Category: Uncategorized

Today’s post is from Leah Olson.

Small Business, Big Impact
How small actions from small businesses can change the world

In a world of tight competition, small margins, and whip-smart and attentive customers, focus on maximizing profit alone is no longer a viable strategy. According to a November 2019 article in Inc., “Business must be a force for good, rather than profit alone.”[1] Small businesses need to take a stand in order to stand out. In fact, small businesses can’t afford to not care about social and environmental responsibility. Apathy is costly in today’s highly competitive markets, and not “caring” is expensive in terms of customer acquisition, employee retention, and revenue in general. By adopting and demonstrating brand responsibility, you can improve your product, reputation, community, planet, and your bottom-line. Because what is good for your customers, your employees, your community, and your planet is also good for business. Doing this work is worth the effort.

Before we get started, I have a few words of caution: In the arena of brand responsibility, authenticity is everything. Don’t talk the talk without walking the walk. Your incredibly intelligent and discerning customers, team, and community will hold you accountable for your words, actions, and intentions.

Where to start:

Find your why and articulate your purpose
Start by taking a good long look at your business. Authenticity is everything, but authenticity is also just the beginning. Start by asking “why?” Why are you in the business of ____ ? What are you, personally, trying to accomplish? Once you’ve found your “why,” you can begin to define and articulate your purpose. According to a study by Kantar Consulting, “Brands with a high sense of purpose have experienced a brand-valuation increase of 175 percent over the past 12 years compared to the median growth rate of 86 percent.”[2]

“Determining your company’s purpose should involve employees, customers, suppliers, and members of the communities you serve.”[3] Answer these questions: Who do you serve? What do your customers need? What products or services do you provide? How well are you meeting that need? What makes you uniquely suited to meet that need? How can you become a more responsible brand? In terms of brand responsibility, what are you already doing well? Where is there room for improvement?

By asking these questions, you can identify some potential areas to integrate and align social and environmentally responsible initiatives and goals. Again, be sure that any direction you pursue is authentic and meaningful to your company, your community, and your brand.

Ask any small employer on the Oregon Coast “What’s the hardest part of operating a business here?”, and they’ll tell you “finding good help,” “employee retention,” or both. Brand responsibility may be the solution. According to the Harvard Business Review, “Many people—not just Millennials—want to work for organizations whose missions and business philosophies resonate with them intellectually and emotionally.”[4] It is hard to find and keep good help if your brand and purpose do not resonate. In Start with Why, Simon Sinek reminds us that “Great companies don’t hire skilled people and motivate them, they hire already motivated people and inspire them. […] Average companies give their people something to work on. In contrast, the most innovative organizations give their people something to work toward.”[5] Meaningful work can lead to great work and great work can lead to excellence—that is your competitive edge. One way to inspire customers to action and employees to greatness is by doing meaningful work.

Commit

Demonstrating brand responsibility is not just about supporting causes and donating money. It’s about committing to social and environmental good and adapting and outfitting your business and team to make a difference. Sometimes these changes are just small tweaks or realignments, but sometimes these changes require drastic deconstruction and/or reconstruction of complex systems. Either way, Amy Webb, Founder of The Future Today Institute, would encourage you to “Think exponentially. Act incrementally.” Here are two approaches to getting started:

Pick a problem area that needs improvement and start small. This could mean assessing inventory and suppliers and switching to more local, environmentally friendly, and/or sustainable options.
Pick something doable (that aligns with your why and your purpose) and do it. This could mean shifting to compostable to-go containers, swapping out all of your lightbulbs for energy-efficient LEDs, or placing a Black Lives Matter sign in your storefront window.
Need inspiration? Look to a business you admire. Remember: there is no correct place to start. The important thing is that you start and then keep going.

Partner up!
I’ve heard it said that “a rising tide floats all boats.” Here, at the mouth of the mighty Columbia River, that is a particularly apt sentiment. We are all stronger together. So, reach out, band together, and find or create communities committed to social and environmental good. Local businesses, suppliers, alliances, coalitions, and even your competitors are a great place to start. Band together, make changes, speak up, and redefine the playing field together.

4. Track Your Progress

You can’t measure success without first defining it. “Build a baseline” and measure against it.[7] Select three to four measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and make a simple quarterly, bi-annual, or annual report card to help keep you on track. Review the matrix, assess your progress, give yourself a grade (or better yet: ask your employees and customers to give you a grade!), and, most importantly, take time to reflect and course-correct.

Small businesses may be small, but they are mighty. And when small businesses band together their small, steady, and incremental actions compound. And that, my friend, is how we change the world.

[1] Mestrich, K., Pinsky, M. A., Blakely, L., & Saporito, B. (2019). The Rise and Rise of Business as a Force for Good. Inc, 41(7), 70–78.

[2] Dupont, S. (2020, April). Green Days: Building a Purpose-Driven Brand. PRSA. https://www.prsa.org/article/building-a-purpose-driven-brand.

