I’ve just completed a six-week course with the excellent National Organisation for Responsible Businesses, led by Jill Poet, and I’ve learnt a lot.
So what is responsible business? Isn’t it just ticking trendy boxes?
Absolutely not. Being responsible in business is much like being responsible as an individual — recognising that we’re all part of a society, and that what benefits society benefits us, too.
Responsibility in business is wide ranging, from how we treat our employees (if we have any) to how we treat the environment, from living up to our values to being an effective part of our community. It’s about being someone that other people will want to do business with.
I went into the course expecting that only certain parts would be of interest to me. After all, I have no employees, no workplace (other than my own living-room) and no raw materials. I could safely ignore those bits.
What I’ve found, though, is that I can find relevance almost everywhere, whether that’s reducing my carbon footprint by switching the computer off when I don’t need it, treating customers and people I outsource to ethically — or just taking care of myself while working.
And being responsible is the exact opposite of box-ticking. It’s about finding ways of making my business safer, more effective and more visible in the community — and where’s the downside to that?
Ways I’m Achieving Business Responsibility
It would be very easy to assume that, as a tiny solopreneur business, I can’t make any difference to society. And, of course, the difference I can make doesn’t compare in any way to what would happen if a multinational giant decided to fully embrace responsibility.
That’s not the point, though. One person can make a person-sized difference, and that’s also true of a one-person business. Going through the course, I’ve been surprised at how much I can put in the credit column:
- Working from home has the advantage of combining home and work impact in one. I only have to heat and light one premises, and my business-related travel is negligible — typically less than fifty miles a month.
- The downside of working from home is heavy computer use, but I try to minimise the impact of this as far as possible. This ranges from being mindful of not leaving the computer on when I’m not using it to using a search engine, Ecosia, that offsets the heavy environmental cost of making a search.
- Although I don’t need to drive much for my business, when I do (and for personal travel) I use a car with a fuel-efficient, low-emissions engine.
- Two large sections of the training involve the workplace and staff relations, and I assumed none of that would apply to me. Looking at it realistically, though, it is relevant to how I manage myself. The two big issues here are alternating time sitting at the computer with time away and getting exercise, and managing my work-life balance. Although I don’t work set hours, I treat important personal time as non-negotiable — and I never skip meal-breaks.
- Engagement in the community is crucial, but this isn’t necessarily the local community. I tend to work nationally and internationally, rather than locally, and I’m very much involved in the business community through networking. In particular, over the past couple of years I’ve become involved in highlighting and offering support for the needs of neurodiversity in business.
- As far as the local community is concerned, I’m currently involved in setting up an in-person business networking meeting to serve local businesses. I also volunteer for a few hours a week for the County Archives.
Ways I Need to Improve My Business Responsibility
Yes, that list makes me feel pretty good about myself, but of course there’s plenty more I could do to increase my level of responsibility:
- Look for ways of using less-polluting energy sources.
- Make more use of public transport when I do need to travel. This isn’t always practical, due to the limited services locally, but I can probably make some improvements.
- Be more selective with new clients. Although I do have clear red lines for industries and topics I won’t write about on moral grounds, I could be more proactive in ensuring that new clients are actively responsible.
- I could offer free advice to students, start-ups or others about my business skills. This hasn’t really occurred to me before, mainly due to feeling a certain amount of imposter syndrome, but I’ve plenty of knowledge I could pass on.
- Use local services more. This isn’t always feasible for business services, but for personal use I need to look at where I could use a local service rather than a national or multinational equivalent.
- Become more involved in local affairs. I’m not particularly good, either as a business or as an individual, in keeping up with local news, local issues or local events, and I’d like to become more active.
- Support local charities more. Although I’m currently a little restricted for both time and financial reasons, I need to look at ways I can support local charities, even if it’s simply by helping to publicise them.
The Importance of Raising Awareness About Business Responsibility
Now, I can imagine certain people looking at this post and defaulting to “virtue signalling” — almost as stupid an insult as “woke”.
Of course, if I were posting this to say “look how wonderful I am”, it would only have been the first part. Being aware of where I’m falling short is just as important as celebrating what I’m doing right.
Talking about responsibility in business in terms of achievements and aspirations isn’t boasting — it’s about setting an example. I could have just written a generalised piece about how “you should do” this and that, but you’ve no reason to take any notice unless I’m talking about what I do or don’t do.
So I’d encourage everyone not only to think about how responsible your business is, but also to discuss it — both the good and the bad. As long as the “bad” is simply what you’re going to get right next.