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Should Your Business Be Thinking About Making Sustainable Choices?

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Sustainability|Should Your Business Be Thinking About Making Sustainable Choices?You can feel the wind of change in business and you only have to witness the growing numbers of CEO’s who are pledging their support for climate change and promising action to realize that sustainability is topic that is very much on-trend.

With that in mind the question is should your business be embracing the idea of making sustainable choices and what strategies should you be considering to make a difference?

There are so many options when it comes to the subject of sustainability and that extends to finance too, so when you contact Commerce Trust, for instance, they can tell you all about sustainable investments.

It is hard to argue against the view that sustainable initiatives are not just good for the planet but they are good for business as well. Here are some pointers on how to make sustainability an integral part of your business.

Making sustainability the new normal

A good starting point would be to work on ways of incorporating sustainability into your company culture and making it something that everyone in the business is greatly aware of and committed to.

Some of the major corporations around the world are already investing in environmental stewardship initiatives and many of these organizations have subsequently managed to take actions that go above and beyond the basic requirements laid out by governments.

Whether it is sourcing a reliable form of green energy to power your production line or seeking out suppliers with similar green credentials, it is clear that embracing a culture of sustainability within your business is going to be good for the planet and promotes your company as one that cares about what their customers and suppliers think about them.

Start with some easy changes

When you start to embrace sustainability it can soon become obvious that there are so many practices that you can adopt, some that you can implement immediately and others that might take a little longer before you feel the benefit.

One of your first tasks could be to make some basic changes to the way you do things in your office and figure out some initiatives that help you achieve the goal of achieving a good level of sustainability.

A simple but effective action would be to change your old light bulbs in your building and replace them with some LED alternatives.

This move is a real no-brainer as LED’s use less energy than a halogen or incandescent bulb and their lifespan is expected to be in the region of 25% longer than halogen or incandescent options.

You will pay more for a LED bulb but it lasts a lot longer than its counterparts and the amount of energy they use is substantially less than an old-fashioned bulb, meaning some noticeable cost savings are eminently deliverable.

Ditch the plastic bottles

Thankfully, there is greater awareness than ever before about the damage that plastic is doing to our planet and millions of tons of plastic waste are generated each and every year around the globe.

A simple solution that will boost your business’s green credentials would be to encourage a ban on plastic water bottles in your office and install a water filtration system that will help keep everyone hydrated without the waste associated with discarded plastic bottles.

Your supply partners should be a reflection of your own sustainability credentials

If you choose your supply partners with care and ask lots of searching sustainability questions when appointing a new supplier this should ensure that you develop a relationship with like-minded organizations.

Some major companies won’t even use certain suppliers if their green credentials are not up to standard and you can follow suit by using companies who use energy efficient vehicles and seem to be constantly working hard to find ways to reduce their carbon footprint.

Become a recycle champion

There are already tons of waste being sent to landfill sites every week and there is bound to be a percentage of that waste that could be recycled and reused rather than being buried under the surface.

Encourage everyone in your business to adopt a culture of recycle and reuse, which means thinking carefully about what is being put into the trash bin.

As well as recycling what you can of your own waste you can also do your bit for the planet by committing to using recycled paper products and buying recycled ink that has already been around the block rather than end up in a landfill.

Keeping it clean

You will quickly discover that turning green often involves making a number of small incremental changes to the way you do things that all add up over time to make a big difference.

With that in mind, simple suggestions such as switching to some green cleaning products that tick all the right environmental boxes will create a more eco-friendly culture. Using these items will keep your work environment sparkling and clean without harming the planet and is just one example of a sustainable choice.

Sustainable development simply cannot be achieved alone by an individual or some smaller businesses. It is a matter of collective responsibility, but that is not to say that you can’t lead the way in encouraging others to come around to your way of thinking.

Gain a competitive edge

There is nothing wrong with wanting something to show for your efforts of keeping everything in your business as green as possible and when you boost your green credentials it can give your company a competitive edge.

If customers and suppliers know you are championing the the cause for making sustainable choices you could find that customers with similar ideals are more likely to give their business to you rather than to a rival who doesn’t seem to have the same set of impressive green credentials.

The argument seems clear. If you develop a company culture which is centered around making sustainable choices there is a fair chance that you will be rewarded with a better bottom line performance as well as enjoying a clearer conscience that you are doing your bit for the planet.

