How can you create a business plan that prioritizes social responsibility?

1 Define your mission

The first step is to define your mission statement, which is a concise and clear expression of your purpose, values, and goals. Your mission statement should answer why you exist, what you do, and how you do it differently from others. It should also reflect your commitment to social responsibility, and how you intend to create positive change through your business. For example, your mission statement could be: "To provide affordable and sustainable energy solutions that empower people and protect the planet."

2 Assess your impact

The next step is to assess your current and potential impact on the social and environmental issues that matter to you and your stakeholders. You can use tools such as the B Impact Assessment, which is a free online platform that helps you measure and improve your performance on various aspects of social responsibility, such as governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. You can also conduct a SWOT analysis, which is a framework that helps you identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in relation to your mission and goals.

3 Set your objectives

The third step is to set your specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives for your business and social responsibility. Your objectives should align with your mission and impact assessment, and define what you want to accomplish in the short and long term. For example, your objectives could be: "To increase our market share by 10% in the next year, while reducing our carbon footprint by 20% and donating 5% of our profits to local charities."

4 Develop your strategies

The fourth step is to develop your strategies for achieving your objectives, which are the actions and methods that you will use to execute your plan. Your strategies should consider your target market, competitive advantage, value proposition, marketing mix, operations, finances, and risks. Your strategies should also incorporate your social responsibility principles and practices, such as ethical sourcing, fair trade, green innovation, stakeholder engagement, corporate philanthropy, and social reporting.

5 Implement your plan

The fifth step is to implement your plan, which is the process of putting your strategies into action and monitoring your progress and results. You should assign roles and responsibilities, allocate resources, set timelines and milestones, and establish metrics and indicators for tracking and evaluating your performance. You should also communicate your plan to your internal and external stakeholders, and solicit their feedback and support. You should also be flexible and adaptable, and ready to make adjustments and improvements as needed.

6 Review your plan

The final step is to review your plan, which is the practice of reflecting on your achievements and challenges, and learning from your experiences and outcomes. You should conduct regular and systematic reviews of your plan, and compare your actual performance with your expected performance. You should also celebrate your successes and recognize your contributions, and identify your areas of improvement and opportunities for growth. You should also update your plan accordingly, and set new goals and strategies for your future development.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?