While most businesses can only stay afloat if they concern themselves with being profitable, in today’s world, if you’re not at least attempting to be socially conscious as well, there’s very little chance that you’ll ever gain a loyal or adoring customer base. Knowing this, it’s wise to take some of your natural sense for doing good and apply that to your business as well. Not only will this make your entire organization more appealing, but you could wind up helping a lot of people in the process, too.
To help you see how this can be done, here are three ways your business can be a force for good in your community.
Think Of Your Customers and Community First
As you strive to be more socially conscious as a business, Dr. Melodena Stephens Balakrishnan, a contributor to Entrepreneur.com, suggests that you consider how you can have an impact on your customers and community.
To really dive into this way of thinking, you should try to get into the mindset of your customers and uncover what additional problems they’re dealing with in their lives, not just the ones that your business can help them solve. Especially within your own community, it can be very helpful to pinpoint local pain points, like having access to clean water or helping serve the homeless population, and then figuring out what you as an organization can do to alleviate these issues for your patrons.
Create Volunteer Opportunities
Although it’s easy to just write a check for an organization or charity that you want your business to support in your community, sometimes, actually volunteering your time can be much more meaningful.
In addition to volunteering with current volunteer programs, Lonneke Roza, a contributor to Forbes.com, shares that you can also create your own volunteer programs with your staff and their friends or family members so that people who are connected with your business can have more direct access to volunteer opportunities. You could also open this up to other people in your community to make your reach even larger.
Conduct Your Business Locally
Being a force for good in your community means supporting the people and programs from your community so that you can help everyone in your area rise to a higher level.
One way you can do this, according to Tara McMullin, a contributor to Medium.com, is to do business locally whenever possible. Even if it means spending a little more money, if it brings more business to your local economy, you could see the positive ripple effects of this in your own business as well.
If you’re ready to make your business a force for good in your community, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you accomplish this.