Why Capital Planning Is A Decisive Factor Of Sustainability

Julie Starr • June 27, 2022



Creating a sustainable business is no easy task. Many entrepreneurs struggle to build a green business that preserves the environment. Indeed, environmentally-friendly best practices tend to be less friendly on the business budget. Sustainable products are likely to be more expensive to make, and they often require more energy as part of the manufacturing process. Additionally, organizing an effective supply of sustainable materials and tailoring profitable green business practices can be tough challenges for small businesses. 

According to a Harvard study, the cost of building a sustainable business in the United States is about $500 billion every year . It is the minimum cost to prevent fossil fuel burning, carbon emissions, and unethical practices. Most companies are not in a position to commit to this level of expenditure. While many businesses choose to move toward sustainable practices and strategies gradually, the International Energy Agency estimates that $45 trillion will be required to introduce green operations into every single company. 

The bottom line: Sustainability is not necessarily a cost-effective choice for a company. While it doesn’t mean that businesses can’t save costs by embracing sustainable decisions, the cost of sustainability itself is not negligible. Does it mean, however, that cost is the main issue that companies will face when they add a sustainability goal to their strategies? 

The answer is no. Of course, building green operations and activities is expensive. Yet, business owners do not struggle with making sustainable investments per se. The most important challenge to making sustainability a viable solution for the business is planning capital use and availability in the long term. There’s nothing t o gain from committing to a single sustainable decision when the company doesn’t prepare for prolonged investments, returns, and activities to maintain its sustainable direction. 

Only the right customers are willing to pay more for sustainability

Sustainable products and services are more expensive than mainstream alternatives. Yet, as many customers have proven, price is not necessarily an obstacle when it comes to selling green products. The desire to embrace a green lifestyle and reduce environmental impact is present among all generations of shoppers. However, Millennials, Generation X, and Boomers are the customers more likely to support eco-friendly companies as they tend to have more disposable income to spend. The audience for green products and services is small, compared to other products, but as it increases year on year. Indeed, the demand is low compared to other offerings, yet the audience group for sustainable solutions is growing steadily. 

With the right communication and marketing strategy, green companies can manage to attract eco-conscious customers and grow their revenues. Sustainable companies can dedicate their content to sharing their eco-friendly strategies and aspirations for the future, showcasing the relevant certifications, and exchanging best practice tips with their network. With more and more green businesses entering the market, your marketing presence becomes an essential part of your brand identity. Therefore, making sustainability a profitable decision begins with preserving market share and reaching year after year. 

Find protective solutions when plan A fails

As mentioned, creating a sustainable business is an expensive strategy that includes your equipment investment, technology choice, and team. 

Picture a situation where the business decides to implement a new tech solution at the operational level to reduce its environmental impact. The solution is a success, but it requires specialist training to manage effectively. Unfortunately, the individual responsible for its implementation goes unexpectedly missing as a result of a long-term medical condition. Without an adequate key man insurance policy in place to protect the strategy and fund the next activities, it is likely the business would be forced to abandon the sustainable solution to save training costs and remain profitable. 

Insurance policies are an essential protective shield for your company. They can prevent loss in the event of injuries in the workplace, customers’ complaints, or even theft. Yet, more importantly, these policies serve a crucial purpose by enabling the company to maintain its long-term strategy. As sustainability is not a one-off investment but a permanent change of direction, operations, and activities, companies must consider how potential risks could affect their strategies. The monetary loss a company sustains through a liability or personal injury case, for example, could contribute to abandoning sustainable activities to focus on low-cost and fast return strategies. That’s precisely why insurance policies are crucial to preserving capital funds for sustainability in businesses, regardless of what the future might bring. 

Investing today to save money tomorrow

Introducing environmentally-friendly practices within a company is unlikely to have an immediate positive return. Sustainability investments can save money, such as investing in renewable energy , but corporations must be willing to lose money first before they can recoup their losses. 

Indeed, switching to renewable energy will reduce the business energy bills. But, the initial cost of installing renewable generation resources for a commercial structure, such as solar panels, varies between $132,000 and $430,000. Needless to say, even with monthly savings, it will still take the business many years to recover the initial investment. Therefore, the sustainable strategy must consider ways of reducing the financial impact of the investment to keep the business afloat. 

