Certified B Corporations are a new kind of business that balances purpose and profit. They are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.
This is a community of leaders, driving a global movement of people using business as a force for good. The popularity of the accreditation has rapidly increased over recent years as customers have demanded more ethical and transparent practices from the companies they buy from.
With big brands such as Danone, Ben & Jerry’s and Patagonia all being members of the B Corp movement, it is no wonder that many others have chosen to follow. It is a necessarily complex and often overwhelming process for a company. Even though SMEs can become B Corp accredited, the journey to get there often feels out of reach.
To help, Herefordshire-based B Corp expert Danielle Thompson from Unthread Advisory is offering free consultation services for SMEs in the region to get over the overwhelm and get started with the process. “All my clients are small businesses and often believe that achieving B Corp status does not apply to them. There is no doubt it is a long and often arduous process, but there are things you can do to make it more achievable.”
The B Corp impact assessment covers five key areas of a business; Governance, Environment, Customer, Community and Employees. Companies are required to reach a level of 80 points using the free online business impact assessment tool. Most companies achieve a score of around 40-50 points when they first start the process.
Reaching the required level often involves implementing new working practices, changing operations and improving internal governance and decision-making processes. The effort, though has been proven to be commercially worth it. In 2017 it was found that B Corps are growing at a rate 28 times faster than the UK national average. A job board now even exists promoting vacancies at B Corporation companies due to the high demand to work at a B Corp.
“Even if B Corp feels like a long-term ambition, the online assessment tool provides an outstanding reference point of what ‘good’ looks like in terms of high social and environmental performance. You can still use the assessment tool to guide how you build and grow your company in the right way.”
If you would like to learn more about how to get started with B Corp or what it’s all about, then fellow chamber members can book a call with Danielle here.