Are you curious about what happens after B Corp Certification and looking to improve the impact of your business? Get inspired by the case studies and different impact journeys of B Corps and our resources to help you improve your impact.
Becoming a B Corp is the start of the journey. Not the destination. It’s about making a commitment to continuous improvement. A journey beyond just words. A journey of doing.
Every B Corp has its own impact journey. And while each B Corp’s journey looks different, we all share one unifying vision: A more inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economic system to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. There are multiple impact milestones along the journey.
Each B Corp’s journey is paved with challenges, successes, and moments of pride which bring about important learnings for the business and its teams. Sharing these learnings transparently with the community and beyond is at the core of the B Corp community. And so is learning from fellow B Corps.
As B Corps set out to improve their social and environmental impact, it’s key to set short and long-term goals that hold businesses accountable to benefit all people, communities, and the planet.
Being a B Corp is a journey of continuous improvement. Every three years, B Corps must recertify in order to renew their B Corp Certification and measure past-year improvements. The recertification is often both as rigorous and rewarding as the initial B Corp Certification a company undertakes. It is an important way for companies to further progress on their unique impact journey and set new impact goals.
Having one or more Impact Business Models (IBM) means creating positive social and/or environmental impact beyond the company’s operational impact. Impact Business Models are a key dimension of B Corp Certification. They are identified during the B Impact Assessment and verified by B Lab. The B Impact Assessment measures both the operational impacts (daily practices of the company) and impact business models (design of the company). Impact Business Models are rare and will not apply to every company taking the B Impact Assessment.
The B Impact Assessment evaluates a company’s practices and outputs across five impact areas, making every B Corp’s impact journey a holistic one:
A company’s overall mission, ethics, accountability, transparency and how they build their vision and values into their bylaws. Best practices are focused on how they engage employees, board members, and the community to achieve their mission, as well as employee access to financial information, customers’ opportunities to provide feedback, and the diversity of their governing bodies.
A businesses’ efforts to create positive impacts for their workforce. Best practices in the work environment look at aspects like employee compensation, benefits, training and ownership opportunities, as well as assessing working communication, job flexibility and worker health, safety practices and overall work conditions.
How a company serves their customers, offering products or services that support the greater good. Best practices explore whether a company adds value to customers’ lives by providing critical services like education, healthcare, and finance management, as well as engaging in ethical marketing, data privacy and security, and feedback channels.
How a company works towards a more sustainable and regenerative planet by reducing their footprint and putting their impact on the air, climate, water, land, and biodiversity first in their business practices. This section explores the impact of a company’s facilities, materials, emissions, and resource and energy use, as well as transportation/distribution channels and the environmental impact of their supply chain.
How a business contributes to the economic and social well-being of the communities in which they operate. Best practices explore initiatives and policies directed at community impact, including embracing supplier relations, social engagement, charitable giving, and strong, diverse communities.
The company’s path to B Corp unveils sustainability lessons on stakeholder engagement, innovations, and insights for a sustainable tomorrow.
The Belgian B Corp Quest shares their impact improvement journey and the lessons we learned along the way.
Being a B Corp is a journey of continuous improvement. Davines improved its impact significantly over the years and thereby also its B impact score, reaching 123.5 points in its recent recertification.
The Italian B Corp stepped up its sustainability efforts by going beyond business as usual, both with internal and external stakeholders
How the Danish B Corp significantly advanced their positive impact and successfully certified for the second time
A summary of everything you need to know about Impact Business Models
