Sustainability has become a major topic of discussion for businesses around the globe. According to Harvard Business School, 70% of Americans believe it is very important for businesses to make the world a better place. Similarly, 77% of customers are committed to buying from sustainable companies, with 25% having zero tolerance on the matter.
With global warming and energy crises becoming ever more prevalent, now’s the time to make sure that your business is prepared for the future. Here’s how you can write a sustainability action plan for your business and make sure that your staff, partners, and investors take notice of it.
Settle on your Business’ Long-Term Mission
There are various ways for your business to achieve sustainability in its business model and operations. The best way to do that is by adopting an existing sustainability model. For example, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as outlined by the UN. SDGs represent 17 global goals that are designed to make the world better for everyone.
Your business, depending on its niche, can commit to one or more SDG throughout its operations, sustainable events, charity projects, etc. Doing so will not only help your business become more sustainable but give your company more global recognition thanks to UNs own sustainability efforts.
Outline Objective Sustainability Goals
Once you settle on the long-term mission you will commit to, you need to outline some objective goals to pursue. Outlining Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in relation to sustainability makes it easier for your staff to contribute.
SMART is a great goal-setting methodology that revolves around setting an objective, time-limited, actionable goals. Start with your long-term goal and break it down into smaller milestones, contributions, events, and actions.
Consider your Available Resources
How viable is it for your business to pursue the goals you’ve outlined? Making big plans for your business is all well and good as long as you can afford to go through with them. This is why you should allocate certain resources out of your yearly budget for sustainability.
Do you intend to start using cloud-based services and thus decrease your on-site energy consumption? How much would these servers and services cost yearly? If you’re in production and processing, it may be more difficult to make your business sustainable, so consider these factors. Becoming fully sustainable is a long-term project, so be prepared to work on it for years.
Create a Sustainability Project Team
To put your sustainability plan into practice, you should appoint a project team to oversee it. This team will be in charge of making sure that everyone in the company understands the sustainability initiative. They’ll also track KPIs, write reports, and adjust your business’ approach to sustainability.
The team should be comprised of volunteers who are passionate about the cause. This will ensure that your sustainability efforts stay on the right track and bear tangible fruit moving forward.
Look for Sustainability Business Partners
As you shape your sustainability action plan, you’ll identify potential partners and businesses to work with. These partners can serve as great assistance in your efforts to make an impact on the environment or in your industry. Look for businesses on the lookout for B2B partners and reach out to them with your action plan in mind.
Many will be happy to start collaborating, creating events, projects, and other efforts to make a significant change in your industry. Not only that, but both brands will also benefit from positive PR as you partner up for the sake of sustainability.
Proofread and Publish your Action Plan
When you’ve outlined your action plan you should proofread and format it. Make it so that anyone even remotely familiar with sustainability can understand your mission statement, goals, KPIs, and stakeholders. It’s important to proofread your plan properly because you’ll publish it on your website. You will also need to send it to partners and investors, etc.
Avoid coming off as unprofessional by using a lab report writing service to have your action plan edited and formatted by a professional. Afterward, make your action plan available to your staff, social media, and your company website. This will add to your company’s reputation and help you align with SDGs more easily.
On the Topic of Sustainability
Overall, business sustainability comes down to not having a negative impact on the environment. No matter which industry you operate in or at which scale, you can make a significant contribution to a greener and healthier world.
Start with your sustainability action plan and pitch your green business ideas to your staff and partners. If everyone does at least a little, your business will be more socially and environmentally aware. Once that happens, your business will operate more sustainably. In addition, it will also attract B2B partners and B2C stakeholders who value these initiatives and want to support you.
Bio: Jessica Fender is a professional content writer, editor, and copywriter with extensive experience with academic and digital publications. She is an expert researcher and loves all things related to writing, a passion she developed during her studies as an English major. Jessica spends her free time volunteering, traveling, and doing everything she can to make the world better than it was yesterday.
