Startups should focus on Sustainability
Startups should focus on Sustainability: Today, the big corporates are investing in Sustainability across their value chain to ensure that their business survives. “Sustainability” as a term in the business idiom is increasingly gaining importance across the world. Pushed by regulation, customer choices and the need for long-term business survival, the global industry today is undergoing an evolution in terms of sustainability. Today’s consumers are demanding and looking up for companies who have stringent enforcement of sustainable business practices.
Unlike the past, all regulation/government bodies have defined comprehensive sustainability guidelines, and companies are being audited annually. Sustainability has even more evolved when it comes to the food business where customers are willing to pay a premium for certified sustainability products. Further, the trend shows that consumer decisions will completely be restricted to sourcing from organizations promising sustainability. Hence, sustainability enforcement is imperative for the ambitious growth plans of the start-ups.
Today with most startups dying at the early stage, we at BuzzOnEarth feel that neglecting sustainability principles in business planning & development might be the key reason for the early shutdowns.
Here are top 5 reasons why startup founders should take sustainability seriously:
- Sustainability provides improved brand image and competitive advantage over the competitors from day one.
- Embedding sustainability principles reduce cost and increase productivity.
- Integrating sustainability principles with proper checks and balances can help businesses in addressing changing regulations on time.
- Showing your start-up as environment-friendly and socially sustainable can attract big investors and talented employees.
- Sustainability increases shareholder value and provides long-term results.
A Harvard Business School study pointed out that companies that adopted environmental, social and governance policies in the 1990s have outperformed those that didn’t.
Critics contend that investment in sustainability destroys profits and shareholder value. But there are plenty of convincing evidence that sustainability pays off.
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