In today’s business landscape, the concept of social value has become increasingly important. It goes beyond profits and growth, focusing on the positive impact a business can have on society, the environment, and the community. For small businesses, effectively managing social value can be a game-changer, helping to build a stronger brand, foster customer loyalty, and create a sustainable competitive advantage. But how do you navigate the complexities of social value management? That’s where we come in at Whatimpact. Here’s how we can help your small business embrace and maximise social value.
Understanding Social Values
Social value refers to the societal benefits that businesses provide in addition to their economic contributions. This can include environmental stewardship, community engagement, ethical corporate operations, and diverse employment practices. Integrating social value into your operations can help small businesses differentiate their brand, attract consumers, and even open up new business prospects. Managing social value encompasses more than internal operations. It is about integrating positive impact into your fundamental company strategy, creating ways how you interact with your stakeholders, close communities and what kind of supply chain you operate – or what differentiate you as a supplier for larger organisations. This comprehensive approach to social value can help you improve company reputation, increase employee satisfaction, and generate long-term value for all stakeholders.
Why Social Value Management Matters for Small Businesses
Small businesses often operate within tight-knit communities where reputation and relationships are everything. By effectively managing social value, you can strengthen these relationships, build trust, and position your business as a responsible and engaged member of the community.
Here are some key reasons why social value management matters for small businesses:
Building a Stronger Brand: Consumers are increasingly choosing to support businesses that align with their values. By demonstrating a commitment to social value, you can build a brand that resonates with customers, leading to increased loyalty and advocacy.
Attracting and Retaining Talent: Today’s employees want to work for businesses that make a difference. A strong social value proposition can help you attract top talent while also increasing employee engagement and retention.
Access to New Business Opportunities: Many larger organisations and all government agencies in the UK are increasingly asking their vendors to show social impact as part of their contract delivery. Manage and showcase your social worth to gain access to new contracts and relationships.
Risk Management: Social value management can assist reduce risks by ensuring that your business activities are ethical, sustainable, and legally compliant. This eliminates the possibility of reputational damage or legal problems.
Long-Term Sustainability: By focusing on social value, you’re not just thinking about the short term. You’re building a business that can thrive in the long run, creating lasting value for your community, customers, and employees.
How We Can Help You Manage Social Value
Effectively managing social value can be challenging, especially for small businesses with limited resources. That’s where we come in. Our expertise in social value management can help you develop and implement strategies that align with your business goals and create meaningful impact. Our approach embraces cross-sector collaboration, which inherently empower your organisation alongside delivering value to the communities you operate in. Social Value Strategy Development
Social value might seem like an additional cost and effort, which small companies cannot invest in. This is only the case, if there is no strategic approach which connects all approaches and activities to creating ROI (return of investment )from SROI (social return of investment).
The first step in managing social value for small businesses is to develop a clear strategy. We’ll work with you to understand your business, your values, and the needs of your community. It is important to have a holistic view on your motivations and impact targets. From there, we’ll help you identify the key areas where your business focuses on when delivering social value, whether it’s through environmental initiatives, community engagement, or ethical sourcing, to name a few business areas. This all must stem from your inherent strengths, capabilities and resources you company possesses.
Implementation Support
Developing a strategy is one thing; putting it into action is another. Using latest technology to engage with your community partners and employees is the key. We offer practical assistance in putting your social value projects into action. whatmpact social value matchmaking platform connects you with hyper-local charities, social enterprises and local initiatives to create partnerships for your outcomes targests.
We’ll work with you to incorporate social value into your daily operations, making it a key component of your business rather than an afterthought.
Measuring and Reporting
One of the most difficult aspects of social value management is monitoring and reporting on impact. We provide digital tools and experience you need to monitor your progress and demonstrate the value you’re adding. Our impact reporting is the most comprehensive in the market, and our social value monitoring system puts ALL social value data in one place. Our platform is developed with end users, and serves both social value, CSR and ESG delivery.
Our strategy includes identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) that are aligned with your social value objectives, establishing data gathering processes, and producing thorough reports that demonstrate your impact. We’ll also assist you to convey your accomplishments to stakeholders such as customers, staff, and partners.
Social value management is more than a phrase; it is an essential component of running a successful and sustainable business in today’s environment. Working with us allows you to realise the full potential of social value for your small business, resulting in meaningful impact while driving growth and success.
Whether you’re just getting started with social value or want to improve your current efforts, we can assist. With our experience and help, you can create a firm that not only flourishes in the market but also has a great impact on the globe. Contact us today to find out how we can help you manage social value and take your business to the next level.