3 Types Of Responsibilities All Business Owners Must Meet

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Entrepreneur | Entrepreneurship | 3 Types Of Responsibilities All Business Owners Must Meet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a business owner, your primary responsibility is relatively straightforward: to ensure that your business is as successful as it can possibly be. You are the captain of your ship, and you have to chart a course to profitability and success, navigating the occasional choppy waters but nevertheless always advancing and covering new ground.

However, as well as shouldering the responsibility for the business’ ultimate success, there are other types of responsibilities that business owners will also need to meet, as we have expanded on below:

1. Environmental Responsibilities

Modern consumers expect companies to be as eco-friendly as possible, a tendency that is likely to only continue in future given the environmental focus Generation Z are becoming known for. As a result, it’s well worth investigating the various ways and means of switching to more environmentally-friendly methods in your office. You could, for example, consider going paperless in your office, working to reduce your business energy usage, and opting to use local suppliers wherever possible; with just these small changes, your ability to meet your responsibilities to the environment will be greatly enhanced.

2. Compliance Responsibilities

Regulatory and legal compliance is one of the best ways business owners can meet their responsibilities. After all, regulations and legal requirements are put into place because they are deemed necessary to offer protection to someone or something – be it your employees’ well-being, the finances of your investors, or the safety of any visitor to your business. It’s therefore well worth taking the time to go through a SOX compliance audit or requesting a health and safety assessment regularly; not only does this ensure you meet all compliance requirements, but all aspects of your business will be better protected by your complete adherence to all important legislation.

3. Customer Responsibilities

When customers choose to buy one of your products or use your services, they are placing a huge amount of trust in your business. They are trusting that any product you deliver will be safe to use and any services provided will be effective and delivered as promised, and that the money they have spent with your company will be well-used. As a business owner, it is incredibly important to honor this trust and do all you can to meet your customers’ needs; treat every order you receive as if it is vitally important to that customer, and go above and beyond to ensure that their order proceeds exactly as it should. If something does go awry, then it’s always worth doing what you can to provide compensation – even if you are not required to by law, as you are far more likely to salvage an ongoing relationship with an unhappy customer if they feel their issue has been fully addressed and rectified.

In Conclusion

By ensuring that you take account of the three types of responsibilities as listed above, you can be confident that you, your employees, and your business as a whole can look forward to a bright, productive and successful future.

How Can A Business Owner Remain As Informed As Possible?

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Entrepreneurship | How Can A Business Owner Remain As Informed As Possible?Every business owner needs to remain informed in several fields should they hunt success. This is of course one of the most grounding and obvious principles to be accepted before you begin. But it is also quite essential to consider how, and why being informed matters, and how to ensure that even in the midst of success, you are able to keep your eye on the ball. Markets shift quickly, and customer perception will also. It’s very possible for a firm that broke revenue records last year becomes shunned a few months into the next. It’s incredibly possible for even massive, staple companies such as Apple to read the market and their audience incorrectly, or push the envelope just a little further towards predatory pricing than their customer base might accept.

This means as a small business owner, where each point of revenue is much more significant, you need to understand how to curate your output and try your best to regain your strong footing in the market. Staying informed is the way to get there.

But how does this look in a functional sense? Let us consider:

Remaining Up-To-Date

There are many forces that shape the landscape of a firm over time. Automation, technological shifts, cultural trends, the political sphere, these are but a few categories that can inform or discourage a purchase or subscription from the employees you care about. Remaining up-to-date means more than you might consider. It’s essential to keep up with the news of your industry. Subscribing to journal digests, and collating your own list of RSS news feed inputs can help you keep on top of the big stories as they happen. Following the movers and shakers of your industry on Twitter can also help you see where the next hot-button effort is, and that’s truly important to potentially subvert that and become a trendsetter yourself. Without knowing where everyone else is, it can be hard to define yourself and bring something new to the table.

Metrics

Every business owner knows that looking at their performance and reflecting on what’s going both right and wrong is essential if they hope to make any progress for the future. This can help you assess if you’re going along the right lines, or if you need a vital shift in your efforts. But if you simply know how to view those metrics and do not wish to streamline them or try to implement those solutions, you’ll be informed without practicality. This is where Softengine comes into play, as a means to help you collate your SAP business offerings, to help automate your essential processes, track them in real time, and to do so within several different departments. The more information you have to play with, the more metrics you can record and the more you can shift their intent, the better your business is at the end of the day.

