We’ve all heard the phrase, “The Early Bird Gets the Worm!”

Do you run your business like an Early Bird or do you prefer to let your competitors get the worm?

Per this article, 90% of the world’s economies have made pledges to slash planet-warming emissions.

Yet, the article says that voluntary compliance is not addressing the problem fast enough.  To that point, we know that roughly 50% of the world’s economies already have developed regulations with some teeth.  This will expand quickly and more regulations will occur.

So, back to the question – Will you be an Early Bird or only come ‘kicking and screaming’, when forced?

Per studies from many groups, we know that 7 out of 10 consumers will move their business if they find a certified sustainable company:

• The Innovators (25% of consumers) have already made purchase decisions based on sustainability
• The Early Adopters (20 – 43% of consumers) are in play right now

These are the worms the Early Birds, who have already become certified sustainable, are getting.  Soon, they will be getting the Early Majority.  This is why the Early Birds that became certified sustainable companies are growing up to 20x faster than you are.

Unless your target market is the Late Majority and Laggards, watch this webinar and give us a call.

An Accenture/UN study of 2600 CEOs in 128 countries produced this report. 

It is full of information.  However, if you are a SME, most of it is not relevant to your operation.

However, something that definitely is relevant to you is this –

• 33% have already started to implement Scope 3 policies with their supply chain

If this study accurately represents the global business community and your company is a vendor to a larger company, there is a 33% chance you will receive a Scope 3 carbon emissions letter from your client very soon.

This will be the first step in the process of your company reporting on your carbon footprint, reducing same, and being 3rd party audited on same…..in order to retain the client.

Large organizations are desperate for vendors that can satisfy their supply chain sustainability requirements.  They will replace existing vendors with vendors that help them address their Scope 3 requirements. 

If you want a way to differentiate from competitive peers and take some of those larger clients away in bids, consider becoming environmentally certified sustainable.

If you ultimately need to do this anyway to retain your clients, and want to turn lemons into lemonade, read this on what you want in a sustainability program, watch this master class, and contact us.

We know there are many benefits of being environmentally certified sustainable:

• It is the right thing to do. We could stop here.

• Certified sustainable companies are growing up to 20x faster than non-certified peers;
• 7 out of 10 consumers will move to a certified sustainable business;
• 25% of consumers already have moved their purchases, the next 25 – 40% is in play;
• Approximately $500b will move from non-certified to certified companies in 2024;
• 75% of Gen X and Z view sustainability as more important than your brand name;
• Sustainability is the #1 thing consumers are using to evaluate you on the internet;
• Higher bid kill rate;
• Your corporate clients are moving to vendors that are certified;
• Your hiring and retention of employees will be less costly;
• Governments are tightening regulations requiring it;
• Cost of money (both debt and equity) is lower;
• Finding money (both debt and equity) is easier;
• 99% of certified sustainable companies are enjoying lower costs;
• Margins are better as you can charge more in combination with your lower costs.

For this discussion, let’s talk about the cost of NOT becoming certified sustainable and just look at one of the above line items – hiring and retention of employees.

Per this, and many other studies, 35% of employees have quit their jobs due to the lack of environmental actions by their employer.  If we look at the Under 40 aged workers, that percentage rises to 44%.  Further, 66% of employees say their company’s environmental commitment is not acceptable.  So, two thirds of your employees are looking to leave and at least half of that group, one third of your work force, will leave….due to your lack of environmental sustainability commitment.

You are thinking – “Those studies are too high.  We think the number is lower.”

Then, let’s go with 1 – By your not being environmentally certified sustainable, you will lose at least one employee this year. 

What is that cost to you? 

• Per this, and many other studies, the cost to you, of every employee that leaves you, is .5 – 2x that employee’s annual salary.
• If a single employee, making $50,000, leaves you due to your lack of environmental sustainability commitment, the cost to you is $25,000 – $100,000.

What is the cost of you becoming environmentally certified sustainable under our program?

• Much less than the cost to you of losing even one employee, let alone the number of losses the studies show.

Net, if we ignore the benefit to the planet, and all the revenue side benefits and operating cost side benefits to your company, and just look at the retention of employee benefit; the ROI of becoming certified sustainable is positive every year.

If you would rather have employees want to join you rather than want to leave you, read this on what you want in a sustainability program, watch this master class, and contact us.

Many companies that do not have sustainability programs, or that have weak ones, are experiencing the impact (either via employee exits or reduced employee enthusiasm) of not being part of a recognized and respected sustainability certification program. 

Bottom line – If you do not have a credible sustainability program, the majority of your workers are not happy.

This article talks about a study that suggests that workers have left and will continue to leave companies that do not have a credible sustainability program:

• 69% of respondents are anxious about the future of the planet
• 67% are not satisfied by businesses’ efforts to tackle environmental and social challenges
• +75% said employer values and commitment to tackling environmental and social challenges were key when they selected a job; but 68% say their company is not meeting their expectations
• 45% say they would consider resigning if their employer does not improve and align with their values
• +33% have already quit a different company due to this

This is costing you in reduced production, vacancies, new hire costs and training.

If you are interested in addressing this, read this on what you want in a sustainability program, watch this master class, and contact us.

Do you have a globally ranked blog/website helping you promote your business?

What if you could get that just by doing something good?

Per this press release, Edenark Group, a global provider of environmental services, wellness services and green project financing services, including the world’s premier environmental sustainability certification program for SMEs, the Edenark Group ISO 14001, will finish 2025 as the world’s 23^rd ranked corporate blog/website, per Feedspot.