Thankfully, there are still plenty of environmentally-conscious financing opportunities for companies. Bringing eco-friendly equipment to the business can bring tax advantages, such as the ability to reduce tax payments. Some federal and regional institutions also provide grants or partial financing options for green solutions, making them more accessible to small businesses. More often than not, it can be beneficial for companies planning substantial sustainability investments to work closely with a financial and accounting advisor who can help with:

  • Funds gathering
  • Tax deduction
  • Green loan management
  • Environmental grant applications 

Failure to prepare for the long-term financial consequences could put on hold all sustainable projects for small businesses. 

Redefining the expected gain

The most important question a business must ask when approaching sustainable strategies is not how long before returns become visible but what types of returns can be expected. Indeed, eco-friendly operations and activities may not immediately deliver a financially quantifiable gain. As seen with renewable energy, it will take many years before savings on energy bills recover the cost of the initial investment. So what is the gain of sustainability for businesses, and what difference does it make?

Sustainable decisions have a positive environmental impact, which is immediately measurable. Beware; however, measurable is not synonymous with visible. For instance, a business can instantly reduce its carbon footprint with the installation of solar panels. But, the local population may not see the positive impact on the wildlife and the air quality for several months and years. That’s precisely why it’s crucial to keep track of sustainable efforts and share the results with your audience group and shareholders. 

Customers and investors also prefer to spend their money on green businesses. So, it makes sense to focus on sustainable activities as part of brand positioning and reputation protection. In the long term, environmentally-conscious companies are more likely to remain relevant in the future market as long as they can manage to secure funds until sustainability drives tangible profits.  

Sustainability is a slow progress

Unfortunately, sustainability is a slow process that needs time:

  • To implement
  • To measure
  • To generate profits

There’s no magical button companies can press to go from 0 to 100 when it comes to sustainability. The first challenge a business faces is to change the established habits of employees and customers. Something as simple as reducing paper waste by asking employees not to print documents can lead to frustrations, a loss in productivity, and slow completion as people need to learn new work routines and tools. So, it’s not so much a matter of immediately saving costs through the elimination of printing. Removing the printer from the office incurs an initial loss, which makes it even harder to motivate employees. 

Ultimately, because sustainable strategies can introduce new methods that clash with existing habits, the audience can be slow to accept transformations. First reactions may be negative, which slows down the progression of sustainability in the business world. Businesses must not only prepare for the initial investment but also for additional losses before they can measure the benefits of eco-friendly strategies. 

Unlocking green funds is not easy

How does a small company find the money to make sustainability its new operational reality? Applying for commercial loans is no easy process. Many companies are not eligible for conventional loan applications as they may not meet credit score criteria or may not have been in business for long enough. 

Similarly, grants may be difficult to obtain for small businesses and startups. Indeed, grants tend to provide partial financing for sustainable transformations, which means the company must still pay the remaining costs. 

Crowdfunding opportunities can be tricky too. With thousands of companies turning to crowdfunding platforms to finance growth and strategic changes, it is a competitive sphere where many fail to secure the funds they need. 

In conclusion, it is important to understand that sustainable strategies require appropriate planning to remain viable. Financing the implementation of eco-friendly technology or carbon-neutral operations is only one of the challenges a business has to overcome. Sustainability is a long-term project that needs extensive capital planning to elevate a company and deliver a measurable, quantifiable, and visible impact. 