[3] Determine Your Company’s Purpose With Your Constituents. Harvard Business Review. (2020, November 9). https://hbr.org/tip/2020/11/determine-your-companys-purpose-with-your-constituents.

[4] Blount, S., & Leinwand, P. (2019, November). Why Are We Here? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/11/why-are-we-here.

[5] Sinek, S. (2013). Start with why: how great leaders inspire everyone to take action. Portfolio/Penguin.

[7] Fort George Brewery + Public House Sustainability Report. Fort George Brewery. (2019, April 5). https://fortgeorgebrewery.com/about/sustainability/.

Today, MABR student Nicole Chan asks the fashion industry to rethink what they’re doing.

COVID is a great opportunity for the fashion industry to rebuild itself from the root up. Designers were rushing out designs with slight differences that would be appealing to buyers, and customers were trained to purchase low-quality garments with a perceived discounted price.[1] When the fashion industry is collapsing from tanking demand, this is also the perfect time to slow down fashion.

Shopping for clothes is difficult. The standardized clothing sizing systems by the Department of Agriculture in the 1940s was flawed as it primarily collected data from a small segment of the US population. Since mass-produced clothing didn’t represent the public’s body shape, brands started to size clothes based on their own preference.[2] Poor clothing construction and ill-fitting sizes undermine the shopping experience and add to the environmental burden as some retail stores often throw unsold or returned goods to the dumpster.[3] Brands not only need to make improvements on the quality of the products but also on how to help customers to find the perfect size, especially after trying on clothing in the store became a thing of the past. An at-home body measuring system might be what brands need.

Someone was already working on this. Zozosuit is an at-home tailor-made service. Users can use their smartphone camera to capture their 3D body measurement by wearing a special bodysuit. Zozo recently announced the launch of the Zozosuit 2, which can capture user body measurement more precisely than the flawed first generation.[4] Such technology can benefit both the users and brands. Users can make better decisions on sizes and style with their own 3D measurements as a reference. When the users are satisfied with their purchases, this positive user experience encourages them to repeat purchases. On the other hand, brands can collect real data, under the user’s consent, to build a new profile of American body type and to redefine a realistic and inclusive clothing sizing system that is universal across fashion brands.

With a realistic and universal sizing system, brands can focus on producing quality pieces that are timeless, durable, and well-fitted to different body shapes. At the end of the day, clothes shouldn’t be perishables that end up in the landfill of another country.

[1] Aleksander, I. (2020, August 6). Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/06/magazine/fashion-sweatpants.html (Links to an external site.)

[2]Stampler, L. (2014, October 23). Women’s Clothing Sizes: When We Started Measuring Them.
https://time.com/3532014/women-clothing-sizes-history/ (Links to an external site.)

[3] Moran, P. (2019, December 13). ‘It’s pretty staggering’: Returned online purchases often sent to landfill, journalist’s research reveals | CBC Radio.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-dec-12-2019-1.5393783/it-s-pretty-staggering-returned-online-purchases-often-sent-to-landfill-journalist-s-research-reveals-1.5393806 (Links to an external site.)

[4] ZOZO launches ZOZOSUIT 2, a 3D body measurement suit, and opens its measurement technologies, ZOZOSUIT 2 and the ZOZOMAT for business partnership. ZOZO, Inc. (2020, October 29).
https://corp.zozo.com/en/news/20201029-6375/

Retailer Gap (and if you’re old like me you still call it The Gap) posted this on social media what they thought was a ‘heal the world’ hoodie just in time for election day.They announced the product with a tweet reading “The one thing we know, is that together, we can move forward” followed by a red heart and a blue heart.

Gap had already started a ‘come together’ effort in September, with the introduction of this ad which recalls their usual holiday offerings.. And who can’t convince themselves to buy a new hoodie (although this one isn’t for sale, anywhere)? And isn’t it a good idea for brands to step up during these stressful times to get us all to, um, come together?
Well, not according to Twitter, where Gap was ridiculed for a tone-deaf campaign. According to People magazine, Chrissy Teagan tweeted that “we can all walk sideways depending on what city we’re in.”
People reports that a spokesperson from the Gap told them:

“From the start we have been a brand that bridges the gap between individuals, cultures and generations. The intention of our social media post, that featured a red and blue hoodie, was to show the power of unity. It was just too soon for this message. We remain optimistic that our country will come together to drive positive change for all.”

Maybe this would work in a few weeks. Maybe at inauguration time. But when things are so stressful? Not so much.

The WSJ says that Walmart will remove guns and ammo from store shelves four days before election day, citing concerns for civil unrest.

I’d like to applaud them but maybe they should have thought of this before now, like when shooters shot up Walmarts in Oklahoma and Texas. Yes, the store has stopped selling guns to people under 18. Yes it is legal for people to buy guns. Yes, they stop selling handgun ammo and assault rifles.

But four days before the election? I think the people who want their guns to cause civil unrest already have them.
This seems like a bit of performance activism on Walmart’s part.