11 Tips for Your Small Business to Create Social Impact

What is one simple step a small business can take to create social impact?

To help you identify simple steps to take for your small business to create social impact, we asked our Benefit Corp community and other business leaders this question for their best insights. From living by example to focusing on individuals, there are several tips that small business owners could follow to make a meaningful impact in the communities and beyond.

Here are 11 tips these small business leaders follow to create social impact:

• Live by Example

• Listen to Feedback About Your Ideas and Decisions

• Close the Pay Gap

• Establish Partnerships With Community Organizations

• Support Local Businesses Over Corporate Monoliths

• Donate to a Cause Your Customers Care About

• Sponsor the Work of a Local Organization

• Hire from Marginalized Communities

• Establish Relationships With The Local Community 

• Give Supplies to Teachers in Underserved Schools

• Focus On Individuals

Live by Example

Instead of trying to change the whole world, just change your world. I have been trying to get real estate agents to contribute money to charities every time they close the house for over two decades and finally decided just to set an example and contribute $5000 of my own commission every time I have a client. I hope that this will catch on as part of the interview process for real estate agents, for example, how much have you given back? So far I am 1/5 of the way to my million-dollar goal. Do something amazing that you can remember and feel proud of even on the worst of days. Every day, I buy lunch for 500 school kids in Kenya and that feels great!

Charles Ramsay, Benefit Corp Real Estate Consultant, Metro Pdx Homes, Ramsay Real Estate Group

Listen to Feedback About Your Ideas and Decisions

One simple step to create social impact - Listen. When looking for an impact to make, go to those who will be affected and listen. Listen to what they share about your idea, the impact you want to make, and the how. Listen.  

Seek out people who identify as marginalized and ask them how your idea sounds.  Listen. How will it affect them? Their community? Will it work? Listen. Could it be better? Listen. Listening in our own heads limits us. In Human Centered Design, being open to the feedback of those who are on the receiving end of an idea or decision is imperative.  Listen. And learn with an equity and compassionate-centered lens.

Kim Allchurch Flick, Benefit And Impacts Consulting, Founder, Mighty Epiphyte Consulting LLC

Close the Pay Gap

The easiest, fastest way for small businesses to create social impact in the world is to raise the pay of your lowest-paid staff. This includes contractors and service staff like janitors and grounds people. Make a habit of asking vendors what they pay their staff, and be clear that you will pay more per piece in order to support a living wage for workers.

Marina Martinez-Bateman, CEO, New Coyote Consulting

Establish Partnerships With Community Organizations

There are a number of simple steps that small businesses can take to create social impact. One is to establish partnerships with local community organizations. By working with these groups, businesses can identify social needs and design programs to address them. Another step is to make use of corporate philanthropy programs. Many businesses offer employees paid time off to volunteer, and some will match charitable donations made by employees. Finally, businesses can encourage employees to get involved in the community by offering incentives for doing so. By taking some simple steps, businesses can make a big difference in the lives of their employees and the community as a whole.

Jim Campbell, Founder, Epic Caribbean Vacations

Support Local Businesses Over Corporate Monoliths

Businesses can support and network with other local businesses to strengthen their businesses while cultivating cohesive communities. Supporting locals is better for the environment and nurtures better relationships with our neighbors and communities.

Businesses relying on imports and manufacturing partners abroad dramatically increase their carbon footprint. Investing in local businesses enriches communities from the ground up, prioritizing regional growth over giving to corporate monoliths. 

With everyday goods and services like food, home goods, and clothes, it’s better to support your local mom and pops than order online from businesses that frankly don’t need the money.

Kevin Miller, Founder, kevinmiller.com

Donate to a Cause Your Customers Care About

Making a social impact doesn't need to be a costly affair. Businesses can make a social impact by finding a cause their customers care about and offering them to donate to that cause at checkout. Once people are in a checkout process, they're much more likely to donate a few bucks because it's so easy. Similar to how people don't mind tipping at restaurants. Many airlines have implemented this strategy at checkout, where they offer people to donate a bit of money to help offset the carbon footprint created by flying. For this strategy to be successful, your customers must care about the cause you are asking them to donate to.

Holger Sindbaek, Founder & CEO, Online Solitaire

Sponsor the Work of a Local Organization

Creating a positive social impact as a business owner is one of the best things you can do, both for your business image and for the world as a whole. The easiest way to do it is to find a local organization that works in the area you want to impact, whether it’s environmental or the ASPCA or youth sports, and sponsor some kind of event. A beach clean up, an adoption drive, or a youth sports team, and sponsoring any of these kinds of events can be a great way to make an impact while also getting your business name out there in a positive way.

Tom Monson, Owner of Monson Lawn & Landscaping, Monson Lawn & Landscaping

Hire from Marginalized Communities

Most small business owners think that they have to donate a large amount to society to make a social impact, but that is not true. Small businesses can do small things to make long-lasting social impacts, Hiring marginalized people is one of them. Hiring candidates from marginalized communities ( Asian, black, indigenous people, trans, and many more)  not only gives them a voice in your company but also helps to maintain diversity in the business.  It provides economic power to the people of those communities, amplifies their capabilities, and promotes them.

Karen Cate Agustin, Business Analyst, Investors Club

Establish Relationships With The Local Community 

One easy way a business can create social impact is by investing locally. When a business begins to source locally and support the local economy, they are helping those in immediate need in their own community. Not only is the company giving back, but they are establishing relationships to strengthen the entire community. In doing this, they also set the groundwork for future generations too.

Gigi Ji, Head of Brand and Business Development, KOKOLU

Give Supplies to Teachers in Underserved Schools

Assemble appreciation bags of school supplies for teachers in underserved schools in your community. This is an easy but considerable way to make a positive social impact. Most teachers do not have the luxury of having classroom supplies and other essential resources provided to them by their school or district. Teachers often use their own money to stock their classrooms and create a quality learning environment. Thus, packing book bags of school supplies for teachers is a simple, worthwhile volunteer opportunity for a small business to do to support their community and make a positive social impact.

Natalia Morozova, Partner, Cohen, Tucker & Ades P.C.

Focus on Individuals

It's really easy to get caught up in the big picture of what you're trying to do and forget about the individual impact that you're currently making, even if it's small. If you focus on the individuals that you're helping so that you can give them more value, brighten their days, or witness how you're changing their lives, it's easier to see how you're making an impact and start focusing on building that impact with each person you interact with on a daily basis. Start within your own organization and then focus on your clients and you'll be making an impact before you know it.

Matthew Coast, Owner, Matthew Coast International, Inc

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