A Conscious Business? What exactly does that mean….?
Over the weekend my mind was frantically coming up with various valuable content I could share with my fans this week.
And then… I realised this particular word came coming back over and over again. So I stopped in my tracks and said it out loud ‘conscious’. And then I wondered if there was any such thing as a conscious business, since I was looking for business related content to share.
This had me on Google by the next second et voila! There is actually a term that refers to certain businesses as conscious.
Allow me to share the Wikipedia definition here:
“Conscious business enterprises and people are those that choose to follow a business strategy, in which they seek to benefit both human beings and the environment.”
Well, are you thinking what I’m thinking? Exactly, I thought, well I’m sure quite a large number of businesses regardless of size will readily agree they can stick this definition label on their strategy.
Having partnered with a number corporate social responsibility (CSR) leaders in the past, I saw absolutely no reason why most organisations cannot draw on elements of their social and environmental activities to support this.
I knew instinctively, that there was more than met the eye though. So, I delved a bit deeper into my research.
And here we go…
An alternative way of thinking about Conscious Business is emerging in the UK and globally.
This school of thought identifies Conscious Business less as a thing or type of business which can be categorised. Rather, it recognises the term more as an ongoing process including awareness, self-awareness, and awareness of purpose, social/power dynamics, and relationships.
It is worth menti
oning brand leaders that have been pioneers or embraced this concept: Anita Roddick (The Body Shop), John Mackey (Whole Foods), Howard Schultz (Starbucks).
My experience is that this is actually very innate in a growing number of individuals and it’s about time we embrace this idea more fully.
What happens when we do, did you ask? Well, a lot!
Just imagine for a minute, a group of individuals; fully aligned on purpose running a profitable business that is fully aware of the purpose of its clients, and contributing to non-clients and the environment at large.
With my sales, marketing and business profitability hat on now, let’s explore 3 main benefits:
- Improved business relations – people by from people
- More aligned solutions to problems/needs
- Increased profitability through recurring revenue
These 3 benefits provide a sneak peak on which our next article in this series will be built.
Is it time to evaluate your business strategy to assess just how conscious your business is? Feel free to comment below and share your thoughts.
Maggie Sarfo
Strategic Sales/Marketing Adviser
Email: megsarfo@gmail.com
Instagram: @maggiesarfo
Have questions? Let’s connect and chat: LinkedIn Facebook Instagram
Ref: Wikipedia, Social Mobile Buzz, Huffington Post, Conscious Business Australia
