4 Crucial Concerns When Addressing Sustainability in Business

Julie Starr • June 17, 2021



Business sustainability is the ability of a business to endure different scenarios. Ensuring business posterity is a progressive task where you need to take all sectors into consideration. Your financial, social, and economic status should align with the sustainability goals. It is impossible to work on one front and ignore the other sectors since they are co-related. 

When making a business plan, there is always the big question of the bigger picture. Focusing your efforts on answering the question will keep you on track to business prosperity and posterity. This journey will make you invent and reinvent numerous strategies to stay afloat and grow your business. 

Here are some of the methods you can use to secure sustainability in your business:

Good Environmental Practices

The green movement has taken over businesses globally. Every entity is going green through their energy and disposal choices – which are the most sensitive concerns. You need to identify how you can incorporate renewable energy options in your operations. Even though some of these energy sources will have high initial capital costs, they will significantly reduce operational costs.

You should also consider your means of waste disposal if any. Utilize the principle of the 3Rs per environmental regulations: reuse, recycle and reduce. You need to investigate methods you can use to manage your wastes —Master the art of minding the environment by seeking alternative and lasting environmentally friendly ways. 

Financial Management

Proper financial management is critical in ensuring business sustainability . Most business sustainability tasks will require your financial input. You need to re-strategize to finance your new business plans. You can’t initiate these funding plans if you do not know the actual business position of your company. Sometimes you may need to forego an essential part of your business to achieve your goals. 

You need to analyze your current financial records and the proposed plans to identify how you can finance these plans. The accuracy of your financial records will play a significant role in influencing your decision. Therefore, you need to check in on your financial reporting and affirm its accuracy. Comparing your current status to the expected results will also help you determine your progress and whether you need to change course to achieve business sustainability. 

Leadership Concerns

The captain of the ship always steers the vessel. Hence, if you lose your way in leadership, your business will soon follow suit. You need to ensure that you constantly improve your leadership skills. You can attend seminars and webinars to connect and network with different individuals. Their aura and command of the market will surely rub off on you, thus creating a beneficial impact. 

You can also take a leadership and business management course that will boost your understanding of the business and industry in general. Taking an online analytics degree will help you in the financial analysis and decision-making in your business. 

Quickly Adapting to Change

Change is inevitable, and you should prepare yourself accordingly. It would help if you worked on embracing change and turning it in your favor. It is the most efficient way of handling change. 

Business sustainability is a beneficial concept that most firms should adopt. However, you need to address the mentioned concerns if you want to have a shot at it!

5 Everyday Items That Can Quietly Boost Your Brand

By Julie Starr • July 17, 2025
The best branding doesn’t always come from big campaigns or expensive graphics. Sometimes it’s the smaller stuff that leaves the biggest impression. Things people actually use, touch, or carry with them. That’s where your brand can quietly make its mark without needing to shout about it. If you’re only focusing on social media and business cards, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Here are five overlooked ways to get your name out there that feel natural, useful, and more personal. Thank-you slips If you’re already sending out orders, there’s no reason not to include a short thank-you slip. You can easily get these made through any decent online print shop , and they’re usually pretty cheap to run off in small batches. Just a simple note that says thanks, maybe with a reminder to follow you online or a cheeky discount code for next time. It’s quick, thoughtful, and makes the whole order feel more finished. Customers notice that kind of detail, especially when everything else they buy online comes with zero personality. You don’t need a complicated design either. Just something clean with your logo, a message that sounds like you, and maybe a social handle. The point is to give them a reason to come back or remember your name without it feeling forced. Branded zip pouches If you sell physical products, offer services, or run events, small zip pouches are surprisingly effective. Think of the kind you’d use for stationery, receipts, or travel bits. You can get your brand printed on the side and hand them out with purchases or include them in welcome packs. People keep them because they’re actually useful. They get tossed in handbags, school bags, or glove boxes and your logo just keeps turning up. Cleaning cloths for glasses or screens This one works brilliantly if you’re in tech, health, beauty, or anything involving screens or eyewear. A simple microfibre cloth with your branding on it can go a long way. Everyone needs one. Whether they use it for glasses, a phone screen, or their laptop, it’s something they hang onto. It’s not the kind of thing people throw away, and that means your name sticks around too. Receipt envelopes You might already use little envelopes to hand over receipts or business cards. Branding those envelopes is a small change that makes a big difference. Instead of someone getting a scruffy bit of paper in a plain sleeve, they’re handed something that feels a bit more finished. You can even add a message inside. Doesn’t need to be anything dramatic. A simple “thanks for visiting” or “see you next time” is enough to add a personal touch. Wet wipes or mini hand gels If your business is in hospitality, food, or anything hands-on, branded wet wipes or pocket-sized hand gels are surprisingly popular. People actually use them, especially at festivals, food stalls, pop-ups, or kids’ events. They end up in handbags or cars and stick around longer than you think. They don’t scream “marketing” either. They’re practical, and when done right, they make your business feel thoughtful. That’s what good branding does, it shows you’ve thought ahead.

