It has never been more important to consider how your business is perceived by the general public, potential customers and prospective business partners.
In commercial sectors, this is especially clear as research shows that almost three quarters of British shoppers will consider a brand’s values before committing to a purchase and two-thirds will gladly spend more with a company that they deem to be socially responsible.
One way of measuring this is B Corp Certification. But what does this mean exactly and how might it shape the future? Let’s take a look.
What are B Corps?
B Corp Certification is passed down by American non-profit organisation B Lab and measures a company’s commitment to making positive changes both socially and environmentally.
A company that is registered as a B Corp can be trusted to have the best interests of its local and global community at heart.
How do you become a B Corp?
According to B Lab, becoming certified centres on three crucial aspects:
- Achieving a score of 80 or above on B Lab’s Impact Assessment. This measures “social and environmental performance”.
- Changing the structure of an organisation so that it becomes answerable to all stakeholders, and not just those with vested financial interests.
- Publishing performance data that can be measured against rivals on a publicly available platform.
What kind of businesses are B Corps?
There are more than 4,000 B Corps across the world from more than 70 countries and featuring 150+ industries.
Ella’s Kitchen, Gousto, The Big Issue and JoJo Maman Bebe are well-known UK-based B Corps and although food, beauty and clothing organizations might be the flashiest, there are also many ethical businesses such as charity law firms or marketing agencies that qualify as B Corps for their sustainability efforts.
How B Corps will change the face of business
There are clear trends across a number of industries that B Corps signify how businesses might operate in the future.
Recent movements that have spread across the world such as Black Lives Matter and student climate strikes have brought important social and environmental issues to a global audience.
This has already changed the way that many companies have to run in order to comply with shifting regulations.
However, an increased consumer focus on these matters has also changed the game. Organisations that can’t or won’t adapt to this change could well find themselves being left behind.