Can Your Business Go Green While Saving Money?

The main discussion about green businesses is not whether or not you should go green — by that point, we hope that you’ve already figured out that there’s nothing more important than the preservation of the planet — but whether or not you can afford it. Indeed, for most businesses, embracing environmentally friendly strategies comes at a cost that is not easy to pay for small companies. From installing solar panels to supporting green initiatives in your local community, everything seems way above your budget. However, keeping your level of pollution high is not an ideal solution for any business. So what if you started by developing green habits that can save you money in the long term and facilitate the adoption of further eco-friendly approaches in your business? Here’s your chance to make it happen, because we’ve got 3 top tips that are budget-friendly and can make a great deal of difference.

Who left the light on?

Downsize your premises

It’s common practice in the business world to use large premises where your staff can feel comfortable and relaxed to work. However, for small businesses, this is an additional cost that doesn’t always play in your favor. In fact, while the intention might be to impress, a significant portion of your budget goes into the maintenance and the energy consumption of an office that is too big for your needs. Downsizing for small businesses might at first feel like a failure, but in reality, it’s about reducing your energy waste and making it easier to control eco-friendly habits. You know the kind: leaving all the lights on at night, even when nobody is in the office, is not helping your business to achieve its commercial goal. It just drains your budget unnecessarily.

Digital green and savvy

There’s no denying that going paperless can save you a lot of money that would have normally been spent on ink and paper. Additionally, as you print less, your business doesn’t have the death of many trees on the conscience. But there’s another advantage to storing document digitally. An IT solution that makes it possible for your team to work without paper documents enables your staff to be more productive as everything is available at a click of the mouse. Additionally, you can reduce time-costing offline frictions by bringing digital efficiency and security to your business.

Help employees to reduce their carbon footprint

The natural consequence of small offices and digitalized work is to encourage your staff to use virtual office and work remotely. Indeed, working from home has a positive impact on the overall carbon footprint. In fact, through virtual workforce programs, several companies such as Dell, Xerox, and Aetna, have decided to reduce gas emissions and fuel consumption. Without mentioning the advantages of staff retention and business costs — as you don’t need to maintain and equip your premises for those who chose a remote work option — working from home is a green solution available to most industry sectors regardless of the size of your business.

It’s now time to ask yourself what’s stopping you from saving money while going green? Make your business a green soldier at no cost.