How Student-Led ‘Energy Audits’ Are Cutting School Costs (and Lighting the Way Forward)

By Julie Starr • July 14, 2025
What happens when students stop waiting for adults to fix things and start conducting their own energy audits? Money gets saved. The lights get switched off. Data gets analyzed. And a quiet revolution in sustainability begins—inside schools that once overlooked their own inefficiencies. Across the globe, student-led energy audits are proving that change doesn't always need to come from a policy shift or a major capital budget. Sometimes, it begins with a clipboard, a spreadsheet, and a group of curious minds asking: Why are the hallway lights on at noon when sunlight floods the building? The Energy Detectives These audits aren’t science fair projects. They’re rigorous investigations, often done in collaboration with facilities staff, local environmental nonprofits, or even engineering mentors. Students go from classroom to classroom measuring electricity usage, checking for phantom loads , and identifying where heat is escaping in winter or air conditioning is leaking in summer. One high school in Ontario saved over $12,000 a year after its Grade 11 physics students ran an energy audit and suggested simple changes—LED upgrades, motion sensors in bathrooms, and smarter heating schedules. They didn’t just propose ideas. They pitched them with spreadsheets, thermal images, and payback timelines. It worked. Learning That Pays Off—Literally Unlike textbook learning, these audits blend real-world math, environmental science, economics, and persuasive communication. Students aren’t just learning about sustainability. They’re doing it. And the savings add up. From dimming overlit hallways to reprogramming HVAC systems that run all weekend for empty buildings, students are surfacing blind spots that administrators often overlook. In some districts, their findings are influencing energy policy. Elsewhere, the audits have inspired school boards to hire sustainability coordinators—often alumni of the student programs themselves. There’s something poetic about a school funding new books or laptops from money saved by students who found out the vending machines didn’t need to be plugged in 24/7. Why This Matters More Than Ever With education budgets tightening and utility costs rising, every dollar saved is a dollar that can go back into classrooms. And here’s where it gets interesting from a family finance perspective, too. If you’re a parent setting aside money for post-secondary savings, every bit of school efficiency helps. Fewer energy costs might mean more programming, better STEM facilities, or even bursaries. That raises a broader point: when families save for their children’s future, they often look into RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans). And many wonder—is a RESP deduction available on my taxes? While contributions themselves aren’t deductible, the gains grow tax-free, and students often pay little to no tax when they withdraw the funds during school. A Movement Worth Replicating These audits aren’t just an exercise in environmentalism. They’re leadership labs. Students learn how to spot inefficiencies, speak up in board meetings, and make a business case for change. They don’t just flip switches—they shift mindsets. And they carry these habits into adulthood. The result? A generation growing up not only with climate anxiety, but also with tools to tackle it.