Author: Doris Valade

In general, sustainability begins by thinking about what kind of future we are leaving for the next generation.

By Doris Valade, Business & Leadership Coach, The Malabar Group Inc.

Kermit the Frog said it best around 2008: “It’s not easy being green!” As a society, we’ve been talking about greenness and sustainability for more than 20 years and although we’ve made significant progress, we’re not there yet. Sustainability issues still make headlines, the topic continues to come up in boardrooms and offices and the number of consumers who expect brands to step up and do the right thing for the planet is growing.

Big business is getting greener and taking sustainability more seriously. But what about small business? A Forbes report revealed ,“If your brand isn’t helping your consumers improve their environmental and social footprint, then you’re in danger of disappointing 88% of them.”¹ What’s more, “at least 12 peer-reviewed studies show that many job seekers are attracted to organizations with sustainable practices.”² As small business owners, how can we make sure our environmental actions are green and our efforts at sustainability positively impact people, planet and profits?

The Three Pillars of Sustainability

In 2010, the Office of Sustainability at the University of Alberta, Canada, put together a concise definition: “Sustainability is the process of living within the limits of available physical, natural and social resources in ways that allow the living systems in which humans are embedded to thrive in perpetuity.”³ It is generally accepted that there are three key pillars to sustainability — environmental, social (human) and economic sustainability.

1. Your Small Businesses and its Environmental Impact

For small business, thinking about your environmental impact is probably the easiest pillar to understand and improve upon. A good first step is to look at what’s in your garbage. How can you reduce or reuse what’s in there? Avoid plastic when you can! Think about items you order on a regular basis. Are you using sustainable packaging? Is your equipment energy efficient? When buying new equipment, check energy-efficiency ratings. Simple things, such as LED lights and smart thermostats are green actions that can save money. It’s surprising how many businesses leave their lights on overnight and on weekends – if it’s not a security issue, why not turn them off? How are your products stored? If temperature control is required at your facility, can you reduce inventory to reduce energy costs? Are you using natural or eco-friendly cleaning and sanitation products? Buying used office furniture instead of new can be a great cost-saving green idea. Are you ready to go paperless? Did you know that storing data in the cloud is far greener (and more efficient!) than storing it on site? Why not ask your suppliers to confirm their own sustainability commitment.

Perhaps you can provide financial support for your employees to consider public transportation or car-pooling to work. Add bike racks outside. Simple steps are a great beginning and every step you and your team make, makes a difference.

2. Social (Human) Sustainability

How Can Small Business Contribute?

Social sustainability centers around improving social quality. This includes the well-being of individuals, communities and societies. The focus is on building thriving communities within larger thriving societies. Key elements include health, nutrition, education, safety, diversity, freedom and standard of living.

As an employer, perhaps you begin by encouraging team members to consider their work/life balance. What can the company offer to support that balance? Think about paid training, apprenticeships, staff memberships for physical fitness or nutrition programs. You may even want to support local programs and fundraising events within the community. Review your company’s HR practices, ensuring they are safe and ethical. Is diverse hiring ingrained in your process? Make sure your HR policies are up-to-date and in line with current laws, industry standards and government rules and regulations.

3. Economic Sustainability – Embrace Practices that Support Economic Growth

It is possible to support long-term economic growth for your small business and the industry, without negatively impacting social, environmental and cultural aspects of the community. Doing good has a positive and direct impact for its own sake, as well as on your company’s ability to do well. A Unilever study found that a third (33%) of consumers are now buying from brands based on their social and environmental impact.⁴ The Global Sustainability Study, a major 2021 study of more than 10,000 people across 17 countries showed that sustainability is becoming increasingly important in consumers’ purchasing decisions, especially as consumers see themselves, along with profits for the company, as the primary catalysts for change.⁵

Ready to Create a Sustainability Strategy?

An excellent first step is to gather your team and answer the question, “How do our company’s actions impact people, the planet and profits?The success of your sustainability programs will be based on continuous improvement and innovation, both of which can be found within your company.

