Is sustainability a part of your small business plan? If not, there are plenty of good reasons to prioritize it. Becoming more eco-friendly can create a competitive advantage, benefit your company financially, and boost employee morale. Most importantly, you’ll establish a well-respected footprint in the community — and not a carbon-heavy one.
While you may want to implement more sustainable practices, you might be short on ideas. Between coming up with new product strategies, balancing the books, and managing employees, it’s hard to focus. You’re busy, and putting one more task on your plate can be overwhelming to even think about. But what if you had a cheat sheet of ideas backed by data and tech to try? Here are four ways small businesses can start putting eco-friendly practices to work today.
1. Get Matched With a Packing Supplier
Say you’ve gotten a head start on your plan. You’ve hired an outside team to perform a sustainability audit. The team handed over the results, and product packaging is one of the areas where your company could improve.
Not only do your customers want something environmentally friendly, but the business is also spending more than average. These factors reveal a perfect opportunity to use technology to find a packaging manufacturer that can address both needs. Yes, there are matching services out there that work like a search engine.
You type in what you’re looking for and voila! You’ve suddenly got a list of viable matches to choose from. These manufacturers are already vetted, so you don’t have to do the heavy lifting. Whether your small business is searching for biodegradable or reusable packaging, you can find the right fit. In addition, some of these services do not cost anything for brands to use.
2. Install Occupancy Light Sensors
Utilities can become a big drain on the budget. If you’re using energy when you don’t need to, it’s a cost you don’t want to add up. Sure, you’re going to occasionally have to crank up the thermostat to keep indoor temperatures comfortable. But you don’t want to leave most indoor lights on when there’s no one around.
That’s why making small changes, like installing occupancy light sensors can make a difference. These sensors save anywhere from 10% to 90% of a commercial building’s energy use. Yes, it’s a wide range. However, the savings your company will realize depend on how you use the spaces you have.
Say you have a warehouse. You can typically expect to reduce your energy consumption from lighting by 50% to 90%. With an average conference room, you’ll save between 20% and 65%. Occupancy sensors pick up on human body heat to detect when someone’s in a room or area of the building. The lights automatically turn on when they’re present and turn off when they leave.
Automation addresses human forgetfulness. Everyone can be guilty of it, especially when it’s hectic. So, you save on unnecessary energy use and extend the life of your lights.
3. Rely on the Cloud
Although cloud computing has been around for a while, it’s still tempting to rely on paper. As a small business, you might think cloud solutions are only built for larger corporations. But software developers do have options for smaller companies, including those that may not have big tech budgets.
Going as paperless as possible is a step any company can take to benefit the environment. Plus, it’s often easier to keep track of critical documents and share them. Storing documents on the cloud saves space in your offices, as you don’t need those bulky boxes and filing cabinets.
Of course, you might be thinking you’ll need the same space for extra server equipment. However, you can often find solutions where the cloud provider hosts the services offsite. Hosted solutions mean the provider gives you so much space on their servers. Your company doesn’t have to store or maintain them. Just be sure to ask potential providers about their security measures, support plans, and features.
4. Consider Outsourcing
One way to leverage data to increase efficiency is to look at your business cycles. Do you have periods where your permanent staff can’t keep up with the work? Are there slower seasons where your employees catch a breath and devote their time to wish list projects?
Maybe you’ve thought of expanding your staff to meet the demands of the busier periods. It could be a plan to increase headcount temporarily or permanently. Both routes involve making room for additional bodies and bringing in more equipment. Outsourcing is another option you may have overlooked.
You could consider bringing contractors on board for seasonal surges. Freelancers can (and often do) work offsite, eliminating the need for more space and equipment. They can assist with increased demands and project needs during busy times. Meanwhile, your permanent staff won’t feel as burnt out and you’ll continue to spend the same on energy costs.
Small Business Sustainability
Supporting sustainability is increasingly on consumers’ minds. Nearly 85% say they’re experiencing the disruptive effects of climate change according to a PwC survey. As a result, 46% of consumers are switching to more sustainable products. Furthermore, they’re willing to pay a 9.7% premium for eco-friendly solutions.
What’s important to customers is, of course, paramount to the survival and appeal of small businesses. Delivering sustainable products and implementing environmentally supportive practices are ways to keep consumers engaged. Trying out a few small changes can lead to bigger ideas and an eco-friendly future.
