful PR and publicity tools for companies.  It can be hard to find the time or money for smaller companies to publish such grandiose reports. Reports can also seem outdated for smaller companies. 

We humans are notorious for our knee jerk, judgmental reactions. Hearing something and saying “ That’s not me” “ I don’t like that,” “ I can never do that.” Have you ever had a snap judgment define your thought process? I've had snap judgments on everything from lima beans to the Cleveland Browns to hedge funds. 

Business owners are also prone to snap judgments at work. We have to climb through a lot of muck and review so much information, it’s easy to become biased against strategies. We’ve all been caught glossing over something or using the phrase “ I know about that” or “ I’m not spending time on that.” 

Sustainability reporting, also called ESG reporting, is just as it sounds, reporting on your sustainability progress. You can read the previous blog about why sustainability reporting is important. Let’s talk about sustainability reporting as it relates to 2019 wrap-ups, and planning for future success. 

Starting sustainability in your small business can often be the hardest part. Where should you begin? If you’ve decided to get going on sustainability, use these 5 steps to get you started on the right foot. The five steps are create a why, establish time limits, brainstorm, take the long view and outsource.

Today we’re talking sustainability reporting, specifically metrics. These little sustainability helpers are powerful tools for you to share sustainability with your audience and connect with them in a new way.

Events are a great way to promote your small business, gather the community, and talk about interest areas. Many businesses are using events as a marketing strategy. And for good reason, they work and are linked to company growth! With growth anticipation, companies are spending time and money on events.  Half of companies spend 20% of a marketing budget on events, and companies are increasing the number of events held each year. 

Sustainability is a grand idea and often involves a grand plan. The question remains- how do you do it? How do you enact sustainability in your business on a daily basis so that you can hit your goals and collect your data? The same way you get all of your other work done. Hint: your employees. Assign tasks, encourage feedback and sharing goals and results are all part of engaging employees in your small business.