1% isn't enough

Ajuno Cofounder, Will Barnes, shares honest challenges of growing a sustainable SME

I recently attended the Festival of Sustainable Business, an insightful event in Bristol that brought together professionals with a shared commitment to regenerating our planet. I learnt a lot, but two key takeaways stood out for me:

1.       Being specific about what we are doing on sustainability, and

2.       Be transparent about failings and difficulties.

This blog is one of the actions I have taken in response to these and outlines three areas where I feel we are succeeding and three areas where we are struggling.

What are we achieving?

At Ajuno we are very purpose led in what we do. It's why we exist as a company and is critical to the fulfilment of everyone who works with us.

1. The power of one percent

Since we established the business we have donated 1% of our revenue to environmental causes. This is us volunteering an unfactored cost to the planet in what we do. Now, if you're thinking, "Just 1%?"— I hear you, but let's put that into perspective. This commitment is made regardless of performance. In practice, it can look more like 10% of profits, and if you have a tricky quarter, it may be 100% of them. In doing so we are following the lead of organisations like Patagonia, who pioneered the movement. Having assessed our operating carbon footprint it also means we are not just carbon neutral, but carbon negative.

2. Projects with purpose

Every project within Ajuno must meet one of two non-negotiables: it should be working to save lives or regenerate the planet. This might mean supporting national infrastructure like Network Rail use drones to remove people from harm, as they inspect assets that are enabling society to reduce our carbon footprint when travelling; or supporting organisations like the Manx Wildlife Trust to use drones to manage our environment more effectively – check out more here.

3. Operational policies

We are a paper free office - I think I’ve printed one five page document in the last 12 months. It’s our policy to walk or cycle where reasonable – with over half of the team cycling to work. We also opt for rail travel over car where possible.

Where are we struggling?

1.       Further reducing emissions

A key challenge exists in knowing where or how to reasonably reduce our business emissions further. We share an office space and have limited influence on how the building is powered or heated. We also travel to remote locations with little to no rail access, or regular EV charging points, meaning a conventional car is often the only practical means. As such, it feels challenging to reduce our scope 1 and 2 emissions further at this time. We also have very few business consumables beyond our IT – so scope 3 feels limited too.

2.       The accreditation dilemma

Should we work to become a B Corp, seek alternative certification, or continue working dedicating our time on making a difference where we can? Obtaining any certification presents a significant opportunity cost for a small organisation – principally time, but also capital cost. As we endeavour to expand our business, investment in gaining accreditation would divert resources that would otherwise contribute to growing our impact. So, what should we do to maximise our impact for the planet?

3.       Communicating our impact

Our primary focus is delivering for our customers and continuing to address the multitude of emerging needs faced as a growing company. In the process, often we fail to prioritise the time to share what we are doing and help to continue to inspire others to take action. One challenge within this is also not wanting to present the message ‘all is rosy and perfect’ and risk giving the impression of greenwashing. As I’ve highlighted here, hopefully you can see we’re doing our best but would love to be doing even better.

What next?

We are very much still learning and working to understand a developing taxonomy and constantly developing sustainability landscape. We would welcome shared learning from others who’ve experienced similar challenges.

My final challenge is to you - to share, right now, one specific thing you are doing in your organisation for the planet and critically, one area you’re struggling. Let’s be open and honest together.