Your employees are a great resource for ideas on how to reduce waste and reuse materials throughout your facility. They can help identify which training programs would best to support individual growth, growth of the team and the company. They will also know about local community social programs and events in which to involve the company.

What about Your Own Sustainability as Business Leader?

Businesses have been tested through the pandemic. Effective leaders have learned to be compassionate and more thoughtful in their relationships with their teams, their customers and their vendors. But what about owner self-care? Are you overloaded? Do you feel off balance or burned out? If you do, it will be difficult to support those around you. Taking care of yourself includes getting enough sleep, taking breaks from the tasks at hand and not being too self-critical. It’s crucial to have a strong support network — family, friends and mentors. 

First Steps …

Consider developing a sustainability vision statement and an actionable set of sustainability goals for the short term (the next 12 months), the medium term (the next 2 to 5 years) and the long-term (10+ years). There are many resources available to guide you. Start small — every step will make a difference! Include key members of your team to represent all areas of your operation (production, shipping/receiving, accounting, customer service, sales, etc.). And don’t forget to celebrate each goal you complete together.

Tell Customers About Your Company’s Green and Sustainability Programs

Announce your plans and achievements on your website, as well as on LinkedIn and your other social platforms. A gentle word of caution at this point. Transparency is key. Greenwashing — when a company pretends and promotes itself as environmentally conscious, but its practices say otherwise — will be noticed and called out. If you are going to flag and incorporate your sustainability into marketing and advertising, make sure you walk the talk. As we all know, the trust of customers is priceless, difficult to acquire and easy to lose.

Sustainability is not a trend and in 2022, it’s still not easy being green. But both are urgent priorities. Every company, regardless of size, has an impact on the planet and each can play a part in the future of a healthier community and society. Done well, sustainability can lead to marvellous outcomes — loyal, satisfied customers, improved supplier relationships, engaged employees who are happy to be brand ambassadors and a more viable, competitive and profitable small business.

How do you feel your small business ranks in its sustainability efforts? Canada’s Greenest Employers is an editorial competition organized annually by the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project. If you feel your business has made huge strides in being green and embracing sustainability, the competition is accepting applications for the 2023 awards. They are open to companies of all sizes. Now in its 15^th year, here are the winners for 2022.

Additional Reading and Resources to help you go greener and achieve sustainability:

The Role Small Businesses Can Play in Building a Sustainable Future.

A Sustainability Roadmap for Small/Medium Business (SME) from the Government of Canada.

Five Small Business Owners Share Their Secrets for Work-Life Balance since COVID-19.

References:

¹ https://www.forbes.com/sites/solitairetownsend/2018/11/21/consumers-want-you-to-help-them-make-a-difference/?sh=33ec02766954

² https://nbs.net/articles/three-reasons-job-seekers-prefer-sustainable-companies/#:~:text=Employees%20Want%20to%20Work%20for,to%20organizations%20with%20sustainable%20practices.

³  spacademiccompaniondocumentsinglev3.pdf (ualberta.ca) (Sustainability Plan Report 2016-2020)

⁴  Report shows a third of consumers prefer sustainable brands | Unilever

⁵ https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211014005090/en/Recent-Study-Reveals-More-Than-a-Third-of-Global-Consumers-Are-Willing-to-Pay-More-for-Sustainability-as-Demand-Grows-for-Environmentally-Friendly-Alternatives

By Doris Valade, Business and Leadership Coach, The Malabar Group

The Boss has been Fired!!

Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge. 

• Simon Sinek, Author and Inspirational Speaker

In 1982, when I first started my business, the business owner was the boss, in every sense of the word. The boss made all the decisions, often alone and behind closed doors. He or she was expected to be the position of authority, the “expert” on everything to do with the business. Being the boss could be a lonely place. Business norms at the time dictated that the boss did not socialize with employees; even joining employees for lunch was discouraged. At the time, I was young and I was learning. But I knew I wanted to do things differently. Since I was the boss, I made an important decision. I fired the boss!

