We’ve all heard the saying: ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way.’ But sometimes it can be tricky to find a way to run a profitable and purposeful enterprise in the 21st century without a watertight business plan.
From startups to scale ups, the latest B Corp to join the Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand community knows a thing or two about business planning, particularly when telling your story to impact funders and how to create business models that balance both profit and purpose.
With over 15 years of finance experience and a passion for environmental and social impact, founder of Horizon Business Plans, Andrew Wilson shares several key insights on business planning for purpose-driven business.
Image: Horizon Business Plans
Can you tell us a bit more about what your B Corp does?
We help environmental and social enterprises to create professional business plans that help them start or fund their business. From developing pitch decks to business cases, feasibility studies and more.
Our services help to guide social and environmental businesses to start, scale or fund their businesses so that they can amplify the positive impact that they can create. Additionally, it can help all businesses think through their environmental impacts and create more sustainable ways of operating.
We know that the world is facing ever-increasing challenges — from climate change, to social inequity and housing unaffordability. And we all want to be part of the solution. What role does Horizon Business Plans play?
We are firm believers that every single one of us should do what we can to improve our impacts on the environment that we live in.
We make impact across three ‘horizons’, so to speak:
- Supporting purposeful businesses with business planning
- Volunteering 5 per cent of our time to support local environmental projects
- Investing or donating 3 per cent of our revenue to purposeful organisations
To that end, we are committed to giving back to the environment and the local community more than we take, and we thrive on helping others to do the same.
Image: Horizon Business Plans
And why did you want to certify as a B Corp?
Small businesses make up 98 per cent of Australian businesses and 44 per cent of the workforce. We have the power to change the way business is done from the ground up.
We’re big believers that small businesses have the power to make significant change.
If we all take care of our own backyard a bit better, we can make this world we live in a better place. Working through the B Corp Certification process was our way of taking care of our own business backyard and using business as a force for good.
Tell us some of the areas where you feel you can have the biggest impact, or some of the little changes you’ve made to make a difference.
There are not many specialist business plan writers around, and even fewer that focus on the environmental and social impact sector, so we’re pretty unique in that way.
With a melting pot of different skill sets — in environmental sciences, social impact and finance — we put our experience to good use, supporting purposeful businesses with planning, research, financial modelling, and connection to funders.
These skills are not necessarily top of the list for all environmental and social enterprise operators, so this is where Horizon can add a lot of value.
Image: Canva
B Corps want to help transform our economy to one that is inclusive, sustainable, and regenerative. What business practice do you want to see become the norm?
We want to see businesses moving past the ‘do less evil’ mindset and into a regenerative ‘do more good’ mindset.
Businesses were first used to solve social and environmental problems that benefited the community. But somewhere along the journey, business lost its way and became more about money.
We’d love to see the business community going back to its roots and solving social and environmental problems again, as well as giving back to the communities and natural environments that we are supported by.
Do you have any tips for aspiring B Corps about the certification process?
Get in early and make a start. You’ll learn a lot just by working through the questions. Take the opportunity to use certification as a business improvement process, not just something to do once and forget about.
A big thank you and congratulations to Horizon Business Plans on their recent B Corp certification. To find out more about their work, please visit: horizonbusinessplans.com.au/
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