Listen To The Staff

Your ground-floor staff are often those who interface with customers each day, who experience your policies and decision in real-time. Listen to them. This is essential to ensure that you gain valuable insight you couldn’t anywhere else. Keeping this open-door policy and encouraging those reports can help you tap into information other business owners might not be.

With these tips, you’re certain to remain as informed as possible.

Why Everyone Needs to Know a Banking Expert Witness

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | Banking Expert | Why Everyone Needs to Know a Banking Expert WitnessThink about some of the most heated arguments of your professional and personal life. Odds are, a good percentage of those disagreements were about money. Money is a driving force in most people’s lives: getting it, keeping it, and spending it. Some people even claim that money is the root of all evil. Unfortunately, many criminal or ethically questionable actions are taken in the name of money every single day, and in today’s increasingly litigious world this often leads to a trip to court.

Financial knowledge in the courtroom is not just for large cases involving corporations or millions of dollars. A simple breakdown in communication or disagreement could lead to a lawsuit at any time, with anyone. The neighborhood kid who mows your law could even take you to court if your actions are interpreted as malicious, such as refusing to pay him for a poor job. While that example is extreme, it does show that litigation is lurking everywhere, and a responsible person should be prepared for the worst. Having a network that includes a banking expert, or knowing of a reputable one, could be important on short notice.

The complexities of banking and finance involve a lot of moving parts as well as regulations and systems that are constantly in flux. Only someone with extensive professional knowledge is qualified to appear before a courtroom as an expert witness. Bolstering your legal team with a banking expert is crucial to help insulate your assets from greedy unwarranted claims and even deserved ones. Minimizing your exposure to losing a lawsuit of any kind involves relationships with more than just an attorney.

Finding an expert witness can be as easy as a Google search. However, checking for a long history of fulfilling this role as well as pertinent professional experience is important. Searching for the best expert can help anyone get closer to legal victory.

3 Reasons to Be Careful about the Companies You Do Business With

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | 3 Reasons to Be Careful about the Companies You Do Business With | Entrepreneurship | Risk ManagementIn business, there are all kinds of different things that you need to be mindful of, and cautious about. It’s certainly the case that you need to invest your money wisely, and if you’re operating in the wrong niche, that in and of itself can be lethal.

Perhaps one of the biggest pitfalls that a new entrepreneur can fall into, however, is getting in bed with the wrong business partners, or becoming a bit too embroiled in shady dealings, alongside unscrupulous companies.

Certain businesses are likely to be a boon to you, if you work with them. A company that is focused on protecting the rights of maritime workers, and that is run ethically by an upright and reputable individual, is unlikely to cause you trouble if you happen to be in partnership with them.

Other companies, on the other hand, can ruin you by association.

Here are a few reasons to be careful about the company you keep in business.

You may get exploited and dragged down directly

The first risk that you face when doing business with an unscrupulous company, is that they exploit and drag you down directly.

It’s not unheard of for devious business partners to use fairly naïve entrepreneurs as “fall guys” for schemes that are fundamentally based on misrepresentation, and exploitation of the customer. In such cases as these, you might find yourself being contractually listed as the responsible party when things go wrong.

Other forms of exploitation are even more blatant – and involve things like the direct theft of your unsecured intellectual property.

Your reputation can be permanently tarnished by working with an unscrupulous company

In business, reputation is a big deal, and if you sink yours by associating yourself with deeply disreputable companies, it’s entirely possible – if not even likely – that you will never be able to recover, professionally.

Plenty of people find their reputations completely destroyed, not necessarily because of something they did, but because they got too close to assorted sketchy companies, and were painted with the same brush when things eventually came to a head.

Avoid this situation altogether, because trying to do damage control can be a real pain.

By being inattentive, and complacent, you may end up in a position where you compromise your own moral code

This is actually the most important point in the list, although it comes last in the article.

Plenty of companies act in ways that will violate various people’s moral codes and standards. Of course, living by a moral code, and being forthright and accountable to your own values, is perhaps the most important thing in life.

Without character, you have nothing.

Just by being inattentive, and complacent, you may end up in a position where you absentmindedly or unknowingly compromise your own moral code, by your choice of collaborator.

It’s very hard to regain self-respect if you come to find that a company you are closely working with has ruined the lives of your joint customers or clients through their immoral or reckless actions.