Ready to think beyond profit?

Two Kenyan enterprises recently won global recognition for pursuing social and environmental impact – alongside profit.

Daproim Africa, a business process outsourcing firm, and ECO2LIBRIUM, a clean energy firm, got into the Best for the World 2017 list that’s put together by B Lab, a global organisation that promotes the use of business as a force for good for sustainable prosperity.

The two Kenyan firms are among 846 businesses from 48 countries that make up this year’s Best for the World list.

“They strive to use business as a force for good: good for workers, good for communities, good for the environment. They redefine success in business by competing to be not just the best in the world, but the best for the world,” B Lab, which was founded in the US in 2007, said in a statement on the 2017 list.

So what if you want to become a part of this community – especially when being recognised as a purpose-driven enterprise makes businesses attractive to socially-conscious investors and markets?

“It’s exciting to see Kenyan firms shine with the best in the world as far as pursuing social and environmental impact is concerned. It’s encouraging to see Kenyan businesses being part of this movement that combines profit and purpose,” says Olivia Muiru (pictured), the executive director at B Lab East Africa.

Being certified as a B Corporation (BCorp) means your business joins a community of for-profit enterprises verified to have social and environmental impact, public transparency and legal accountability.

The benefit of this certification is that your business gains access to top talent, increases credibility, builds trust, and has its mission protected long term.

There are four steps a business needs to pass through to be certified as a force for good.

1. B Impact Assessment (BIA)

This is a free tool designed to assess the overall impact of a company on its stakeholders.

The assessment is customised depending on a company’s size (number of employees), sector and primary location. Your company will need to score at least 80 out of 200 points to qualify for certification. According to B Lab, BIA is used by more than 40,000 businesses to benchmark their performance and set goals for continuous improvement.

The questions you can expect to answer include the composition of your board of directors in terms of gender balance, and your governance structure.

2. Create a customised improvement report

Next, your business will respond to questions based on its environmental practices or policies, for instance, what percentage of suppliers have initiatives to reduce waste production, and whether your business monitors and records the volunteer hours workers put in.

3. Best practices guide

At this stage, your business will be required to create an employee handbook and supplier code of conduct, implement an environmental management system, set up whistleblowing, and occupational health and safety policies, implement financial controls, and measure outcomes using social value principles.

4. Certification

BCorp certification is based on a business meeting three essential pillars: social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability.

BCorps are required to walk the talk. And by meeting legal requirements for certification, these businesses are better able to stick to their mission as they grow. When it comes to transparency, once certified, each BCorp is required to post its impact report online, allowing the public to see the areas where it excels, as well as compare BCorps’ scores against mainstream businesses.