Simple Steps To Make Your Office Space More Eco-Friendly

By Julie Starr • 07 Oct, 2024
Becoming more eco-friendly and running a greener business is a responsibility that business owners really need to think more about. The good news is that if you spend a lot of time in your office, there are plenty of ways to make it more eco-friendly without having to overhaul everything and start again (which isn’t just disruptive, but expensive too). So, if you’re ready to get started, here are some simple steps to make your office space more eco-friendly; read on to find out more. Use Energy-Efficient Lighting This idea is a simple one that you can do no matter what else might be on your list of tasks - it’s quick, easy, and really makes a difference; change your light bulbs to something more energy efficient. If you’re still using traditional fluorescent bulbs, it’s time to upgrade to LED which doesn’t just last longer, but also uses a lot less energy. They’re easy to install and they’ll help you cut down on your office’s energy usage almost instantly. If possible, you should make the most of natural light too, so think about rearranging your workspace to let in more sunlight, which saves energy and can boost your mood - it’s a win-win that you can do right away. Prioritize Air Quality The air you breathe matters, and keeping it clean can do wonders for your health and the planet. One way to improve air quality is by adding plants to your workspace because plants are natural air purifiers, and as a bonus, they’ll make your office feel more inviting. Another great idea is to make sure your office’s HVAC system is working efficiently, and having air duct cleaning done by professionals is an easy step you can take to improve air quality and ensure your heating and cooling systems aren’t wasting energy. Clean air ducts mean cleaner air, less strain on your system, and even lower energy bills, so it’s a simple but really effective thing to do. Switch To Reusable Products If your office is still stocking up on single-use plastic items, it’s time for a change - swap your disposable cups, utensils, and plates for reusable ones and you’ll be surprised at how much waste to eliminate. And what about encouraging people to bring their own mugs and water bottles to work? Give them tea, coffee, and water to refill everything with, and you’ll be doing your bit to help the planet and have less waste to deal with as well. And don’t stop with these things either - there are loads of reusable products that could be useful in your office. You could have refillable pens and ink cartridges for your printer, for example. Go Paperless Speaking of your printer, is that an office machine you actually need? If you were to go digital and aim for a paperless office , you might be able to do away with the printer, which means less money spent on ink and paper, and less energy used altogether. You should be able to set up a system where documents can be shared online and stored electronically, and there are plenty of tools around to help you do exactly that (and much more). If you don’t need to print something and you don’t need a physical copy of a document, don’t make one - just use the digital version instead and you’ll be a lot more eco-friendly.

3 Most Unsustainable Industries & What They're Doing To Be More Eco-Conscious

By Julie Starr • 04 Oct, 2024
Sustainability often gets pushed on the common person. Joe Public is told to be more sustainable with their daily habits as the government pushes for more eco-friendly measures. This is all well and good - but does it really matter when 71% of greenhouse gas emissions come from just 100 companies around the world? Small business owners are desperate to prove their sustainability, but what are bigger companies in some of the most polluting industries doing to help? We’ve taken three of the least sustainable sectors on the planet and explored the unique ways they’re trying to cut down on emissions and be more eco-friendly. Mining Any industry revolving around drilling underground will not be very environmentally friendly! Mining causes a lot of pollution, but its unsustainability often comes from the way it damages local environments and ecosystems. So, what is this industry doing to change things? It’s largely focusing on more responsible mining practices to reduce waste and mitigate the impact on local environments. This is done through mining dust suppression systems to prevent airborne pollution, reforesting mining sites when they’re no longer in use, and recycling as many materials as possible. Is it perfect? No, but it’s a step in the right direction. Fossil Fuels Shock horror; the fossil fuels industry is the most damaging to our environment. Finding ways to change the scope of this sector is the key to ensuring a better future for all. Some companies in this industry are trying to do this through carbon capture and storage. This is a technique where CO2 emissions are captured before they’re released into the atmosphere and stored underground. Realistically, the main thing fossil fuel companies should be doing is pushing for more renewable energy sources. Many are doing this - though reports suggest they’re not investing as much as they should. If fossil fuel companies dumped more money into developing biofuels and other renewable sources, pollution from this industry would drop dramatically. Fashion The most unbelievable stat to take from this post is that the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of our global carbon footprint . That’s remarkable (and worrying), considering how most of us don’t view it as a “dangerous” industry. Fast fashion is the main problem; poorly-made goods are pumped out at a rapid rate, and consumers constantly buy new things. Fashion companies are trying their best to resolve this. Most big brands will now have sustainable lines using recyclable materials. Consumers also hold the key to solving this problem: stop buying new clothes all the time and wear yours for longer. Or buy pre-owned clothes to slow down the fashion production line. Companies can still do more as well: they are trying to adopt more eco-friendly production processes that use less water and energy. The moral of this post is that everyone can do their bit to fight for a more sustainable future. Keep this in mind for your small business . It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in; there will always be ways to promote eco-friendly practices.
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