State of the B case study: Sharesies

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Sharesies’ purpose is to financially empower the next generation by giving someone with $5 the same investment opportunities as someone with $500,000. They’ve improved access to investing by reducing cost, removing jargon, and making investing fun.

Why did your business become a Certified B Corporation?

We wanted to verify that we were a business for good. We see in social enterprises that they are really strong in one area, but they might have really poor practices in another area. We wanted to know if we were really as good as we thought we were and if we can be better. Getting the certification meant that we are as good as we think we are and we can be better. We have joined a community that shows that business can be a force for good.

What changes did you make during the certification process?

What I really liked [about the certification process] was that it sparked ideas that we hadn’t thought about before. I didn’t realise how valuable the things are that we are already doing. It was a great way to acknowledge things we were doing really well. We also realised there were some things we needed to introduce, like a whistleblowers policy.

What I really liked [about the certification process] was that it sparked ideas that we hadn’t thought about before.

What are the positive impact your business has on environment, workers, and/or community?

Workers is the strongest area. We really value our people and take wellbeing seriously. We believe that they are helping create Sharesies so they all get shares in Sharesies. We wouldn’t exist without our people. With our values we have people at the core.

Do you have impact improvements planned?

We’re really keen to dig into the community and environmental side. We have a low carbon footprint. What we’re doing now is working with teams to reduce, recycle, reduce. Taking those tips and tricks home too. For community we are exploring how do we help more and more Kiwis know that investing is, and making them realise “hey, it is something we can do”

What benefits have you experienced from being a Certified B Corporation?

Customers are chuffed. The people that we partner with want to become one [a B Corp]. People are looking to us to work out how their businesses can be structured. We [B Corps] can all learn from each other. We are learning how we can all be better together.

Brooke Roberts, Co-Founder, Sharesies

This case study is featured in B Lab’s State of the B 2019.