The How AND Why Makes ALL The Difference
What use to be invisible is now clearly viewable for the whole world to see. How we make clothes in appalling conditions, the ingredients of our fast food, the way we recycle. The how we run our businesses and world is now on display. The how we do things is very much part of the value proposition.
The impact on our earth, our people and communities is now a consideration of our purchases. Improving the lives of people around the world is now a criteria for many of us. Those companies that are not treating others, our earth or our health carefully are doing so at their peril. By contrast those that are building organisations that share values of ethical responsibility, fair trade, social enterprise and have a greater purpose than just making money have a real promise that we want to buy into.
Companies like People Tree create fair trade environmental fashion by creating clothing that can be produced ethically and are environmentally sustainable. People Tree over 20 years old is bucking the trend of fast fashion created in unethical ways giving consumers another choice.
Kiva makes micro loans as low as $25 in developing countries to create opportunities for people to create better lives. I run a small business and I think it is critical to have a personal mission. Your company needs to be about more than you. It needs to show your personal values and have a purpose outside of making a living.
My purpose is always been about education. It was a core value of my dad and ties me to him and makes me smile to see I am carrying on that value through my family and those that I do business with. It is the reason I built the marketing content portal and why I support Pencils of Promise that creates education opportunities for children in developing countries. I do it because at the end of the day, when I put my head down on my pillow, I can go to bed knowing that I am making a difference to other people’s lives.
I was talking to my mum on the phone the other day and she was searching for a new lounge suite and she was saying she was finding it hard to source in the town she lives in. I told her to look on-line and that would give her more choice. Mum told me she could do that, but she would to prefer to buy local to support the local community. This really made me think.
How are you creating a socially conscious company? What is your passion to share with the world? What are your core values? Is your vision inspiring enough to get your employees out of bed every day?
Something to think about: “According to a 2012 study by Edelman, more than half of consumers said that if price and quality were equal, a brand’s social purpose would be the most important factor when they’re purchasing something.”