With the day-to-day stress of running your business, it can be tough to step back and consider its environmental or social impact and how it can help make a better world. However, there are several reasons to consider the broader purpose of your work.
- It’s better for your bottom line: The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) found that 73% of companies that track and disclose their environmental impacts show better financial performance.
- Your customers expect it: 46% of customers are buying more sustainable products and are willing to pay 9.7% more for them, according to PwC’s 2024 Voice of the Consumer Survey.
- Your employees are motivated by it: Deloitte found that 62% of new hires were motivated to join a company because of its purpose, and 47% of respondents reported leaving a job due to its lack of purpose.
- Investors and governments may require it: Regulations are pushing more businesses to report on sustainability and set carbon reduction targets (KPMG).
For a small-to-medium-sized business, it can be hard to carve out the time to figure this out. You may not have the capacity or budget to hire a sustainability consultant. However, there are some quick ways to get started on this journey.
Begin with the SDGs
We consider the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be the ABCs of environmental and social purpose. Adopted by the United Nations in 2015, the 17 SDGs are a framework for organizing the major challenges facing our world. Each goal is accompanied by a set of targets that we collectively can work towards hitting by 2030.
There are a set of advantages to using the SDGs as a foundation for defining the purpose of your business:
- They have become a common, global language for talking about sustainability.
- They are broadly applicable, covering a wide range of issues facing humanity and our planet.
- Aligning with the SDGs makes you part of a global community working towards a better future.
- ESG reporting often uses the SDGs as a cornerstone.
While the SDGs are primarily written for nation-states, businesses have a major role to play in helping meet those targets. They serve as a blueprint to help companies like yours play a part in improving the health of our planet.
Aligning with the SDGs
With 17 goals to choose from, it can be challenging to figure out where to start. Here are our suggestions to select the SDGs that are most applicable to your business:
Look at examples
It’s not always obvious what an SDG actually refers to based on its title alone, and it can be challenging to understand how your business could contribute to these lofty global goals. We’ve found that it’s easiest to review examples of how other businesses are working towards the SDGs. The Blueprint for Business Leadership on the SDGs is an excellent resource for this. Each goal is accompanied by a set of business actions and examples of different types of businesses taking those actions. We’ve found that they really help connect the SDGs to actions that your business could take.
Focus matters
While all 17 goals are laudable, don’t feel compelled to commit to all of them. Having a focus to direct your efforts is really important. We recommend choosing 4 or fewer goals. By selecting only a few goals, it allows those who are really dedicated to a specific goal to be recognized and rise above the rest.
Climate Action is a sensible default
If you are struggling to see how your business can impact any of the goals, Climate Action is a good place to start. Chances are, your business operations and your products and services generate some amount of carbon pollution, and climate change is one of the biggest crises we face. Measuring those emissions and setting a target to reduce them is a great way to take action.
Engage your colleagues
You don’t have to do this alone. In fact, choosing the SDGs for your business is a really great way to motivate your colleagues and connect them to the greater purpose of their work. You could run a short workshop to review the SDGs and identify the best fit for your business. You don’t need to be an expert to do this, but you could hire a sustainability consultant if that helps. The UK design studio Leap has a great description of doing this for their business.
Taking the next step
Once you have chosen the Sustainable Development Goals for your organization, the next step is to integrate them into your planning and reporting cycles. We recommend reviewing your selected SDGs every quarter and determining what actions you can take to meet them. You can leverage your annual financial reporting to include a section about the SDGs, the actions you’ve taken over the past year, and what you are planning to do in the future.
This is something that companies like GoDaddy are already doing as part of their annual ESG reporting. GoDaddy has committed to taking action on 7 Sustainable Development Goals: Gender Equality, Affordable and Clean Energy, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry and Infrastructure, Reduced Inequalities, Climate Action, and Peace and Justice.
If you are motivated by the SDGs and would like to join a community of aligned organizations taking action, one option is to join the .eco community. Everyone with a .eco domain name creates a .eco profile where they define the actions that they are taking in support of our planet. A key part of that process is indicating the SDGs that they support. You can find a suitable .eco domain for your business at GoDaddy.
