Your B Corp Questions Answered with Hannah Cox (episode 430)
Everything our guest does is about helping businesses increase their impact and income by implementing sustainable strategies, policies, and frameworks – of which B Corp is one option. Hannah Cox is the founder of sustainability impact agency betternotstop, head of membership at The Better Business Network, and earlier this year ran the super impressive Better Business Summit.
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Is becoming a B Corp worth it?
Thanks to these awesome listeners for their questions about whether it’s worth becoming a B Corp:
Simon Wharton, PushON
Does the market really demand B Corp? What’s the motivation?
Roger Knight, AttractMore
How do customers/clients respond to an organisation becoming a B Corp?
Aaron Alpeter, lululemon Studio
I love what a B Corp stands for but I’m curious on if there’s an actual ROI or how people may quantify that. Have you seen anything to that effect?
Monica Sharma-Patnekar, Business with Monica
What is the added value of being a B Corp? We’ve got a lot of certifications, that sometimes feel like just that. What makes B Corp different? Do customers know what it is? And how are they working on creating awareness?
Kira Curtis
When is best time to start the process? I imagine it takes a long time in general but do you do internal research to find the good and bad then take it to a consultant or will they do that work anyway?
Hannah’s take on if it’s worth becoming a B Corp:
There are benefits to becoming a certified B Corp. Based on a UK B Corp performance report released in January of last year, UK B Corps not only have better employee retention, but they also have faster growth in turnover and better brand loyalty.
What’s worthy to note is that B Corp covers all industries and all sectors, and because of this, you’re given the opportunity to network with businesses from different industries. You can learn from them and even collaborate with them.
And whereas accreditations generally just look at one area of your business, with B Corp, you’re actually looking at your business as a whole.
What happens AFTER you become a B Corp?
Thanks to these awesome listeners for their questions about what happens post B Corp Certification:
Krissie Claire, Kollectify
I’d love to know how often they will check in once qualified to keep me accountable? If I were to do all of the work to get the qualification and pay the annual fee, I’d love to know that I could get advice on how to keep high standards or improve as I go!
Monica Sharma-Patnekar
How do they ensure that people adhere to the rules of being a B Corp? That’s not just a one-time thing.
Hannah’s quick run down of what happens once you’re certified B Corp:
Once you become certified, you’ll pay your certification fee every year, then recertification happens every three years. That means you’ll go through the assessment process again, as well as the analyst process.
To ensure you’re maintaining the standards, you’ll create an annual impact report as a B Corp business. This covers each area of the assessment previously mentioned.
Is B Corp better for big or small companies?
Listeners and their questions:
Monica Sharma-Patnekar
I remember ( a couple of years back now) I actually looked into it and it felt really complicated for small business owner/sole entrepreneur. I get the feeling they target scale-ups and larger businesses. Love to hear thoughts on this.
Adam Bastock, Small99
I think how the B-Corp movement is likely to adapt to include guidance for smaller organisations in the future, and become less time intensive? Who is the B-Corp perfect for?
Noemi Beres, Podcast Connections
Is it worth it for a tiny business?
Hannah’s take on how big you need to be to become a B Corp:
B Corp provides businesses with a good framework for running a business, even if you’re not ready to become a certified B Corp just yet.
That being said, Hannah shares that she has worked with businesses of all sizes to get through the process. She adds that it may even be easier for smaller, more agile businesses to make changes to their companies than a larger organization.
But one group it’s harder for are one-person businesses because there are whole sections of the assessment they can’t do because they don’t have any staff.
What are the steps to becoming a B Corp?
Listeners and their questions:
Laura Dolgy, Dolgify
How can agencies apply to be a B Corp?
Hannah’s run down of the B Corp process:
For businesses that want to become certified, the process is as follows:
- Access the B Impact Assessment created by B Lab. It’s a free tool you can use that will ask you specific questions about your business. You need to get a score of 80 points to submit your assessment.
- In some countries (including the UK), you will need to make legal changes to your business before you can certify. For more information, visit Better Business Act.
- Once you’ve submitted your application, pay the fee to B Lab. This will put you in the application queue.
- For various business classifications, there are discounts on the fees under the Equity Discount Scheme – well worth a look to see if you quality.
- After your application has been reviewed, an analyst will be assigned to you and ask you to provide evidence pertaining to your assessment.
- You will then be given your score as a B Corp, and at that point, you will certify. Payment for your annual certification fee will be based on your turnover.
Hannah adds that you may want to use a consultant or a B leader to help you with the whole process, in the same way you would outsource certain aspects of your business.
eCommerce Book Top Tip
- If you have Friday off, Hannah suggests getting outside in nature and reminding yourself why you’re creating an incredible business.
eCommerce Traffic Top Tip
- It’s always the personal touch for Hannah, so she recommends personalized emails because they make a huge difference. She also says honesty is an important factor in attracting audiences to your business.
Tool Top Tip
- Have separate mobile phones for work and life – and don’t install your work accounts on your personal phone. It makes it much easier to switch off. Having clear boundaries is hugely helpful for productivity and mindfulness.
Growth Top Tip
- Keep talking and listening to your customers. If you have a good relationship with them, they’ll become your brand advocates.
Interview Links
- betternotstop on YouTube
- Grab betternotstop’s self-study, affordable course to become B Corp certified and a a one hour consultation with Hannah. This B Corp month, use the code MASTERPLAN to get 50% off on the B Corp Bootcamp.
- TheBetterBusinessNetwork on YouTube
- Hannah on LinkedIn
- UK B Corp Performance stats one pager
- Full UK B Corp Performance Stats Report
- Details of the Equity Discount scheme
Related episodes
- Do you need an App? With audiobook and ebook BCorp xigxag’s Kelli Fairbrother (episode 417)
- How Green&Blue have been a B Corp for five years (and counting!) with Faye Treffry (episode 428)
- Keeping Everything In-House with Hannah Lia from Hampers.com (episode 249)
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