Benefit Corporations for Good helps small businesses examine, strengthen, and market their ethical and sustainable business practices. Through benefit corporation certification and a consultation with communications and marketing experts Mary Anne Harmer and Tom Hering, businesses can harness their desire to do good to reach a new generation of cause-driven customers. If you are committed to the three P\u2019s\u2014People, Planet, and Profit\u2014then becoming a benefit company might be right for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Encorepreneur Caf\u00e9\u2019s Erin Schmith interviewed Mary Anne and Tom to learn more about the benefits of becoming a Benefit Corporation and their story about how they stumbled upon their niche as encorepreneurs. And lest you think that this is a pursuit for large corporations only, Harmer and Hering have done most of their work with small businesses very few employees. Read on to learn more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erin Schmith:<\/strong> Can\nyou two tell me a little bit about your story and why this business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Hering:<\/strong>\nHere\u2019s our story. Our paths have crossed for the past thirty years. We were at\nUO at the same time. I did work for Mary Anne as a writing and communications\nconsultant during her career in health care marketing. Her husband and I worked\ntogether at an agency before they knew each other. Lots of connections. It\u2019s\njust this great story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, we\u2019re at Base Camp in Southeast Portland, we\u2019re having a\nbeer on a very hot July day, and if you know Mary Anne well, she\u2019s very direct\nand to the point, in a very good way. And she said, \u201cTom, I am ready for a new\ncareer chapter, and I want to do something really meaningful. And I want you to\ncome along and do it with me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it took me all of not even another sip of beer and said,\n\u201cI\u2019m in!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along the way, we found this benefit company concept.\nWe  discussed it, and thought, this is a\nbetter fit for us as it builds on our business careers, and yet it is still\nvery purpose-driven. And this was incredibly important\u2014to both of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so that\u2019s kind of how we got going. And what we decided,\nfirst and foremost, was to write a book, Putting Soul into Business, How the Benefit Corporation is\ntransforming American Business for Good<\/em>.  At the same time, the Secretary of State\u2019s\noffice asked us to explore developing a third-party\nstandard that for benefit companies that would be state-based. So, we\ncame up with our own brand and assessment, Benefit\nCorporations for Good<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Anne Harmer<\/strong>:  Small businesses\nliked our assessment because it was affordable, simple, and balanced around\nboth the environment and social-good efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Hering: <\/strong>What\nwe wanted was to provide certification that was  comprehensive, and touches on social justice\nissues, and environmental issues, and it\u2019s the people<\/em> and\nthe planet<\/em> of people, planet,\nprofit\u2014the triple bottom line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Anne Harmer:<\/strong>\nIt\u2019s very much aligned with the intent of what B Lab does in certifying B\nCorps, We wanted to keep some of that same discipline and rigor, but still make\nit accessible to the average small business person\u2014or mid-sized business, even\u2014who  doesn\u2019t have 3-6 months to commit to going\nthrough B Lab assessment or the resources to afford the cost<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erin Schmith<\/strong>: I\ncan definitely see a need for that, too. Because I think that there are a lot\nof small businesses people that are already thinking that way, and they want to\nbe a part of that, but if it\u2019s some big process that\u2019s not geared towards them\nor not affordable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Anne Harmer:<\/strong>\nExactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Hering:<\/strong> Well,\nlet\u2019s add a proof point to that. We are going to certify our twenty first small\nbusiness on Thursday.  And the  businesses that we have certified to this date\nin the last nine months have been professional services, women\u2019s sportswear,\norganic foods, a retail vegan bakery, print shop\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Anne Harmer:<\/strong>\nAn internet server, vineyard, and wine shop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Hering:<\/strong> So, you\ncan see that we fit with these smaller businesses, and they\u2019re all in various\nlittle niches, but their intent around being profitable while being good is all\nthe same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, we developed this standard or assessment and it was well\nreceived.  