14 Key Steps To Building A Sustainable Business

A sustainable business can support itself and offer a profit to its owners and shareholders. For a company to develop real sustainability, it must meet its consumers' demands while balancing the needs of its employees. The larger a company gets, the more difficult it is to attain sustainability. Yet, it's large corporations that benefit most from implementing sustainability in their company structure.

Sustainability is crucial to longevity in a business. Unsustainable businesses tend to be a drain on resources, and their owners shut them down after they fail to prove viable. To help, 14 associates from Forbes Business Council share their insight into how a business can achieve sustainability, and explain why the factors they mention are so crucial to this goal.

1. Understand What Customers Need

Make it a priority to understand the changing needs of your customers. We have many ways to talk with and, most importantly, listen to our clients, whether they are K-12 or university professionals. By understanding the latest issues they face and the support they need, we can adapt our products, services or other solutions. This strengthens customer trust, leading to sustained partnerships. - Kate Cassino, Hobsons

2. Have Well-Defined Processes

A crucial key to building a sustainable business is a strong foundation that is built on tried-and-true processes. Having clear-cut and defined processes can help teammates understand how to quickly approach day-to-day business activities to achieve success without constant oversight. Aside from being well-defined, processes must be adaptable to meet the dynamic needs of the modern business world. - Prem Khatri, Chetu

3. Keep An Eye On Industry Dynamics

One key to building a sustainable business is keeping an eye on the changing dynamics of the industry. This entails observing competitors, identifying industry trends as they are happening and reacting fast. The ability and willingness to constantly adapt and adjust your business model is crucial. - Greg Khojikian, GFF Brokers

4. Innovate To Meet Customer Needs

I think the pandemic has clearly shown us that one key to sustainable business is continually innovating to meet the evolving nature of consumer needs. In my industry, many successful businesses with only a brick-and-mortar presence pivoted to offer remote services. As the pandemic subsides and consumer needs change again, I would expect them to pivot again in mode of service delivery. - Lisa Napolitano, CBT / DBT Associates

5. Offer A Superior Customer Experience

In an age of demanding and empowered customers, delighting them with a superior customer experience is the one key to building a sustainable business. A fierce focus on getting to know customers better, their journeys, their routines, motivations and their unmet needs allows for organizations to build more beautiful value propositions, creating customer loyalty and long-term growth. - Joost Van De Velde, ktc

6. Be Authentically You

Authenticity is key. Always be authentically you in your dealings with your consumers, buyers and business associates. It is that trust and integrity which you bring to the table that will not only sustain your business but also attract business growth and advancement. - Bindu Babu, Dr. Bindu Babu

7. Prioritize Your People

Prioritizing people and giving them a clear purpose for their work is a recipe for success. The costs associated with ensuring employees feel valued and feel like their work has meaning are extremely low relative to the benefits of doing so. With those core commitments, vast opportunities arise that can help the business reinvent itself, even if needed when faced with extreme challenges. - Kristen Sieffert, Finance of America Reverse

8. Never Get Complacent

One of the keys to building a sustainable business is to never get complacent. Competition makes all of us better, but sometimes when you're on top and you think you've got it all figured out, complacency may find its way into the culture of the company. It's critical to instill a sense of almost paranoia about the need to constantly improve and the pursuit of perfection. - Kami Hoss, The Super Dentists

9. Embrace Operational Perfectionism

Perfectionism in operational execution is essential. Start with building aggressive and yet realistic targets. Lay out the goals which, if met, will contribute massively in getting you to those targets, and figure out what the key performance indicators need to be for each such goal. Then, be absolutely relentless in meeting every single KPI, goal and target. - Guy Tytunovich, CHEQ

10. Lead With Integrity

The key to building a sustainable business is always about integrity. A lot of entrepreneurs crumble because their business was built on rocky ground. Decisions were made not based on their true values, but instead on what they thought others were doing and how they were doing it. Breathe your unique, natural spirit and culture into your business and watch it stand the test of time. - Sonika Asif, Wild Dynasty

11. Focus On Communication And Culture

Communication and company culture are mission-critical to building a sustainable business. Especially in times of crisis, the quality of communication is central to how employees will evaluate culture and contribute to the overall longevity and sustainability of a business. Consider engaging health monitoring tools to measure and monitor company culture in order to support business growth. - Clark Waterfall, BSG - Boston Search Group

12. Be A Flexible Employer

Being a flexible employer is key. Many bosses say their staff are their greatest resource and then try to shoehorn them into one-size-fits-all working patterns. A single person with an elderly relative to care for has different constraints on their time from a young couple with three small children. If you want to get the most out of your team, help them fit work around their other priorities. - Ashanti Akabusi, VirtuBrands

13. Have A Monetization Strategy

Have a monetization strategy from day one and focus on earning more than you spend. Very few businesses can survive by raising money and burning capital, so don't assume your business will be one of those. Build a profitable business from day one. - Adam Viener, Yazing

14. Create Brand Loyalty

Brand loyalty is one of the critical elements that can help sustain your business even during an economic crisis. Loyal customers trust their brands and often rely on them to unfailingly deliver their favorite products or services. Entrepreneurs can tap into this by building brand loyalty through consistent quality. Delight customers and be ethical in your business approaches. - Zaheer Dodhia, Logo Design