1. Do what you said you’ll do, that’s what it takes to build trust

Building trust with your employees, your communities, suppliers, clients and consumers requires transparency and openness. Ensure you manage others’ expectations and your own commitments reponsibly. Be realistic and honest about what you undertake. Small businesses have many pressures so you’re best focusing on committing to do a few things well.

2. Work in partnership and you’ll see the value collaboration brings to your business

Of course, nobody knows your business better than you. But people and groups outside the organisation see, feel and know things that you might not be aware of. They can bring new perspectives to your strategy. You also often need their support in the delivery of your activities.

Consulting them, involving them in your decision-making process and collaborating is almost always valuable. Engaging them will help you better understand your business environment, make better informed decisions, build trust, share resources, share risk, drive innovation and ensure the success of your business.

3. Give everybody the same chance at work by creating inclusive workplaces

Discrimation does not only happen at the recruiting stage. Being an equal opportunity employer means offering job opportunities to anybody based on qualification regardless of their religion, culture, nationality, gender, disabilities, sexuality etc.

It also means providing the conditions in your workplace for staff to be appropriately integrated. That might entail having a lift for physically disabled employees or specific computer installations for visually-impaired people. It might involve providing flexible working opportunities or part-time arrangements for parents for example.

4. Invest in your staff, they’ll give it back to you

Employees are your best assets. They make your organisation what it is. Try as much as possible to identify their learning needs and provide them with training opportunities.

It is also very important as a small company to ensure you closely manage your staff through regular one-to-one and team meetings to involve them in decision-making processes, update them on new developments and give them opportunities to contribute their ideas. Employees who work in a small business usually value open, personal communication that this type of working environment allows.

5. Support your community, it's your operating ground and your first ambassador

Your local community is key to your business. People who live and work close to you are often your first customers and best ambassadors. Make any contribution you can to your local environment.

Ensure you take any available measures to reduce the negative consequences of your activities and maximise the positive impacts. You can also decide to support local associations that work for the good of the community either financially or by offering volunteering opportunities for your employees, your premises as a base or other in-kind support.

6. Reduce your energy consumption, you'll run a more sustainable and cost-efficient business

Simple actions can dramatically reduce your energy bill and make you a more eco-friendly business: encourage your employees to switch off computers when they leave work, to use natural light as much as possible and switch lights off when nobody is in the premises.

You might want to invest in a metering system that monitors your consumption and identifies precisely where the biggest savings can be made. Or investigate ways of reducing energy consumption from your IT system, for example using less-consuming laptops or online storage for your documents. You could also choose to use a green provider of energy.

7. Provide support and encouragement for 'green transports'

Encourage your staff to use public transport, walk, cycle or share cars to reduce CO2 emissions when attending meetings or commuting to work.

This can be done by offering them bike parking spaces, services to organise their commuting with colleagues living nearby, financial incentives such as paying part of their public transport monthly subscription or providing a travel loan. Contact your Local Authority as some have support you can access.

Try and work as much as possible with local suppliers to reduce travel distance and related carbon emissions. This also helps build local relationships and loyalty to your business.

8. Encourage your employees and customers to avoid, reduce and recycle waste

Quick easy wins to reduce waste? Set a defaut e-mail signature that encourages to print only when necessary. Set printers on double-sided printing. Avoid plastic cups in coffee machines and favour mugs for everybody. Offer reusable bags to your customers and avoid plastic in your packaging. You’ll help others reduce their waste! Reuse and recycle: reuse packaging cartons, envelopes, paper, plastic bags as much as you can and recycle the waste you can’t avoid. Contact your Local Authority to find out about recycling schemes for paper, printer cartridges, IT equipment. And invest some time in informing your employees.

9. Build robust organisational governance and you’ll gain credibility

Implementing rigorous management systems can appear very bureaucratic and time-consuming, especially for small businesses. But that’s what it take to build and gain customers’ confidence in what you are delivering.

Evidence of a robust organisational governance is often required as part of bidding processes. This can be a competitive disadvantage for small organisations because most guidance on management systems, such as the ISO standards, has been developed for large companies. However some guidelines such as the PQASSO Quality Mark are being developed for small businesses. They can guide you in building organisational processes and certification is easier to obtain.

10. Share your best practices and promote them in your sphere of influence

Whatever measures you take, make sure you communicate them to staff, customers and contractors. You’ll set a good example and raise your profile. This also engenders pride for your employees and builds your brand and reputation. As well as positioning your business as a leader, communicating your positive contribution to society raises awareness of these issues and helps demonstrate to others the action they can take. Be the driver of a snowball effect in your sphere of influence that will further positively impact society and the environment!

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