Donovan Woollard - Director, Radius Ventures
Shawn Smith - Director, Radius
More than reducing harm, donating money or volunteering in the community, our essential focus is how a company makes its money in the first place. Whom do you serve? Which needs do you meet? How does this create broader benefit as a result?
We would suggest examining three key aspects of your work as a starting point.
Your offer: Can you deliver products that address social or environmental needs? By thinking about how your production is more sustainable, you create the potential to change for the better how markets operate.
Your operations: Do the sourcing, production and delivery of your product or service represent your values and contribute positively to society? Every business can exert influence by purchasing through fair and sustainable suppliers, paying living wages and creating opportunities for marginalized populations.
Your influence: How do you rate as a corporate citizen? Use your influence to support sustainable communities and effective development by viewing yourself as a crucial part of it.
Going beyond the usual avenues of corporate social responsibility requires a holistic approach. High-
impact businesses are ones that align the “what” (their products or services) and the “who” (customers) with the “how” of management, and position themselves in the marketplace to reinforce their investments in positive change.
Michelle Nahanee - Co-founder, Capilano Tea House
If you support a small business to succeed and grow with mentorship, sales or skills development, then you strengthen the collective well-being of the city.
The Capilano Tea House has become a connecting hub where we share our cultural values of collectivity and reciprocity. Businesses can choose to purchase from small, local retailers to have a greater impact through their buying power, be it with purchases of food, retail, magazines or furnishings. Supporting the growth of small businesses ensures that the quality of the goods is high and, for us, has been a way to reciprocate the support we’ve received in the past. The value generated when businesses decide to buy local can be seen daily.
Business leaders can develop a framework to evaluate investment potential based on more than numbers – and the investment can mean more than money. The ripple effects of supporting a diverse range of entrepreneurs strengthen us all.
Even the impact of choosing to purchasing from a First Nations-owned company is one that is economically, environmentally and socially beneficial. It can change perceptions about First Nations people and our ability to run successful companies while maintaining our traditions.
Look for opportunities to invest time, resources and capital into the local maker economy because it will yield a benefit that goes back to your business. And buy local – from your daily consumables to your boardroom, choose to contribute to and benefit from the incredible talent flourishing on Coast Salish Territory.
Katja Macura - Co-executive director, Loco BC
All businesses have an impact on the communities in which they operate. The question is not whether a business has an impact but rather what kind of impact it has. At Loco BC, we focus on expanding the local economy by encouraging local purchasing at all levels. That’s because businesses that are privately owned and headquartered in B.C. tend to spend their dollars locally as well, returning a benefit to local communities that is 2.5 times that derived from the same amount of money spent on a multi-national company.
We know that spending is a key way to exert influence in the economy, and businesses have choices as to how they spend. Choosing local suppliers, partners and products creates positive ripple effects in the community.
When looking at how to improve your business’ impact through your purchasing, take a look at the following.
Non-inventory purchases: It may not be realistic for your businesses to buy inventory from local suppliers, but there are many non-inventory purchases you make on a daily basis like office supplies, packaging and labels.
Service providers: Local service providers are generally price-competitive and offer additional benefits like more personal and responsive service.
Social enterprises: Your business can have even more impact by working with local social enterprises, or with businesses that work with them. Social enterprises in B.C. typically offer employment to people with barriers and provide services such as third-party distribution, cleaning, catering and more.