We did a survey after we certified\nour first fifteen companies, to just find out, how are we doing? And without a\nsingle exception, every one of them said the certification was a great process,\nand our thirty-minute consultation they get after\nthey\u2019ve gone through the self-assessment is the most valuable part of the whole\nprocess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Anne Harmer:<\/strong>  And for encorepreneurs or retirees,  here we are in our next career chapter,\nboomers, and we have found an opportunity \nwhere we can share some of our hard-learned wisdom,\nexperience, our expertise. So, what we\u2019ve done is coupled that with the\ncertification. It\u2019s like many other encorepreneurs  who are  rich with their wisdom and their knowledge. We\nhappen to have a certain area of expertise around marketing, strategic planning,\nand leadership. And we bring a lot of work around diversity, equity, cultural\ncompetency. So, we can share this experience as we\u2019re certifying people. That\u2019s\nwhat they love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erin Schmith:<\/strong> I think\nthat is just a really awesome thing to keep in mind when you\u2019re thinking about\nwhat kind of small business you want to run or how you can utilize your\nexperience. It\u2019s such a creative way to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Anne Harmer:<\/strong>  Right. Because small businesses  pay us \nan affordable fee for the certification, but\nwe don\u2019t just give them their score and say, \u201cHey, you passed! Here\u2019s your logo\nto show you are certified.\u201d But what we want to do,  is keep them working towards that journey of\nreally actualizing the practice of the triple bottom line. So, we offer  them the consultation at the end because we\nwant the Benefit Corporation movement to grow. It puts the soul into business.\nSo, for us, we are ambassadors for the movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Hering:<\/strong> But\nour interest is sharing not only what certification can do for the world and\ncommunity but what it can do for a business. That\u2019s  and important focus. And most of the people\nthat we\u2019re talking to right now, which is really cool, they\u2019re our children\u2019s\nage\u2014they\u2019re millennials. Their belief in purpose and choosing products and\nservices that are cause driven is what  resonates\nwith them, and I think that\u2019s what really feeds us. And by the way, we think\nthere are also many boomers that want to give back as they retire and become encorpreneurs\u2026the\nsame interests we have.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Anne Harmer:<\/strong> If being cause driven as a company is already in your DNA, then why not tell people about it? Get this logo on your website. Let people know that you\u2019re on this path to becoming a Benefit Corporation for Good.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Erin Schmith:<\/strong> So,\ncan you talk about that a little bit? What about a business that is super\nsmall, less than five people? Does it make sense for them to do something like\nthis, or are they going to be maybe be doing the practices, but the\ncertification doesn\u2019t mean much to them? What do you think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Hering:<\/strong> Well,\nthe majority of people that we have certified are one,\ntwo people \u201cbands.\u201d That\u2019s it. We only have, I think, two that have more\nthan ten employees right now. And we have one we are meeting with in two weeks\nthat\u2019ll be probably our biggest yet. But this is totally appropriate for the\nsmaller business person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Anne Harmer:<\/strong>\nBecause how do you differentiate yourself? How do tell customers your story,\neven if it is just a small company,  and\nthere are only two people, maybe yourself and a partner.  And remember, if you are a sole proprietor,\nalthough  you can\u2019t legally become a Benefit\nCompany or Corporation,  you can become certified\nas a Benefit Corporation for Good, <\/em>which\nmeans that you\u2019ve passed the assessment around the triple bottom line, and this\nis what you believe in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erin Schmith:<\/strong> So,\nyou can get the certification, it\u2019s just not a legal standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Anne Harmer:<\/strong>\nRight. Because it still says you met our requirements about conscientious\nleadership, social justice and environmental commitments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Hering:<\/strong> And\nyou know differentiation is critical in this\nover-communicated society we live in right now. Certification\nis an easy way to simply tell customers who you are and what you believe,\nas long as you practice what you preach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erin Schmith:<\/strong> Do\npeople who are certified get referrals within your Benefit Corporations for\nGood network too? I would imagine that these companies share similar values and\ncare about the same things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Hering:<\/strong> They\ntotally are cross-referring. It\u2019s terrific to see this family. And they\u2019ve got\neach other\u2019s backs. And they\u2019re all committed to doing the same kind of work,\nregardless of what their business focus is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Anne Harmer:<\/strong>\nWe  have twelve different industries,\nthat is a lot of expertise, so our companies will turn to each other when they\nneed something that they provide. And in some way, that is also what encorpreneurs\nare doing\u2026 supporting like-minded people that are\nretired. So, ultimately, we all win and the\ncommunities win, as benefit corporations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information about Benefit Corporations for Good and certification, visit www.benefitcorporationsforgood.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Benefit Corporations for Good helps small businesses examine, strengthen, and market their ethical and sustainable business practices. Through benefit corporation certification and a consultation with communications and marketing experts Mary Anne Harmer and Tom Hering, businesses can harness their desire to do good to reach a new generation of cause-driven customers. If you are committed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n