Business Fit Magazine October 2019 Issue 2 | Page 12

Environment
For me, on the other hand, I didn't start a
company, I was already in the middle of running
my second successful company, this time in the
field of Architecture and Urban design. However,
I was questioning if I was really doing what I set
out to do. Was I contributing to a better world,
better health or was I just using the business to
make a living? I hear many company leaders let
their ‘why’ be compromised to fit the need of
customers and colleagues while losing their own
purpose. But in moments of doubt, how do you
know and make sure you are still contributing
to the fulfillment you need to feel to run your
business - to the capacity it needs to bloom its
fullest?
How we let the
Carrot
Brand Us
Victoria Bengtsson
Many business developers talk about how
important it is to find your own "why" behind what
you do, figuratively speaking - your own "carrot".
For some people this carrot becomes clearer than
ever at a certain time in your life. Anyone who
has experienced the life changing moment of
becoming a parent will know what I am talking
about. The nine months of excited waiting and
mental preparation is also a time of questioning
and confrontation of yourself and the life you have
created. Not to mention the moment you stand
with that tiny bundle in your arms for the first time
and see in his smile how strongly he believes in
you. You are a hero and he makes you feel that
you could do anything (even go through months of
sleep deprivation). It is not a coincidence that this is
the moment when many people decide to start their
own business, and for once realise their dreams,
even if it might not sound economically logical at
the time. But your support has never been as great
as when your small cheerleader enters your life,
and you have never had such a strong why.
I decided to start from an empty sheet of paper
and evaluate where we were standing, heading
and how far that was from where I or we as a team
wanted to be. We needed new clear measurable
and true goals that anyone who would join the
company and the vision could achieve. At the
same time a new guideline was released for
Sustainable Development Goals for businesses.
I realised they correlated a lot with our main
reason for starting the company. We decided to
create our own guidelines to make sure that we
reached our financial targets and also how we
measured our success in reaching the SDG:s for
2030 and that year, in every project. One of our
goals was to contribute with 1000 new green and
food producing areas around Europe by 2030 as
well as enabling more than 10,000 people to co-
create their own environment.
We also calculated how much we had already
contributed and noticed
we had already
achieved more than 30% of the next year's goals,
which was very motivating. We knew this way of
measuring and monitoring social and ecological
impact instead of solely financial goals was a very
unusual one, even in the field of architecture, but
we saw it as necessary. We also wanted to make
sure they matched with many of our more public
customers' goals.
Today we are proud to use our environmental
goals in our marketing and believe it is something
to be proud of without Greenwashing. We get a
lot of positive attention from clients, partners as
well as students who want to join the team. We
use the goals as a support for ourselves to know
we are heading in the right direction and that we
are making meaningful change. We want to be
sure that the day we quit the business we can
with numbers, pictures and quotes showing how
many more people could influence their own
building environment and green facades and
how it can improve their quality of life. Our proof
of success will not only be financial.
5 tips on how to profile your business
through sustainability goals.
1.
Start with looking deep into why you are
running or started your business, most often it
is something more than just earning money to
make a living.
2.
Let your deeper meaning form a vision and
mission.
3. Look up and read the SDG goals and try to
understand the true meaning behind them.
4. Formulate measurable goals which go hand in
hand with your vision, development and financial
goals. For instance put up goals to inspire at
least 200 women to take better care of their
health. This will also lead your company toward
your financial goals leading to more lectures or
followers.
5. Communicate your goals in your marketing,
to your colleagues and to your customers. We all
love to see people who have a strong why to their
business and if money is not carrot enough for
you, make the real carrot be clear instead and be
proud of how that leads you forward.
Let your deeper
meaning form a
vision and mission
Victoria Bengtsson, is the Co-founder of The Foodprint Lab, Architects
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and Food System Designers. Victoria started her first business as a yoga
teacher in Sweden when she was 20, while studying to become an Urban
Designer and Architect. Six years later she put a team together and started
The Foodprint Lab. Shaping the architectural environment with a continued
focus on physical and mental health.
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