Before we get too involved there are a few questions we should answer right of the bat about the “triple bottom line” concept.

• What is triple bottom line?
• What does it mean for your business?
• Why is it important?

In terms of the financial side of your business, the cold pragmatic numbers of it all your triple bottom line is the “accounting means [of] expanding the traditional reporting framework to take into account ecological and social performance in addition to financial performance.” Conceptually it is the foundation of your business on three equally important pillars, namely people, planet and profits.

In the dark selfish ages of business – profits have mainly been the focus, and then as we all realized this was not enough business progressed and evolved to include the people affected by your business. This being your customers, your staff, and eventually the communities in which your business operates. To my mind the environment side of this is the logical evolution of the focus on effected communities. As communities began to speak up and out about the habits of corporations within their surrounds and as these communities banded together, and rallied behind the increasingly evident and scientifically supported effects unrestrained and single minded production was having on the planet – the third pillar rose and grew significantly in importance.

These three pillars are not isolated independent areas but rather three focuses that have developed and evolved together. From profits, which require customers who are people, and so are your employees, who all live within communities which exist within environments. They are now completely interlinked and interdependent. In this new – green, aware, ethical and involved – era of business it really does matter if your drive for profits takes into account all your stakeholders and your net effect on the environment. It is not even close to enough to just chase profits, or to chase profits and pander to your people; you absolutely have to consider your overall impact in order to succeed.

I wrote a paper recently on the following question:

Do business organizations influence their environments or do environments influence business organizations?

The summarized version of what I argued was that it’s a symbiotic relationship, with a constant push and pull, a give and take that shapes both sides for better or for worse. The implication of ‘symbiotic’ being, that hopefully it is beneficial to both your organization and your environment. With the buzz around being green and the cultural shift that is behind it, being sustainable and being honest and open is critical today in terms of your effectiveness as a business. Your people, choose what to buy based on these concerns, your staff choose employers by how they consider these issues, communities rally around these ideas whether for your benefit or your detriment.

So the ‘bare bones’ of it is; consider your people, consider your impact and use these considerations to shape your innovation in order to profit sustainably.

If I may shamelessly plug one of my own start-ups, I own a fledgling web design company – Webdesign Warehouse, and we are developing an offer of carbon-negative websites. We think that carbon neutral is not enough, you have to go further, you have to have a net positive effect, being neutral or indifferent or “not bad” is not good enough. So what we do is we take some of our profits, we do not raise our prices to cover this, and donate it to organizations that empower local communities to achieve a higher quality of life while being environmentally sustainable at the same time. These projects range from providing food preparation equipment that is less polluting to the installation of solar panels in remote areas to provide electricity to villages.

Another initiative we are considering is the donation of bullet proof vests to local police reservists (non-paid volunteer police officers) who otherwise would have to pay for this protection out of their own pocket. The cost of this initiative would be quite substantial for our young company but we are determined to find a way to do it in the near to medium future.

What we must all understand is that these initiatives and practices are intended to be mutually beneficial or symbiotic for all parties. We will develop a brand around Carbon Negative websites and eventually this positive social equity will be returned in positive exposure and potentially increased profits. Aiding the local police force would provide similar benefits as well as possibly increasing the general safety and reducing the risk of our business environment. An added benefit is that I know I will be aiding a cause and people I firmly believe in.

Yes there are critiques to this model, but it’s more the concept or the idea that is important, the essence of it – rather than the particular practical or technical methods of implementation. Implement it in any way that is most suitable to you and your business, let it evolve and grow, but most importantly keep in mind the meaning and essence of why this is so important.

Note to the Reader: This is an introductory surface level post that I will update and branch off of into more practical detail and in-depth discussion in the near future. I will link this post to other future posts as well as adding some resources I believe will add to your process and implementation.