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Sustainability can deliver two great business benefits:
• it can give you competitive advantage
• it can save you money
Competitive advantage
If your company can say something that your competitors can't, you have an opportunity to make yourself more interesting to your audience - to stand out from the crowd. Developing a green service or a green product can create that opportunity.
You don't need to be a 'green' company to introduce green processes to your business. Any company in any sector can introduce a greener way of working. You could be an accountant, a hotel or a high street shop; you just have to look at a sustainable way of doing business. It could be as simple as looking at your energy usage or it might be considering what you do with your waste. There are lots of things that any business can consider to make themselves more sustainable. You can find some suggestions in our Green Business section, but there is also lots of support and guidance available from Business Link and Envirowise.
So how does sustainability give you an advantage? Well, it can help you to stand out; in a busy market place it can help you to look different. It can create new opportunities, as many larger organisations, in both the public and private sector, begin to look at their own supply chain. As these organisations look at their own environmental impact they need to look at their supply chain, and the sustainability of the companies they do business with. Many organisations, particularly in the public sector, are beginning to demand that their suppliers have environmental credentials in place, as a basic criteria for doing business.
But once you've made these changes it's no good keeping them to yourself. You need to tell the story. You need to develop a communications strategy to tell your audience, and your potential customers, what you have done. It might just be an extra page on your website, or a simple email. It could be a leaflet or a special event to launch your initiative. It doesn't really matter what you do, but to gain a competitive advantage you must communicate.
For more information, support and examples of sustainable success stories, take a look at the links below:
• Creating competitive advantage
• Communicating competitive advantage
• Case studies
Save money
By implementing sustainable practices and processes in your business you can often make a considerable saving in your costs. Whether it's your energy usage, your resource consumption or your waste management, you could find a solution that reduces your costs and your impact on the environment. For more information and advice select one of the options below:
• Information and advice
• Case studies