Certified B Corporations are businesses that prioritise social and environmental impact, transparency, and accountability in addition to profit. Here’s our experience of the start of the journey to becoming a B Corp, why it has been a good decision for our business already, and where we are going next.

What is a Certified B Corporation? B Corp are for-profit businesses that have undergone a rigorous certification process that measures a company's social and environmental impact, transparency, and accountability. These businesses operate with a "triple bottom line" that puts equal priority on people, planet, and profit.

Why did we choose to become a B Corp? As the founders of Maia Growth Partners, we set out to make our business a force for good, our aim was to support small & medium food & drink businesses to become not only stronger and more resilient, but focus on their sustainability now and into the net zero future. Becoming a B Corp was a natural step for us to take in order to formalise our commitment to social, environmental and commercial impact.

The B Corporation certification process is rigorous and thorough, taking into account our company’s governance, workers, community involvement, environmental and customer impact, and business practices over the previous 12 months. It requires submitting answers to over 200 questions plus supporting documentation, participating in interviews, and meeting specific performance requirements. Any business aiming to become accredited needs to show evidence and reach the required target of 80 points (consultation on draft new standards is in progress). As an example, here are some of the milestones on our journey: 

How it all started:

• 11th October 2021 After attending a “Business as a Force for Good” event, as founders we commit to each other to set off on the path to certification.

The early days:

• 26th October 2021 Our first self-assessment results are in. We’ve answered all the B Impact Assessment questions on Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers. Unverified score 45.9 

• 4th November 2021 Jo joins a bootcamp for collective support and key learnings with the BIA and over the next two months we look for evidence and make adjustments to the way we work.

• 31st December 2021 Progress report, for the first time it looks like we are on track to meet the standard, but there’s more to do. Unverified score 83.1

• 1st February 2022 We all sign our new Articles of Association change the legal form of the business setting out our purpose to embrace all stakeholders. 

• 22nd February 2022 David submits our B Impact Assessment for Verification. Unverified score 94.0

Moving through the process:

• 25th August 2022 The external assessment begins, and we start to get questions from B Lab UK . A really interesting and thoughtfully interrogative stage which begins to give a better understanding of every part of the 5 key stages of the process.

• 22nd September 2022 After lots of clarifications around the ways in which we work our score has dropped. However we enter the Verification Queue, and get on with business whilst we wait for verification. Unverified score 86.1

• 3rd January 2023 We are assigned a Verification Analyst from B Lab, and we start to get requests for evidence – there is lots of dialogue over the next two months, culminating in a challenging yet supportive interview with our analyst.

The waypoint:

• 28th March 2023 We sign the Declaration of Interdependence to become a Certified B Corporation, joining the Movement formally - not the end of a journey but a waypoint on our travels to do well in business and do good in society. And in B Corp month too! Verified score 99.9

The impact of becoming a B Corp has been profound for our business. Through the process we’ve reflected on the purpose and direction for our organisation, considering why we went into business together and what we set out to achieve. It’s challenged us to measure and track our impact beyond the outputs of our assignments, and now we are working hard to build stronger relationships with all of our stakeholders. We also have a benchmark score from which to improve over the next three years before recertification.

How can becoming a B Corporation benefit your business? It can help you attract and retain employees who share your values, differentiate yourself from competitors, and build stronger relationships with customers and suppliers. It can also give you a framework for measuring and tracking your impact, which can help you identify areas where you can improve.

Having a strong purpose and truly embedding this within the DNA of your organisation is the best foundation, and will bring clarity to not only your values of today but will drive the culture you seek to sustain the business today and way into the future. The horizon is definitely changing, and the only constant in our future is change - things are evolving through public sentiment, governmental legislation, bringing transformation requirements from every business. SMEs have the advantage of being more flexible, adaptive, and in charge of their own destiny. Writing your own blueprint around your ways of working, enabling systems to support this, and the people you have within, and around your business are fundamental to success.

Looking ahead A month in, and whilst we now feel the weight of our responsibility as a full member of the Movement, at the same time we are encouraged by the achievements of our peers. Becoming a B Corporation has been one of the best decisions we’ve made for our business. It’s helped us become a more purpose-driven company and has already had a positive impact on our triple bottom line as our second impact report will show. And as for how we see the future? Like all B Corps “we envision a global economy that uses business as a force for good” and where are we going next? We’re on our way to spread the word on how to build sustainable, resilient food & drink businesses. So if you’re a small business owner who wants to prioritise social and environmental impact, we highly recommend considering joining us and becoming a B Corp.

Did you know B Lab UK have just released a great 2 hour course “Behind the B: An Introduction to the B Corp Movement” available for free here