Certified B Corporations® are businesses that balance people, planet and purpose with profit. They mindfully consider the impact of their decisions on employees, customers, supply chain, community, and the environment. At GAIA Insights, we are thrilled to be part of this community now, joining a global movement of people using business as a force for good™.
But it has taken us over a year to achieve our goal of becoming a certified B Corp company and it has been a real challenge. And so it should be. B Corp Certification does not just pay lip service to the ideals of sustainability; it’s not just a stamp that anyone can get. This is the real deal. So we are delighted to have achieved our goal and to have further proof of GAIA Insights’ commitment to sustainability, not just for ourselves but for our supply chain, too.
The journey towards B Corp Certification status can be a long one. It requires change and commitment and perseverance. Not just from the B Corp Champion, who is driving the assessment process, but from the company at every level, all the way from the board to the employees. The changes that your company will need to make in order to achieve B Corp status will not happen overnight. One of the challenges that you are likely to face is maintaining momentum, retaining engagement and support; you need everyone on board and fully committed to a sustainable business model in order to succeed.
Achieving and maintaining your B Corp Certification is a serious commitment. It’s a commitment of time, of resources, and sometimes even of money. Some of the changes that your company may need to make are not free – there is a cost attached to changing the legal status of your company for example – and you need that commitment, that investment to drive your company forward and work towards a more sustainable business model. Consequently, it might be necessary to consider a staged approach, you don’t have to achieve best practice on every criteria right away. You can identify areas for development and work towards improved sustainability over a series of stages. It’s a journey. You don’t have to make it all at once.
Long gone are the days when sustainability was simply the concern of a small group of tie-died hippies dressed in hemp. Sustainability is becoming an increasingly mainstream ideal. And rightly so. Without a real commitment to sustainability, our businesses will not survive and thrive; our society and the people who live in it will not survive and thrive; the planet will not survive and thrive.
People. Planet. Purpose. We serve them better as a B Corp.