Let me explain …

During high school and university, I played competitive sports. Our team was always at the bottom of the win/loss game season. Early on, I learned that we could only win if our team worked together. We were only as good as our weakest player. I was often captain or co-captain, with the responsibility to ‘lead’ the team, but I couldn’t win by myself. It was about the team. I learned to look at each player to identify their strengths and weaknesses and support them to improve. Our games improved. And so did my leadership skills. Each game was no longer just about winning, it was about all of us doing our best as a team. These were valuable leadership skills I would carry with me throughout my career.

Perhaps you’re still thinking that every company must have a boss. But what every company must have is strong leadership. In today’s business world, successful companies have fired the boss. Today, leaders encourage their teams to collaborate. At least the successful ones do! In 1982, most people didn’t ask, “Do I enjoy going to work?” They just went! Most bosses didn’t wonder, “Are my employees happy?” “Are they filled with purpose?” They just expected people to show up and work. Things have changed. Today’s employees, particularly the younger ones, believe that their purpose goes far beyond just doing their job. They want meaning in their work. More than 9 out of 10 employees … are willing to earn less money to do more meaningful work? Good leaders understand this and the company reaps the benefits.

Purpose and People Above Profits

As business changes, so must your role as a business leader. The impact of digital technology, new approaches to boosting productivity and more recently, the burdens of the pandemic, have been instrumental in pushing innovation and opportunities for businesses to do things differently. The emotional impact of the pandemic also highlighted the benefits of being compassionate leaders. In his 2021 book, The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism, Hubert Joly, former Chairman and CEO of Best Buy, describes today’s leader as putting purpose and people above profits. Business leaders are learning to recognize and appreciate the value of human skills (e.g., communication, empathy, compassion, self-awareness). I always admired the leadership of the late Colin Powell (U.S. Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005). I was asked to give a talk to members of our local Chamber of Commerce a few years ago and I quoted from the management book by Oren Harari, The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell. Those secrets centre around clear and supportive communication that inspires the people around you. Powell said, “when you make people feel like their work is part of something larger than themselves, you’ll win their trust and respect.”  (Forbes.com  Oct 19, 2021, Colin Powell’s Best Communication Advice for Motivating Teams.”)

For leaders of small businesses, this challenge can be particularly difficult — our days are spent putting out ‘fires’, keeping customers happy and trying to balance inventory against orders. But inspiring our teams is still possible. Bringing a team together with the shared purpose of growing the company, being open and transparent, encourages them to provide solutions and own the results. A collaborative approach encourages a variety of unique insights which generate new ideas and new solutions. Your team is motivated to do more, to come together and support each other, which supports you and the company.

Where do you begin? What do you do? How do you do it?

In my company, we wanted to bring the team together to share ideas with a focus on continuously improving our day-to-day operations. We came up with two ideas to engage and empower everyone.  

The Roundtable: Learning from your peers

The first was a roundtable that included at least one person from each area of the business – accounting, customer service, sales, purchasing, warehouse operations, production and shipping/receiving (we outsourced our marketing and HR programs). We created a worksheet in which each team member presented either an objective, or a hurdle, specific to their area of work. Open discussion followed to gather ideas on how best to support fulfilling the objective or overcoming the hurdle. Follow up discussion considered threats, available resources and possible next steps (which had to be clear, measurable and achievable). Many of our daily activities included each of our team members, so it made sense to get their input and perspective too. That way, we also avoided unnecessary mistakes. Meeting as a roundtable gave us a much better perspective of each other’s work. Equally important, we had the opportunity to help each other with solutions. It was terrific team building. We would put together a course of action and once the objective was met, or the hurdle resolved, the worksheet would include “key lessons learned” for discussion so that the improvements would become part of our daily operations. 

