A huge thank you to everyone who took part in our Sustainability Challenge and shared what sustainability means to them. Our judge, Jill Poet, Enterprise Nation adviser and CEO of the Organisation for Responsible Businesses, has now chosen her winner.
🏆 The winning answer
Congratulations to Harsha Harjani, founder of sustainability communications consultancy Caine Strategies, who said:
Sustainability to me means being able to survive and thrive well into the future. So for businesses, it’s about long term resilience. For people, it’s about a lifestyle that can thrive long term. If applied to products, it’s about those that are much more long-lasting than the average ones.
💬 Why Jill chose it
What an absolute pleasure to hear how sustainability is embedded in your respective businesses. Harsha’s answer isn’t quite what I was looking for, but almost!
When referring to sustainability, many people think that refers purely to environmental sustainability. That is incorrect. The true meaning of sustainability has a much broader connotation. No doubt most of you are familiar with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They start with No Poverty, Zero Hunger, and Good Health. Of 17 goals, only a few relate directly to environmental sustainability.
In a business context, sustainability absolutely starts with being able to survive and thrive into the future. And I would argue that adopting a values-led approach to how you operate, an approach that values people, planet & profit, will help your business survive and thrive.
As business owners, we should all be focusing on ensuring stability for future generations. That will naturally start with ensuring your business thrives so you can support your family appropriately. But if we are concerned about how the future will unfold for our children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces, we surely must also ensure we are playing a role in making this world a better place.
That will look different for every business, but the process is continually asking yourself, across the full remit of how you operate and the associated impacts on people and planet: am I doing enough, could I do a bit more, what would that look like, what steps do I need to take?
Sustainability should never be about just one thing. It is about embedding a holistic approach to people and planet, as well as operating efficiently and profitably, that will help make this world a better place. Because small businesses can change the world!!
Thank you again to everyone who took part. If you haven’t done so already, join our Sustainable Founders Hub, we’d love to see you there!💚