Our agency just became B-Corp certified, and we couldn’t be more excited! If you’re unsure what a B Corp is, as per the B Corporation website: “Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.” Basically, B Corps aren’t just about the bottom line, but how they can seek change for the environment, economy and their workers.
Becoming B-Corp certified was the right move for us, but it’s not for everybody. There are many different moving parts throughout the process that you need to consider. I’ve broken it down to five questions you should ask yourself before, during and after becoming certified:
1. Do you meet the criteria?
First and foremost, does your company meet the criteria? To find out, take the free B Impact Assesment. This evaluates your company to ensure you meet the guidelines, looking at things like how you interact with employees, the environment and your community. You also need to ensure the legal requirements are met, and you can do this with B Corporation’s Legal Requirement Tool.
After you take the free assessment, you’ll need to meet (virtually) with a staff member to review your results and look over your verification and transparency. Once you are accepted, you will need to pay an annual certification fee. The minimum fee they accept is $500 annually, but that changes depending on your income bracket. Is this something your company can pay for?
Make sure you are fully prepared. When you are going through the process, they ask a lot of questions and really probe into the “why” of your company. This causes you to pause and really evaluate your company. Why do we do things a certain way, and what policies do we have as a corporation?
2. Are you willing to put in the work?
Becoming B-Corp certified is an intensive process. While it typically takes less than six months (it took approximately four months for us), it is a lot of work, including a lot of paperwork and documents to ensure that everything is done properly. Is this something you can undertake yourself?
For us, we considered the pros and cons for a good year before starting the process. We decided to look outside to get some help. We needed to find a partner that understood our lack of time to put toward the administrative processes, as we were busy running our company. My best recommendation would be to find a company that’s easy to work with and has a solid track record of getting organizations certified.
Our partner helped with the admin side of things, finalized the online questionnaire and made sure all of the documentation we needed was set up to send B Corp as proof. If you are able to get someone who has more experience and expertise in becoming certified to lend a helping hand, I would suggest going that route. This way you can ensure that nothing gets missed and everything is done correctly.
3. What is your post-communications plan?
Are you prepared after you get certified to let the world know? What are your plans on getting this exciting news out? For example, we sent out a press release right away, then shared it on all of our social channels and, finally, wrote a blog post about it. Make sure that you’re prepped with these assets. What is the message that you want to send? Sit down with your team and devise a plan on how this will be announced over various platforms.
4. How will you use it to benefit your company?
Once you’re certified, you need to ensure that you are using this to benefit your company. Immediately after, it will bring you positive press and exposure. You can leverage this to get people talking about your company. You can also look for investors who would be more likely to buy in with the certification, or use your knowledge to work with academics. What is the angle that is going to work the best for your company to ensure you see the benefits of a B-Corp certification?
5. What relationships can you form?
A great thing that this certification does, is that it allows you to connect with other B-Corp leaders around the world. Through “B Hive,” an online community of like-minded business owners who want to use their business as a force for good, you can connect and work with other companies that are similar to yours. They’re not just interested in making donations each year, but they want to be above board in their operations. They let conviction and running a good business seep into everyday decisions. You can build relationships off of a common certification that can lead to mutual business and professional benefits.
While becoming B-Corp certified isn’t for everyone, I am so happy that our company went through the process. With this certification, you feel like you’re part of a club that is on its way to ensure everything is going in the right direction. You feel like a corporate superhero here to save the world!
Getting this certification was a large undertaking, but it has positively impacted our company. If you are unsure, do your research and look at your pros and cons. What will this do to help your company, and will it do anything to harm it? For us, it was a great way to find and network with other companies who are B-Corp certified and show that we are conscious in every area of our business.
