Sustainability equals longevity. Through every aspect of life and every facet of business, you should seek to be as sustainable as possible.
Not solely in an environmental sense, but in an economic and efficient manner, conducive to protecting the future of your organisation.
In order to establish yourself and encourage growth and development, you need a solid foundation of business sustainability.
Whether in relation to time, finances or capacity, our resources are , in one way or another, finite. Naturally, we want to get the greatest return on investment.
According to a survey by McKinsey…
“72% of businesses consider sustainability as an ‘extremely important’ factor for managing a business.
A further 60% believe it is an integral part of overall corporate strategy.”
MCKINSEY
This past week, The Used Kitchen Company have launched a new initiative encouraging KBB businesses to consider the relative sustainability of their sourcing, manufacturing and selling practices.
Clearly, the focus of the Kitchen Passport is to track an organisation’s carbon footprint. But the underlying principles of environmental sustainability can easily be transferred toward your businesses economic sustainability.
So how can you create this solid foundation of optimal operation? Lets take a look at three things you can do to achieve business sustainability.
Evolve Your Operation
Outdated processes are notoriously unsustainable. Sooner or later, technology and tactics evolve as companies, including your competitors, seek new methods of innovation.
By sticking with what you know, you risk mounting inefficiencies as a direct result of clinging on to familiar, yet resource draining, processes.
You should instead look to be constantly evolving. Embracing a philosophy of continuous improvement facilitates sustainable innovation.
Whether that pertains to more environmentally friendly suppliers or removing the number of communications required internally to complete a project; each incremental progression helps move the needle closer to business sustainability.
Through a regular review of your operational processes, roadblocks become easier to identify and diagnose a solution for.
It is through this evolution, that sustainable practice ultimately becomes second nature. Any changes will be improvements that incur enhanced longevity.
Track Consumer Trends
A recent survey found that…
“57% of UK residents reported a desire to be more eco-friendly in 2021”.
Rated People
Does your offering match this consumer demand? Or any other emerging trend for that matter?
Or, so as to satisfy their needs, are your potential customers forced to look elsewhere?
Trends, and analysis of them, can help you jump on the latest popular concept before any of your competitors. All you have to do is listen to your customers!
Agile organisations are those that identify the gap and accelerate into it. Rather than being a digital dinosaur, orientating your company towards tracking will ensure you long term viablity.
A stick in the mud, at least in the business world, is far from sustainable in the long term. Tracking trends ensures you remain at the cutting edge rather than lagging behind.
Be Memorable
Provide something, whether it is your product or service, that makes your customers want to keep coming back for more. Your offering is much more sustainable if it is in demand.
Arguably the ultimate secret to such business sustainability is an industry leading customer experience. Your audience want to feel like more than a number, they want you to care about them.
By making your customer journey memorable for all the right reasons, you don’t just create revenue, you create brand ambassadors.
Research by Inc.com identified that…
“On average, we tell ten times more people about a negative experience than a positive one.“
INC.COM
It pays to be memorable for all the right reasons.
Not only do you increase your chances of converting prospects into customers, you create a wealth of people who will go out and share their great experiences.
When opportunities begin to emerge from happy customers instead of expensive marketing and sales campaigns, your resources are freed up to tackle the relative effectiveness of another part of the business.
By delighting clients, your long term business sustainability can improve drastically.
Sustainable businesses succeed because they care and invest in their employees. To ensure your long term business sustainability, make sure to provide your organisation and your teams with the tools they need to succeed.
Intrigued to learn more? Check out our Insights Hub to keep your business at the cutting edge.
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- May 25th, 2021