Do you want to know how to integrate the fundamental steps for running a sustainable and ethical business?
Sowing the seeds of sustainability in your business.
I work with clients who see sustainability as the stepping stone to creating a business that acts responsibly, by weaving core sustainable strategies throughout its operations. This is done with clear targets to ensure they and the business are making a difference in everything they do. It is also something that resonates deeply with me and my business and working together we can then ensure that every decision that is made, makes an impact.
Following my attendance on a CSR-A course in 2021, my eyes were opened to all the environmental, community, workplace, and philanthropic areas that I was already incorporating into my day-to-day operations and even more so, what else I could add to this. This made me very aware of the best practices that I was abiding by and the clear benefits of doing so.
Having operated on this path, I was keen to be recognised and so I am very proud that Auxilium Business Consulting Ltd was awarded a Silver CSR Accreditation for its activities which is an independent recognition of my sustainable journey so far. Of course, it is a work in progress and I will be adding to this all the time.
I work with clients to start them on their journey using my SOW programme. The outcome of this is to provide a sustainability statement and roadmap for them that they can evidence to interested parties externally and use internally. This helps to audit their impacts and ensure they are weaved into the strategy and core of the business and supported by all the management and employees at all times.
Why integrating sustainability into your business NOW will reap rewards.
There are many reasons why you will reap rewards and every business will have a different focus, but there are huge advantages for investing the time and focus on sustainability to gain recognition for your business – here are some reasons why;
- Sustainability provides your business with positive publicity. People’s ears prick up and they take notice of you and what your business is doing especially when sharing stories.
- Having a sustainability journey woven into your business builds your competitive advantage, especially in a tender process. These tender processes can be lengthy and complex and include a scoring process which is where your sustainability efforts and accreditations will score well.
- Your environmental impacts will save money on areas such as energy, reduce waste, and will make a difference in all your procurement choices.
- Being sustainable will attract investment opportunities, and suppliers and also help retain and gain new clients and employees Your sustainability journey will expose your commitment, processes, causes & values.
- Being focussed on sustainability will enhance and develop relationships with existing and new contacts and improve your business reputation.
- Investing the time and energy on sustainable projects and goals will reap rewards many times over in the long run.
How can a business weave sustainability into it's core?
Make a pledge to start now.
►Read up on this subject everywhere.
►Make a list of all the things you are doing in each of the four pillars not matter how small.
►Document your sustainable journey so far to form part of your CSR Policy.
►Consider gaining an accreditation ( it is not expensive – various ones.)
►Set up a CSR group within your business to focus on this.
►Join local forums and groups to share knowledge and experiences.
Drive this top down – bottom up.
Benefits of sustainable impacts for your business.
- Winning new business from like-minded clients.
- Enhancing relationships with your stakeholders
- Attracting and retaining talented employees.
- Raising your profile within your industry and generally to others.
- Access to funding opportunities.
- Standing out from the crowd.
- Reducing long-term costs for your business.
- Increasing customer retention.
- Reach new audiences.
- Collaborations with like-minded people.
- Make a difference and help future generations.
Why every small business should obtain a CSR Accreditation.
The above reasons and additional ones below are also the benefits of obtaining a CSR Accreditation for your business and I am sure the list will continue to grow.
- Attract new clients and business projects and reach new audiences.
- Enhance and retain existing relationships with clients, stakeholders & employees.
- Social Media posts about sustainability are noticed and attract attention and inquiries.
- Stand out from the crowd and your competitors.
- Increase influence in your sector or industry.
- Save time and money in procurement processes.
- Build positive brand recognition.
- Establish internal processes and monitoring abilities to record and report on sustainable activities now and for all areas in the future.
- Provide the ability to evidence sustainability in tender processes, not only for easy evidencing but also for winning new business with like-minded companies.
- Access to new and existing funding opportunities.
- Retain and attract employees who want to work with sustainable business ventures.
- Raise your business media interest and positive attention and reputation building.
What is the SOW Journey for me as a business ( 1 )
What is the SOW Journey for me as a business ( 2 )
9 Reasons you need a sustainability strategy for your business.
The Four Pillars help you to focus and identify the practices and activities that you carry out and that are relevant to your business and industry.
Environment
Environment focuses on eco-issues such as climate change but in particular the areas that your business depends on. This can range from electricity, heating and lighting, water, supply chains, recycling, office procurement and deliveries and recycling, reducing, reusing products and services where you can.
Workplace
Workplace activities encompass the procedures and policies that improve products and services for employees, clients, & customers. This can range from flexible working, cloud document storage, online meetings, reduction paper usage, unsubscribing from emails and not attaching documents to emails, reductions in travel, green investments and working with sustainable clients and supply chains.
Community
Community focuses on the way your business operates with other organisations to improve the quality of life of the people in the local community. How, where, and why you operate and the areas you support in your local networks and forums, buying and supporting local businesses, mentoring, networking & memberships.
Philanthropy
Philanthropy focusses on the donations of time and money to good causes and supporting charities through volunteering, donation, or sponsorship. This can also mean pro bono work, donations of money and products, giving back, and free or discounted advice.
Interested to know more? Then let’s ‘sow the seeds of sustainability in your business together.
I support other business owners on this sustainable journey and this is now a key focus for my business.
I am keen to guide and work alongside clients who see sustainability as the stepping stone to creating a business that acts responsibly by weaving core strategies throughout their operations, and with clear targets to ensure they and their business are making a difference in everything they do now and in the future.
- Do you want to get started with sowing the seeds of sustainability for your business?
- Do you want to learn from someone who has the same sustainability passion and has gone through this process?
- Have you already begun your sustainability journey and are overwhelmed, do not know where to start, and need some support?
