What does it mean to be a purpose first business?

The Sustainable Development Goals, if achieved, could unlock at least $12 trillion in opportunities for businesses by 2030.

As sustainably minded millennials become the dominant spending power, the demand for ethical and sustainable products is increasing and ethical markets are growing.

Globally, businesses have the power to be a force for good – but what does that mean?

We are proud to present the #EthicalHour Manifesto – a theory of change exploring how businesses can be a force for good, and why they should.

Our vision is simple…

To bring a united voice to the Sustainability sector to advocate for and drive real impact.

We will achieve this by uniting the most vibrant, supportive and impactful community of changemakers on the internet. The people on the ground, doing the work, driving the change the world needs. We will achieve this by elevating and amplifying their voices.

Our mission

#EthicalHour is on a mission to help good businesses grow.

To create a world where ethical and sustainable consumption is the default position for every consumer, because all businesses operate that way automatically.

To build a future where business is a powerful force for good.

We believe in a world where businesses solve problems: for their consumers, for their community and for the planet.

Where instead of making people want things, they make things that people want.

Where instead of having more, they focus on giving more.

Our mission is to unite a community that believe in our vision and empower them to make it happen.

What does a good business look like?

Ethics, sustainability purpose and care are at the heart of a good business.

They operate for profit, but put purpose first.

There are four key elements to a good business:

1. For Purpose

A good business has a social mission and a goal of creating social value. They work to minimise any negative impact, maximise the positive impact potential, and seek a future where their business becomes regenerative.

2. Triple Bottom Line

A good business measures their success by the value they give, by the impact they make and against a triple bottom line – people, planet, profit.

3. For Profit

A good business knows that without consistent, growing, scalable income, their impact cannot come to life in a meaningful way.

4. Global Goals

A good business recognises the opportunities within the Sustainable Development Goals and embeds impact activities to contribute towards them in all operations.

With these elements in place, good businesses need to master 3 things to succeed: Mindset, Message and Scaleable Impact

Mindset

There are 3 core attitudes which need to be adopted to make business a force for good. These are:

Empowering Consumers

Businesses exist to solve problems and provide value for their customers beyond financial transactions.

Ethical marketing moves from transaction to meaningful interaction, where customers and businesses are equal partners. Both are empowered to achieve their goals and create positive impact together.

Customers are encouraged to buy better, consume less and support good businesses.

Collaboration Over Competition

We are allies for the same cause; we operate through abundance with our own unique brilliance to celebrate and contribute. We rise and thrive together, creating greater impact as we go.

Collaboration is the new way of business. We are working together to create a stable economy of conscious consumerism where all businesses can achieve triple bottom line success and make a positive impact.

A Culture of Giving Back

Consumer capitalism creates a deficiency cycle that leads to mass consumption, exploitation and excess waste. Conscious consumerism, with giving back embedded, creates a sufficient cycle where everyone is empowered to make a positive impact.

When businesses create a culture of giving they become more inclusive, create more impact and achieve more success against a triple bottom line. This is how we will create a better world.

Message

Think Global, Act Local

We will create a world where business is a powerful force for good by empowering individual businesses, and bringing a collective voice to the sector.

We will embrace the power of small, recognising that everyone can make a difference, and encourage all businesses, no matter their age or size, to embed giving back. We will empower them to use their impact story to forge productive, meaningful collaborations.

Through these partnerships we will create a wave that lifts all ships and makes meaningful, global impact together.

The Sustainable Development Goals gives us the impact framework. These will be achieved by creating, scaling and uniting purpose first businesses.

What does scalable impact look like?

To achieve sustainable, scalable and meaningful impact, businesses must be financially stable, strategic and customer-centric.

#EthicalHour will empower businesses to become sustainable and achieve scalable impact by helping them to embed the mission, mindset and messaging needed to achieve impact in a meaningful way, as quickly and effectively as possible.

You can track our impact here.