The Contest: Healthy competition creates healthier teams

We also created a company-wide contest based on Sales Up/Expenses Down. Recognizing that everyone has an impact on either increasing company sales or reducing company expenses, all team members were included. The call-out was for new ideas — gift cards were presented for ideas that were implemented. Our sales and customer service team came up with new ideas to promote our products as well as new marketing approaches. Accounting and Purchasing teams sourced a more economical freight carrier, which reduced our delivery costs. Production came up with ideas on how we could save on packaging. Everyone wanted to get involved. They realized that they could all make a difference in the business and benefit from their input. Today, after successfully surviving a pandemic, I would include a contest centred around community support/team spirit. How can the company use the strengths of its team to reach out and support the local community?

It’s a new world. As the company’s leader, you are no longer expected to have all the answers, all the solutions or even the next steps and being the leader doesn’t have to be a lonely place. If the pandemic taught us anything, it hammered home the importance of collaboration and innovation. Businesses that survived and thrived will tell you it took teamwork. Your greatest strength will come from empowering your team around a shared purpose that allows everyone to take responsibility for their own (and everyone else’s) performance, learning and well-being. John Maxwell, whose books on leadership have sold millions of copies, said “leaders become great not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.” When your team is truly empowered, everything is possible. So, although the boss was fired, good leadership will always be required.

Are you tired of leading your company alone? Let’s talk … just email me to arrange for a phone call: doris@malabargroup.ca

Related Additional Reading

1. Human Skills: Definitions and Examples
2. It Doesn’t Have To Be Lonely at the Top. Forbes. July 2021.

About Doris Valade

Doris has been involved in the meat and poultry industry for over 35 years. She has sat on the boards of Food & Beverage Ontario, the Canadian Meat Council and the Canadian Spice Association. Doris has been included on the list of Profit magazine’s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs from 1999 – 2005 and again in 2016. Meat and Poultry Ontario recently awarded Doris the Lifetime Member Award for her outstanding contribution to the industry.

As a business and leadership coach, Doris mentors and supports small business owners and entrepreneurs through the challenges of running their business. You can request a free (no obligation) phone call and conversation with Doris by sending her an email request: doris@malabargroup.ca

Every business will reach the point when it’s time to sell. The sale may be to another family member, to employees, or to a party outside the company. As the business owner, the decision will be one of the biggest of your career, so make sure it’s not a quick decision. You need time to prepare your company and yourself if you’re going to get the best price.

I sold my company in 2017 after 35 years of hard work, long hours and many ups and downs. Over the years, I watched my father in his business. In 2004, at the age of 75, he was tired and ready to sell. But he had no exit strategy. He didn’t ask for help in selling. He simply put the word out in his industry that the company was for sale. Unfortunately, word of mouth was not enough. No buyer came forward and he ended up selling the assets below market value to a smaller local company. Looking back, he regretted waiting so long to sell and not preparing for the sale in advance. I learned from his regret.

What do you know about selling a business?

I first thought about selling my business in 2008. The economy was in turmoil and so was my company. We weren’t profitable and I was tired. I knew nothing about selling a business, so I attended a free one day “Grow and Exit” conference in Toronto, hosted by Generational Equity, a merger and acquisition (M&A) advisory firm with years of experience selling businesses across North America.¹ During the conference, I gained a beginner’s knowledge on business valuation and what the M&A sales process looks like, but I still had a lot to learn.

At the end of the conference, I met with one of the advisors to ask about selling my business. He asked, “Doris, is your company profitable?” When I replied ‘no,’ he told me (politely) that my business wasn’t ready to sell. “Go back to work and make it profitable,” he said. So, that’s what I did. TIP! The best time to sell your business is when it’s doing well.

Selling takes planning

After the conference, my initial priority was creating a detailed business plan. I asked key members of the team to help with the main components — a financial review, a marketing plan and a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats). We focused on reducing expenses and increasing sales. We identified areas for improvement. We noted places where efficiencies could be implemented in our day-to-day operations. We examined the top 20% of our expenses (as these expenses would be responsible for 80% of our costs) to find ways to reduce costs. We also hired a marketing specialist to develop a marketing plan to gain new customers in new sales regions.

