Sustainability for Established Businesses: 5 Steps to Get Started

If you are starting a new business, it’s easy to embed sustainability initiatives as part of your start-up plan and business policies. But what if your business is already established? You may have been running for several years, before sustainability became such a must-have part of running a business, so it may never have crossed your mind before to work carbon emission reduction or recycling targets into your policies.

But, today, sustainability in business is more than just a nice-to-have, it’s a key part not only of protecting our planet but also in creating a business that resonates with employees, stakeholders and customers.

Why Sustainability Matters for Established Businesses

For established businesses, the challenge lies in how to integrate sustainability without upending day-to-day operations and the policies and processes that are working.

The good news? Embedding sustainability and impact into your business model doesn’t require a full-scale transformation overnight. With thoughtful planning and incremental steps, you can align your business with sustainable practices while maintaining and even enhancing your performance.

There are two big benefits to implementing sustainability initiatives in your existing business, beyond the obvious benefit of helping to protect our planet and provide a more equitable society. 

• • Brand Boost | Today’s consumers and employees are pretty savvy and they are looking for organisations who do the right thing and have the right culture. So becoming a more sustainable business can give your brand a boost – as long as you do it authentically. If that attracts more customers it could also give your bottom line a boost.
  • Become More Cost-Effective |  Some sustainability measures have the added benefit of bringing cost savings for your business. Things like switching to more energy efficient lighting, or reducing waste can help lower your bills as well as benefiting the environment.

5 Practical Ways to Integrate Sustainability into Your Business

We’ve seem a number of different approaches to integrating sustainability into established businesses – which can be distilled into these five steps.

Step 1: Conduct a Business Sustainability Audit

Before making changes, get a clear picture of where your business stands. Conduct a sustainability audit to evaluate your current environmental and social impact. This might include a review of:

• • Energy and water usage
  • Waste production and disposal
  • Supply chain and materials sourcing
  • Employee well-being and diversity
  • The suppliers you work with and their green policies
  • Community involvement

This baseline gives you a realistic starting point and helps you identify the easiest and most beneficial changes.

Step 2: Align Sustainability Goals with Business Objectives

Trying to tackle everything at once can overwhelm teams and create confusion. Instead, focus on a few key areas where you can have the greatest impact with the least disruption. For example:

• • A manufacturing business might start by reducing energy use in production. For example, Nelson-based drinks company Chia Sisters upgraded its juice factory to solar power a few years after originally opening, making their production line more eco-friendly but without lowering output.
  • A service-based business might look at remote work options to reduce travel emissions. Thankyou Payroll does this with staff working from home around 40% of the time.
  • A product company could switch to more eco-friendly packaging or reduce the amount of packaging required. For example, supplements brand Healtheries switched from plastic bottles to bottles made from sugarcane. The change didn’t affect product quality or their branding, but did mean the bottles were more sustainable as sugarcane removes carbon dioxide from the air as it grows. It also meant customers could easily recycle them – that gives the brand a boost too. Healtheries has been in business for more than 100 years which just goes to show you are never too established to bring in new ideas.

Step 3: Enhance Existing Operations with Sustainable Alternatives

Rather than bolt on new processes, look for ways to enhance current operations with sustainability in mind, for example, retaining your existing procurement system but switching over to more eco-friendly suppliers.

Sometimes, the most effective sustainability measures are also the most practical. Swapping to energy-efficient lighting, digitising paperwork, or offering reusable staff items such as reusable coffee cups can deliver impact with minimal cost and disruption. Start small – pilot changes in one team or location, then scale up once they have proven effective.

Step 4: Involve and Empower Your Employees

Changes in a business can be stressful for team members, so ensure your team is included in your sustainability journey and understands what you are trying to achieve.

Ask them for ideas – your staff may have a better understanding of how new practices could be woven into their existing procedures than you do! Read more about taking your employees on your sustainability journey here.

Step 5: Track, Report and Celebrate Your Progress

Keeping track of your sustainability initiatives has two advantages for established businesses.

Firstly, it helps you see what positive progress you are making on your sustainable goals you are having and where you might be able to make further tweaks to add value.

Secondly, it helps you to see how your sustainability practices are impacting (positively or negatively) on your other business metrics and ultimately your bottom line.

Make sure you report the results back to your team and to your wider audience of customers and stakeholders. It will help to show them the progress you are making to become a more sustainable business, as well as reassure them that the business is still meeting its mark in other areas.

Find out more about how to track your sustainability initiatives here. 

By taking small, strategic steps, you can build a business that not only performs well financially but also contributes to a more sustainable and equitable future.