How Can Small Businesses Become More Socially Responsible?
There are endless ways that you can become more socially responsible with but the most important thing is that you take the first step towards more responsible decisions.
Nowadays, corporate social responsibility is more and more important for businesses because it helps define them and it’s also a way for businesses to market themselves as good-hearted and caring. It is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model.
About CSR
Corporate social responsibility is an important factor that most companies is (and should) be aware of. Some people think that only large corporations have the initiatives to take responsibilities for the company’s effects on environmental and social wellbeing. However, it is true that even small firms have to take this issue seriously. We all live on the same planet, and we have to be responsible for the place we live in. While some businesses start to pursuit the corporate social response, many corporations were actually getting into deeper concern of this topic.
Small business owners can work social responsibility into their everyday lives by making the commitment to getting all of their outsourced materials from local suppliers.
If you think about it, we’re all so accustomed to getting everything from our coffee to our office supplies from big box retailers. But what does that result in? Items being shipped all over the country, leaving an enormous carbon footprint, as well as increasing the power and presence of corporate chains, thereby making it more difficult for small businesses to get ahead.
But by supporting other local businesses, a small business more deeply engrains itself with the local community. When small business owners source locally, they are able to act in a more socially responsible way, while supporting fellow local businesses and their employees. This is good for the earth and their local community – everyone wins!
To make a CSR campaign more authentic, it is important for a company to be involved with something which they are truly passionate about. When this happens, CSR looks more like a humanitarian effort and less of a marketing effort which is what it’s all about in the end.
Involving your employees in a CSR effort also makes a huge impact. Instead of just giving monetary donations to an organization and calling it good, actually donating your time physically looks a lot better and is a beneficial way of getting your employees more engaged.
