What does sustainability mean anyway?

At Tactical Connections we define sustainability as the capacity to endure. We have chosen this definition because it highlights how fundamental sustainability is to success in business – only strategies that consider how a business will thrive over time can be considered successful.

In order to endure a company must be profitable, ethical, social and environmental in its outlook:

• Profit

  No business can continue to exist without financial success

• Talent

  Attracting talented team members that are motivated to support your business will make your activities efficient and effective

• Reputation

  Now more than ever consumers are watching corporations to assess their accountability and transparency

• Community

  Cultivate relationships with healthy and happy customers who are dedicated to your brand, loyal to your products and services, have enough wealth to pay for them – and keep growing your market share

• Partnerships

  Working with other businesses that act ethically within a predictable and equitable legislative framework will allow you to plan for the future

• Ecosystem

  Modern business must exist within a physical environment that supports healthy living and can continue to support its inhabitants over time

• Loyalty

  Understanding and aligning with the values of your customers is imperative in order to meet their rapidly evolving needs and retain customer loyalty

With a strong focus on the interaction between business, environment, technology and society Tactical Connections is deeply committed to developing innovative, exciting businesses that place sustainability at the centre of their success.

You have to examine everything

Sustainability can be comprised of social, ecological and financial components. In simplest terms sustainability is an underlying corporate value that ensures that business decisions are always weighed against their potential impact on the economic, natural and social systems they touch.

This can involve what a business produces, how products and services impact the natural environment, how a company recruits and trains staff and interacts with suppliers, the impact of transporting the goods or services to market, respect for human rights and how a company invests in the local community.

It is also a process that examines any form of waste in the business and manufacturing process – any cost which does not produce value to the customer.

Starting at the top

Creating a sustainable business requires transformational change with the main responsibility starting with senior level management.

And because every business is different the steps that each enterprise must take will be unique as well.

As pressure from consumers continues to increase over sustainability issues companies will have no choice but to make it central to their business plan – or be left behind.