There is so much variation about what people mean when the talk about sustainable business because sustainability means such different things to different people. To me, a sustainable business is one that keeps on going with minimum drama, a sensible profit and a good lifestyle for everyone who works there, including the owner and that does not include having owners who are overworked and stressed in their business. The young woman who served me in the local supermarket barely looked at me and looked thoroughly dissinterested. Apart from taking my money she barely acknowledged my presence. Doesn't she realise that customers are the people who pay her wages? Does she want her job to continue? This is a real take home message for business - customers pay the wages and make sure all your staff realise that and treat your customers in a way that makes them want to come back. This is what quality management or ISO 9001 is all about. Preventing your business from losing customers because they did not get the product or service they were expecting. Dramas and lifestyle problems in a business happen when staff make errors and customers are unhappy, the workplace is not safe and your people are injured or stressed, regulators arrive because you have breached regulations you and your people knew nothing about and power bills keep going up because among other things you find you are actually wasting a lot of your expensive energy. So many things can cause a business to be unsustainable including human error and careless decisions. Even very successful sports stars like some of the golf and football examples in recent news render the business of sport unsustainable because of their poor decisions. Sustainable business practices are what keep your business running profitably. These practices include: • really listening to your clients so that they want to continue buying from you, • building a good image and reputation so that you attract the clients you need • Taking care of the health and safety of your most important asset - your staff, • being aware of your legal requirements and making sure that your staff training and procedures prevent people accidentally breaching legislation, • reducing waste energy and materials and avoiding other environmental damage • proactively being aware of changing conditions, and of course they include managing your finances. We have all heard the old adage 'Failing to plan is planning to fail' - it is so true. The secret to building a sustainable business is to identify all your activities, assess where you have risks then plan to manage those risks. This way you can prevent damaging errors, build in resilience and have a business that continues into a profitable future. Why continue to put your business at risk because of lack of real planning when a simple, effective and almost paperless would help your business to be sustainable? You will find that sustainable business practices prevent problems, increase your profits and give you access to tenders and an improved image. Many businesses choose to mange their quality, ISO 9001, safety, AS/NZS 4801 and environmental management, ISO 14001 because this covers more than one risk area and can be run as a fully integrated ISO management system.
Please Rate this Article 5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