Our financial review uncovered something crucially important — our profit margins were too low! We immediately made price corrections on key items. Not one customer complained when we increased our prices because our competition was still priced higher.  We implemented some changes immediately. Others happened over the following year. But within three years we had turned the company around. We were profitable!

Running my company took a great deal of time and energy and I still had other interests that I wanted to pursue. I realized I could only do that if I sold the company. 

When selling is a family affair

I had a family member working in the company – my daughter, Meghan. She had been a senior member of our team for 15 years, working in the warehouse and the office. She knew the business well. We had a conversation about whether she was interested in taking over the company. She wasn’t. Although she enjoyed working in the business, being the boss and managing a team is difficult. She’s not alone in those feelings. Recent research by Small Business Trends revealed that 89% of family members don’t want to take over the business.

If you do have family members involved in your business, I highly recommend that you consider outside resources to guide you in preparing for the sale. Mixing family and business can be challenging and the complexity of a transfer of shares can be overwhelming. Suggestions for guidance include Family Enterprise Canada (www.familyenterprise.ca) or the Canadian Association of Family Enterprise (www.cafecanada.ca).  Learn as much as you can before you make any decisions.

When it’s time to sell, lean on the experts

As the business owner, you may not be the best person to present your company for sale. You may be too close to things, unable to see the bigger future picture. I received a variety of suggestions around selling my company, including reaching out directly to competitors to see if there was any interest. This is not a good idea. Competitors may be only interested in getting their hands on your financial reports (for comparison). Releasing financial information should NOT be where negotiations begin. 

There are many M&A companies and business brokers that will work with you through the sale process, including valuation, reaching out to potential buyers, negotiations and finalizing the deal. I set up appointments with three M&A companies in the GTA and interviewed them to see what they could do for me. I also interviewed two legal companies to find a team with solid M&A expertise. It was a very helpful learning experience as I ended up with an expert team to guide me as I took my company to market. That extra time and effort resulted in three offers and a final sale that, in hindsight, I know I could not have achieved alone. It’s never too early to prepare yourself and your company for sale (even if you’re not quite ready to sell).

The last two years have been incredibly tough on businesses, particularly small ones. A recent BizBuySell Insight Report showed that “After nearly two years of managing through the pandemic’s fallout, many owners are deciding it’s time to sell. Retirement and general burnout remain the top two reasons for exiting, however pandemic fatigue specifically is moderately to extremely motivating 43% of owners to consider selling their business.” Sadly, a study by Small Business Trends, also updated in 2021, shows that 48% of business owners who want to sell have no exit strategy. Don’t put your life’s work in jeopardy. Plan ahead.

Advance preparation allows you to develop the expertise, knowledge and details required to build a stronger company today to ensure a successful sale tomorrow. Good luck!

__________________________________________________________

¹Generational Equity has put these conferences on hold during Covid-19 and plans to resume them later in 2022, including in Toronto. Visit their website to learn more: www.generational.com

Would you like to learn more about my selling experience?  Check out this podcast (#012 – July 7, 2020) with Jeffrey Feldberg of Deep Wealth.

The Sell My Business Podcast – Doris Valade on How to Create a Successful Exit (google.com)

About Doris Valade

Doris started her own business over 30 years ago, and successfully sold the company in 2017.   She has sat on the boards of Food & Beverage Ontario, the Canadian Meat Council and the Canadian Spice Association. Doris has been included on the list of Profit magazine’s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs from 1999 – 2005 and again in 2016.

Today, Doris keeps busy as a business and leadership coach, as she mentors and supports business owners and entrepreneurs through the challenges of running their business. You can request a free (no obligation) phone call and conversation with Doris by sending her an email request: doris@malabargroup.ca