Starting a business is a very exciting venture and making sure that you connect with your customers is key to making your business a success. While providing great service and quality products is essential to this, there are other things you need to think about when it comes to impressing consumers and giving them what they want. Part of connecting with your customers is by building a brand that they can trust, and your company’s ethics will play a vital role in this. While making sure that you are creating a safe and positive working environment for your staff and a welcoming business for your customers is a big part of this, so is how your business impacts the planet.
The climate crisis is becoming more and more prevalent, and businesses (big or small) need to make sure that they are doing their bit to help the planet. So, if you are planning to start a business, here are some ways you can make it eco-friendly.
Use Local Suppliers
A good way to reduce your company’s carbon footprint is thinking about the air miles attached to getting your supplies, whether that be office essentials, ingredients for recipes if you make food products, or ingredients for things like soaps, shampoos, or anything other products you make. Any materials you use for your business, strive to source them from local suppliers rather than other companies on the other side of the world. Not only will this help to minimize the use of long-haul transportation and planes, but it also means that you are supporting the local business community as well.
Reduce Paper Waste
All businesses print out documents at some time or another, but how much is this necessary in a digital age? Try to reduce paper waste and wasting your printer’s ink by digitizing as many things as you can. For example, are handouts for your next presentation truly necessary? Can your employee handbook be saved as a PDF and emailed to your staff, rather than printing out physical copies? Can certain documents be shared on secured drives and email rather than sent through post or printed out? Anywhere you can save on using paper and printing, do so.
Make Sure Your Products are Eco-friendly
If you are going to be selling products as part of your business, make sure they are eco-friendly too. For example, if you were to sell home essentials, investing in things like this bamboo toothbrush wholesale product to have branded with your company logo would be a great addition to your product list. They are stylish, but also made from eco-friendly materials. Also selling products that are made from recycled plastics or other materials would be a great green approach to your operations.
Buy Used Office Furniture and Equipment
Computers can be refurbished and used again, as can other furniture items. Rather than purchasing a lot of new desks, office chairs, and even computers, consider getting second-hand furnishing and equipment instead. Not only could this potentially save you money as a business, but it’s a more sustainable approach than buying everything brand new.
There are many other things that you can do to make sure that your business is eco-friendly, and this will resonate with your customers well. However, these suggestions are all good places to start.