People over profits: the B Corp Series
Or, “What the heck does it mean to be a ‘B Corp’?”
Certified B Corporations, or B Corps. Maybe you’ve never heard of them. Or maybe you have and only have a slim idea of what they’re about. They are businesses that meet certain criteria of sustainable, ethical standards—from company culture to how we show up in the world to products and services sold. We care about a higher purpose. As we like to call it at Black Sheep, we put people over profits. And we wholeheartedly believe in that sentiment.
We are a company that uses our business as a platform for activating communities around things that matter. We evaluate our impact on our employees and their families, the environment and the world at large. As a B Corp marketing agency, we work with clients who have an impact or cause-driven focus. And that puts us in the middle of a global movement that uses business as a force for good and builds a more inclusive and sustainable economy.
What it takes to be a certified B Corporation
It’s a responsibility for us to be a steward of the world we live in and the communities we serve. So how do we measure that impact? The B Corp Impact Assessment. This robust tool works as a guardrail for operating a mindful and perpetually improving business. The assessment is a four hour long process that allows for businesses to see what your company excels at, and which practices it could improve on. It takes a holistic outlook on how your company scores in comparison to other businesses in your sector. The questions vary per report and adjust to stay relevant and inclusive of the current global state of doing good.
Why join the B Corp club?
In a world where talk is cheap and misleading, we wanted a third party certification to prove that we are doing the work we say we are. There is no financial benefit for having a B Corp status in the United States, and the social impact matters more to us anyway—because selling products and services and business statuses isn’t enough. For us, it’s about being conscious of the impact we have on communities, shareholders and the environment. We’ve seen time and time again that people (especially the up and coming Generation Z) want to support and do business with like-minded organizations. So this certification actually helps us say “no” to businesses that don’t fit our business model or criteria for being a client.
We take pride and are convicted in what we do. We hold ourselves responsible and accountable throughout maintaining our B Corp status, from our social and blog content, to who we do business with. It’s not just a song and dance—but essential to who we are. And that’s what this B Corp blog series is about. It’s about the ins and outs of who we are and how we got here. It’s about the whys and the hows. It’s about how we’ve learned, unlearned and learned again how to navigate what’s next for us and try our damn best to be an even better support to the people we serve than we were before. Welcome to the B Corp Series.