Over the last couple of days I’ve been writing about understanding the business case for sustainability, why it varies for different companies and why it is imperative to understand how it affects you. What bothers me is the way most commenters have defaulted to the ‘Go Green Save Money’ mindset. I’m clearly not getting my message across!

I can see why people default to ‘save money’, you can and probably will save money through your sustainability programme. For some companies this is a strong driver, but for most, keeping regulators and customers happy will be much more important for the business. After all, breaking compliance can lead to product recalls or plant shut downs, disappointing your customers can lead to loss of market share; both of which will have a much bigger financial impact than shaving a few % off the energy bill. From a positive point of view, raising turnover by gaining market share or exploiting new emerging markets will dwarf any efficiency savings.

This is extremely important as if you stick to the ‘Go Green Save Money’ mindset you will not do make any of the step changes required to get your business fit for the 21st Century. You’ll be debating returns on investment while your competitors plunder your market share.

I recorded the following video on the business case a few years ago. It’s getting a bit long in the tooth, but the core message still rings true.