Guest post provided by Camino Financial
Last year brought a lot of unexpected changes across the world. The coronavirus pandemic hit the planet, and there were stories of crisis in every nook and cranny. Several businesses were shut down either through compulsory government regulations or by a lack of customers for patronage. Thus, business models have changed since the pandemic, and many people and businesses have gone digital and remote.
From the last pandemic, it is believed that 2022 will be a year with an increase in digital businesses, charity, and sustainable development. This article will teach you some of the best sustainable ideas to implement in your small business. It will also understand its benefits and other tips to help you migrate towards the sustainable model. Also, remember that if you need a budget for this green migration, you can opt for available small business loans or other financing options. But before delving any further, let’s take a look at what a sustainable business is.
What is a sustainable business?
In a Harvard Business School article, the term “sustainability” refers to the process of doing business without negatively affecting the community, environment, or society at large. Meanwhile, sustainability is generally categorized into two based on effects:
- The effect of business on the environment
- The impact of business on the society
Hence, with this categorization, we can define a sustainable business as a wide array of environmental, social, and economic factors considered before making business decisions. Quite a few businesses today ensure to monitor the impact of their business activities on the environment, mainly to prevent their short-term profits from turning into a long-term liability.
Examples of the sustainable practices that you can choose to implement in your business are:
- Using renewable sources of energy to power equipment
- Using sustainable materials in your manufacturing process
- Sponsoring education for the young in the local community
- Optimize supply chain to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Benefits of applying sustainable trends
Adopting sustainable principles in business is not just a trend you should follow but one you should be dedicated to. When you cultivate the habits of sustainability in your business, you will become more efficient in your business operations. You will also be competitive and enjoy a lot of profit. Here are five significant ways of embracing sustainability and the importance it will bring to your business:
- Reducing energy costs: natural resources' efficiency and water and energy prices are significant in business. Hence, focusing on methods to improve and reduce costs of energy. Most times, such improvements are seen as annual savings compared to quicker and short-term cost reductions. As a business, you should switch to energy-saving lighting according to your production schedules, which leads to an increase in revenue at the end of the fiscal year.
- Acquisition of new customers and increase in sales: when you implement this trend in your business in 2022, you will get many benefits. First, your company will become more marketable, and this would strengthen your reputation. A good reputation will bring you amazing customers and also get an increase in sales.
- Societal impact: after making a lot of sales due to the recognition of your brand by the public, the actions you take are liable to make a difference in public perception. You will implement changes with a reduced carbon footprint by impacting society, reducing the number of toxins released into the atmosphere.
- Increase in employee morale and innovation: anytime you implement sustainable trends in your business, you bring innovative ideas to do things. However, you cannot do this alone. It would help if you had the help, support, and cooperation of your staff and another employee to make that happen. Teamwork is the bedrock of every successful business, so you have to ensure they have a good orientation and morale to drive your action plan positively.
- Tax incentives: the duo of federal and state governments provides incentives of different kinds for businesses that implement sustainable trends and regularly improve their work ethics.
Significant sustainable trends you must apply in your small business.
Now that the world is gradually healing from COVID-19, there is no gainsaying that we have to engage in activities that would improve health, thereby increasing sustainability across the globe. Naturally, after the pandemic, there would be a striking difference between business models and consumers’ adoption of those models. The experiences during the pandemic have brought rapid changes and contributed to an increment in businesses that have implemented technology into their operations. Listed below are ten sustainably unique trends that you may apply in your business by 2022:
#1: The Revolution of the Pharmaceutical Industries – COVID-19 Tests and Vaccines
As nature had it, the occurrence of the pandemic shook the pharmaceutical industry. Today, we test drugs faster using the easiest of ways. The use of conventional clinics is quickly becoming a thing of the past, as medical activities have now been transformed into a virtual platform. Data collection and medical consultations are now being made online. Discoveries of vaccines are made to test and cure for COVID-19, some of the variants include Pfizer and AstraZeneca, and in 2022, there will be even more technology on display.
#2: Remote meeting and Online Video Conferencing
When the pandemic came and everyone was staying at home, there was an increasing need for communication. This led to the growth and development of teleconferencing. People use a lot of software to achieve this, including zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangout, Verizon Bluejeans, etc.
#3: Contactless Service Delivery
The advent of coronavirus automatically means there will be social distancing. People need to stay safe by keeping their distance from each other while wearing their face masks. Putting this in mind, many startups—which include DoorDash, Postmates and Instacart—who have included contactless service delivery in their operations grew by 20% in the United States. There is a certainty that this will be sustained as 2022 approaches.
#4: Distance Learning in the Education Sector
A lot of students were unable to continue with their education while the pandemic lasted. However, solutions were provided to this as online classes were the order of the day. Pupils and students from countries around the world were able to attend online classes with video conferencing opportunities. Some of the learning platforms include Udacity, Coursera, iTutorGroup, Udemy and many others. Given their importance, they will sure maintain relevance in the coming year.
#5: Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things and Industrial Automation
As we proceed year after year, the demand for AI and automation in industries is becoming huge. Demand and supply are fast coming to their average level, so there may be a severe labor shortage. This is because you will use automation and robotics to cater to staff productivity and management. A few companies with industrial automation technologies in their ranks include UBTech, Fetch Robotics, Bright Machines, Kindred Systems, Locus Robotics, etc.
Other tips to become a sustainable brand
There are several ways you can go by to create a sustainable business trend and strategy to implement. While most of these trends are achievable, you may need small business loans to get them done. Listed below are a few tips to create a sustainable business strategy:
- Assess the problem and redefine your company's objectives: you need to assess the situation before anything. Also, it would help if you compare what sustainability is and how it affects your team, company and customers. To guide these assessments, you should consider asking the following questions;
- Is your product or service meant for only a specific audience?
- Is your company making an impact on the local community?
- How much waste is your company producing?
- Is your company financially buoyant?
- Define your company’s mission: Once you have analyzed your business objectives, you will highly define your mission. Having a unique mission statement is essential to the growth of a business and its sustainability. Your mission statement should reflect the five W’s, which include: what, when, why, who and why.
- Strategize: after a unique mission statement, find a fantastic strategy that will align your business strength with the right sustainability plan. When you consider this, you must ensure that your business remains profitable in actions and impacts on people and society.
- Implement strategy: it's no mere talk without action. To achieve a sustainable business, you should implement all the techniques you have planned and mapped out. With your mission statement as a strategy as a guide, you have what it take to achieve them. You only need to take action to attain those set objectives.
- Assess Results: always take a break to assess the result of your efforts. Do not constantly revisit your objectives and mission statements to refocus on your growth and progress as you implement your strategy.
Conclusion
With many behavioral changes worldwide, 2022 will be a year of advancements in trends and technological developments. The key things that will be the drivers of sustainable business activities have been discussed above. As a business owner, you should incorporate some of these trends to achieve the best. However, if you need financial commitments to get any of them done, you can seek small business loans to make it easier.
Tags: renewable energy