Substantial Profits, Sustainably: Part 1

This article is part of The Sustainable Studio column originally appearing on the Business of Design Online.

How much money have you invested in design software, computer equipment, marketing your business and so on? The answer, no doubt, is a lot, not to mention your costs for electricity, gas, office supplies and other overhead expenses. It’s no wonder, then, that many designers think of sustainability as an added expense (and an unnecessary one at that). But what if it weren’t? What if you could integrate sustainable practices into your day-to-day business operations and actually reap financial rewards for it? The good news is, you can and I’m going to show you how. There are actually quite a few financial benefits to sustainable business practices, not all of which are immediately obvious:

• Cost savings
• Increased revenues
• Employee development
• Risk management
• Increased brand value

The beauty of sustainability is that it’s easy to start implementing simple changes today and see results almost immediately. Adobe cut their carbon dioxide emissions by 16% by reducing their electricity and natural gas usage; their initial investment has already paid for itself and they now save $1 million every year.

But you don’t have to be a huge software company to better your bottom line. In fact, small design firms are often at an advantage because of their size. Since small businesses are generally more susceptible to limited cash flow and changing market forces, reducing overhead even slightly can make all the difference. Not to mention the fact that our smaller scale gives us the ability to adopt new practices and adjust old ones easily and efficiently.

Read the full article on Business of Design Online.