In the modern age, it is becoming increasingly important to consider your social responsibility as a business. Being an eco-friendly organisation is a huge part of this and something that customers, clients and employees will be concerned about. Attracting business and talent can often now be affected by how your business approaches being environmentally aware of how you run your business. If you are looking to find tips for running an eco-friendly business then take a look at our guide on how you should think about your social responsibility as part of your core business practices.
For more sustainable practices, our blog is a great source of information and advice, such as our tips for eco-friendly storage tips in your home.
Consider Your Business Practices
The first step you should consider when thinking about how to run an eco-friendly business is to think about what practices and processes you have in place already. For many businesses, this could be quite straightforward, as digital office-based businesses might only need to consider recycling as part of their process. However, if you manufacture products then you should consider both how you dispose of materials, as well as how the user might dispose of your products. Eco-friendly businesses are seeing huge growth as the buying market becomes more socially aware and people look for companies that offer carbon-neutral alternatives. This could also be a great way to expand your business.
Research Suppliers and Partners
It is also important that whoever you are doing business with reflects your values too. This might not be as essential if you are a business that provides a fixed service or product but consider all ongoing relationships. If you are a business claiming to be eco-friendly, people may well also investigate your materials and suppliers to confirm that they too are environmentally sourced. Likewise, if you are supporting or working with a brand that is damaging the environment, this can reflect negatively on your own brand. Consider how your relationships could look to a potential client or customer.
Build Your Brand
Communicating with your customers and audience is a real way to make sure that you build and run an eco-friendly business that breeds confidence with customers. If you are truly considering your environmental impact as a business and taking steps to improve processes then why not share this with your audience? Providing updates on social media about your contributions to supporting the environment and efforts to reduce your own carbon footprint can really start to build a brand that people want to buy into. This can also help to make sure you are driving forward change within the business too, as you will be thinking about posting on social media.
Invest in Local Projects
Another way that you can further boost your profile and brand as an eco-friendly business is by supporting projects and initiatives in the local area. Community projects are a great way to reach out and get noticed as a business. Supporting causes on your doorstep can also help grow your name in the local community. People are more likely to recommend brands they know are investing locally. If you are investing in wildlife and garden projects this is another addition to your eco-friendly contributions. This can also open doors to local suppliers which could help you further reduce your carbon footprint.
These steps can help further drive your push towards being a truly eco-friendly business and are steps you should consider taking to grow your brand. If you provide products then you might want to consider using self storage as a distribution centre to reduce your footprint. With many businesses operating remotely, business storage could enable you to get rid of your office space, reduce costs and improve your footprint at the same time.