If the answer to any of the above was YES, then your journey can start now with a free 45-minute discovery call and then further discussions about how we can work together on this vital project with one of the following programmes;
- KICKSTART YOUR SUSTAINABILITY FOR 2024 = November & December 2023 & January 2024 ONLY = build a sustainability statement for your SME = £195
- SOW= working together starts by auditing what you already do and then providing a statement and roadmap for your sustainability journey – starts at £ 895
- WEAVE = continuing to work together to review, compile and implement company procedures and policies, using your roadmap – Costs to be determined on the scope of works involved.
- BLOOM = working together and using the information in SOW & WEAVE to use as evidence to apply for accreditation and be recognised by an independent body with a resulting sustainability accreditation to share with the world. – starts at £1295
Each stage of your sustainable business journey is flexible and can be tailored in a bespoke way to fit in with your roadmap and business objectives.
I can also support your small business with a sustainability review for 2024 and provide bespoke services to support you in compiling evidence for sustainability statements for your business.
These services start at £250 so do contact me for more information and book a call from my contact page.
Don’t delay, get in touch today to ‘sow your seeds & secure the roots to grow and stand tall amongst your competitors.’
Completed and planned talks, workshops, and webinars
” Sowing the seeds of sustainability for your small. business.”
Auxilium Webinar online September 2022, November 2022 & January 2023.
Talks to Networking Groups; FSB, Zoco & Fabulous Networking 2022 & 2023.
Kingston Chamber of Commerce Booster + Programme – Sustainability Workshops in 2023.
Sustainability talks to SMEs with FSB, Zoco, Fabulous Networking, BEAM and The Really Helpful Club.
The Really Helpful Club – Back to Business Conference 1/3/23 – Mini-Workshops.
Eco Biz Show – Grow your business and make it greener.- Hub Fizz.
10R’s of Sustainability for your small business – May 2023.
The Marketing Mix – Sustainability and your marketing strategy – Minal Patel.
Merton Chamber of Commerce – Business Masterclass – Sustainability Panel Discussion – 12th September 2023 at AELTC.
Chessington Expos- Green Zone 2022 & 2023.
Kingston Expo – Green Zone 2022 & 2023.
Homeworker Magazine edition 20 – How to grow a sustainable small business Nov 2023.
Homeworker Magazine – Sustainability webinar to all its readers Nov 2023.
Merton Chamber of Commerce – Business Masterclass – Sustainability CSR-A Workshop – 2nd November 2023.
If you are interested in hearing more about the above please email me alex@auxiliumconsulting.co.uk
Here are what some Clients have said about their SOW PROGRAMME Experience
“Thank you for all your help and support throughout the beginning of our CSR journey. We didn’t know where to start but with your knowledge and encouragement, we now feel in a position to move forward and make some real and meaningful changes to our business.”
“Alex was really great at preparing the SOW for The Numbers Quarter. She was patient with me while I explored the questions and started to get an understanding of the actions we could take within the business. She is clearly very passionate about sustainability and helping businesses to improve their sustainability actions and this has encouraged me to make changes and follow the actions she has suggested.
It was great to work with Alex and get a start on my sustainability journey. Thankyou.”
Scroll down to the bottom of the “about” page on The Marketing Spaces website page. There you will see their Sustainability Pledge that the owner Kara Stanford has added and also the work that we did together auditing her sustainability journey to date.
This consisted of auditing what she has done to date including working together and compiling a sustainability statement for her business. This was done in combination with a sustainability roadmap that highlights achievements and implemented processes and procedures to date (done) and logging and progressing actions in a work-in-progress roadmap document (doing).
Here are what some Clients have said about their SOW Webinar experience.
Sow Programme = SOW Webinar September 2022.
Sow Programme = SOW WEBINAR September 2022
I attended a brilliant, thought-provoking webinar this morning, hosted by Alex Hughes of a Auxilium Business Consulting on how to begin a sustainability journey for my business.
Alex encouraged us to start by thinking about the things we already do to make our our work sustainable and greener – however small those things may be – under four different headings: environment, community, workplace and philanthropy.
While I have a long way to go before I can claim to be fully sustainable or carbon neutral, it was really encouraging to reflect on what I do at the moment – things like driving an electric car, using a renewable energy supplier, minimising travel and doing as much of my work as possible online and giving up some of my time to volunteer as a school governor.
But the most exciting bit was starting to think about the potential that I can have to reduce the impact of my business on the environment.
Plenty of food for thought!
So, if you are looking for advice or support on how to make your business more sustainable, I would definitely recommend dropping Alex Hughes a line!
Rachel Dunford, Rachel Dunford Consulting Ltd
I have taken this sustainability journey as a solopreneur myself, so you can too with my support.
Following my attendance on a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) course in the summer of 2021, my eyes were opened to all the environmental, community, workplace, and philanthropic areas that I was already incorporating into my day-to-day operations for my small business and even more so, what else I could add to this. This also made me very aware of the best practice that I was already abiding by and the clear benefits of doing so.
I set about auditing everything I was currently doing in areas of the environment, workplace, community, and philanthropy and was amazed at all the choices, initiatives, processes, and projects I had in place and that I had completed that counted towards my accreditation.
In late 2021 I submitted my application and I am very proud that Auxilium Business Consulting Ltd was awarded a Silver CSR accreditation in January 2022 by CSR-A.
This has provided me with an independent recognition of my sustainable activities thus far and a benchmark with which to create my sustainability roadmap for the future.
As a solopreneur, I wanted to share with everyone this achievement as it applies to us all not just larger corporations. You have probably heard of CSR and assumed that it’s for Corporations, but the C can be applied to everyone, Corporate, Company, Community, Charitable, Consumer & Citizen.
Everyone working & caring together and driving change towards sustainability in everything they do.
Do you want to sow your seeds of sustainability ?
