How to become a B Corporation
We've recently recertified as a B Corp so thought we'd share some more information on what it is and how to prepare your application.
Consumers are increasingly looking for ways to ensure that the businesses they purchase from are sustainable and ethically-aligned. It’s all well and good for marketers to shout about environmental initiatives and equal pay, but a formal, independent certification goes much further to build trust; which is exactly why the B Corporation movement has gathered pace so rapidly in recent years - there are now over 5,000 B Corps across the world.
There’s a lot to be gained from achieving a B Corp certification, but the process shouldn’t be taken lightly. Not all businesses are suited to the structural changes required alongside the time-intensive nature of the assessment process.
1. Understand your ‘why’
It’s really important to know exactly what you’re hoping to gain from becoming a B Corp. If it’s purely to add their logo to your marketing materials, you might find there are more efficient ways to demonstrate your company values.
The B Corp community is full of inspirational leaders who are doing business differently and realising much greater benefit from their status than just the added brand equity. The certification brings with it a sense of accountability, a confirmation of your business’ focus for its investors, staff and wider stakeholders, as well as an opportunity to review in detail your company’s work practices. Make sure you know why you’re looking to join the B Corp movement before you start your journey.
2. Review the assessment
The Impact Assessment itself includes a comprehensive set of questions that cover various aspects of your business: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers. In order to achieve B Corp status, a score of 80/200 or above is required, which is no mean feat. So it’s a good idea to create an account and review the responses required - as well as the scoring system - to ensure you’re confident that you have a chance of achieving certification. With the current demand, B Lab is estimating that the assessment process can take up to 23 months, which is a lot of time to invest...
3. Check the legal requirements
Once a business officially passes the Impact Assessment, they’re required to make certain amendments to their legal structure within two years in order to protect their mission through capital raises and leadership changes. B Corps make this legal change by updating their Articles of Incorporation, reincorporating as benefit corporations/companies, or making other structural changes. Therefore, it’s worth considering how this might affect your business, its shareholders and any other future stakeholders. You can find out more here.
4. Build a team
As I’ve already mentioned, the assessment process is time and labour intensive, so it’s crucial to have a team in place that can tackle the many required tasks. We formed a subgroup of 5 staff members from across the business and met frequently to discuss the next steps and delegate the remaining responsibilities. Having knowledge from different departments is beneficial here so that questions on divergent subjects, such as finance, HR and operations, can be tackled effectively. Also, make sure team members have sufficient time allocated in their work weeks to complete the tasks and that it doesn’t interfere with their day-to-day.
5. Get your paperwork in order
When the time comes to evidence your Impact Assessment responses, it can be a painful experience if your documentation isn’t well organised - we learnt the hard way. To avoid going through this, I’d suggest ensuring that important resources such as financial reports, HR policies and terms and conditions are all up-to-date and neatly organised. There are lots of quick wins that can be had from making subtle changes to certain bits of legal paperwork, but making sure you have a clear papertrail will make your life a lot easier down the line.
All that’s left to say is ‘good luck’ on your B Corp journey, if that’s the decision you’ve made. It’s not an easy process, but it’s one that we’ve found unbelievably rewarding and valuable as a business. If you’d like to learn more about becoming a B Corp, or you have any questions, please feel free to drop me an email at ross@justmovein.com.
— Ross Nichols, Co-founder of Just Move In