Besides helping clients become environmentally certified sustainable under the Edenark Group ISO 14001 program, Edenark Group also helps its clients promote their certification, for competitive differentiation and brand benefit.

“We start promoting our clients right after they sign up, even before we get them certified. The first one discusses the client’s pursuit of sustainability certification. Given our reach, the value of this single post / press release exceeds the cost of their certification. Net, they achieve a positive ROI even before they are certified,” states David Goodman, CEO of Edenark Group.

“The value continues for our clients as we help them write and publish posts and press releases, as part of our service to them, for the entire length of their association with us. We have many clients who have been with us for years and we continue, as part of our service, to help them promote their company being certified sustainable,” added Goodman.

“For a small to mid-sized business, finding a way to cost-effectively differentiate from competitors is critical to survival and success. Per many studies, roughly 70% of all consumers, across all demographics, will move their business if they find a certified sustainable company as an option. Nielsen converts this to financial success, saying a certified sustainable company can grow its margin 5x faster than its non-certified competitors. But for this to happen, people need to hear about your company being certified. That’s why we provide promotion as part of our service. We help get the word out. For a SME, having the 23rd ranked corporate blog helping to promote your company being something most consumers will move their business to is a powerful benefit,” concludes Goodman.

If having this kind of support is of interest, watch this webinar and give us a call.

Per this press release, Gym for the Brain is happy and honored to announce we have passed 6,000 client sessions!

RECENT NEW CLIENT REASONS FOR COMING TO US

• Parkinson’s – Drove from Indiana, referred by doctor
• Stroke – Drove from Alabama, referred by doctor
• Long COVID – Referred by existing client
• Dementia – Referred by doctor
• Concussion – Flew from Europe, referred by doctor
• FTD – Referred by doctor
• TIA (mini-strokes) – Referred by doctor
• Breast cancer – Referred by doctor 
• ADHD student – Referred by doctor
• Asthma – Referred by doctor
• A student looking to improve concentration and focus – Referred by doctor
• A 50+ year old man looking to improve fitness – Referred by LA Fitness
• A golfer looking to improve concentration and focus – Referred by existing client
• An ex-NHL player looking to address concussions – Referred by existing client
• A 50+ woman looking to reduce anxiety – Referred by doctor
• A lady with deteriorating eyesight – Referred by doctor 
• A skier looking to improve stamina – Referred by existing client
• Alzheimer’s – Referred by doctor
• Brain fog – Referred by doctor
• Cancer – Referred by doctor
• Headaches – Referred by doctor
• Depression – Referred by doctor
• Chemotherapy recovery – Referred by doctor
• PTSD – Referred by doctor
• A 50+ woman looking to delay aging – Referred by existing client
• A 60+ man looking to improve focus/concentration – Referred by doctor
• Autistic teenager – Referred by doctor
• A 40+ woman with foot numbness – Referred by LA Fitness
• Mold – Referred by doctor
• Sleep – Referred by doctor

If you know someone facing one of the above, tell them to keep fighting and researching.  There are great solutions out there!

Per a new study by the Stern School of Business at NYU:

50% of consumers assume the worst when your company remains silent on its environmental and social position. 

Think about that for a minute.  Given that 50% of your consumer group has already formed an opinion of your company, what is going to happen when a competitor can show they are doing something good for the environment or society?

Here’s what will happen – Per the study, 64% of consumers buy, choose or avoid brands based on what matches or offends their societal beliefs.  Many other studies have put the percentage between 60% – 75%, so this study is consistent with what other studies have said over the years.   

So, in answer to the first question, roughly two-thirds of all your clients will leave you when they find a competitor that satisfies their environmental and social demands.

The study goes on and tests various messages.  Of all the messages tested in the study, a social sustainability message was the most powerful.  Again, this is consistent with many other studies over the years – If you want the most powerful differentiation tool for your business, be able to prove your sustainability commitment.

Also per the study, having a social message that resonates with your consumer increases appeal for your company by roughly 50%. 

Think about all the money you are spending on trying to get your consumer to like you more than the competitor down the street.  Can you think of anything you have done, or could do, that would have a +50% impact on your brand image?

This response occurs across all demographics, including education, party affiliation, income and age.

Your options –

• Keep playing Russian Roulette
• Decide to take proactive action, read this on what you want in a sustainability program, watch this master class, and contact us.

As stated in this press release, Gym for the Brain (https://www.gymforthebrain.com/), a research-supported, oxygen-focused, bio-optimization wellness center in Jupiter, Florida, which also operates through the online store A Better World Starts With Me (https://abetterworldstartswithme.com/ ), has renewed its environmental sustainability certification and its carbon neutrality certification through 2026.

The Edenark Group ISO 14001 is the world’s premier environmental sustainability certification program and allows SMEs (small to mid-sized enterprises) a program designed and priced specifically for them.

The Edenark Group ISO 14065 / 14001 carbon neutrality certification is for organizations that have become certified sustainable and wish to become carbon neutral: the natural next step in their environmental stewardship journey.   This program allows a company, using its sustainability plan as a foundation, to quantify, manage, reduce, and neutralize its carbon emissions.

The programs, which allow companies to progressively improve at a pace that works for their needs, help the organization define how it interacts internally, externally, and with the environment.  They incorporate energy/waste/water, employee health and performance enhancement, community involvement, procurement and suppliers, compliance and regulations, emergency/security, and stakeholder engagement; and quantify Scope 1 and 2 emissions.  Benefits include creating a culture of continual improvement, stakeholder engagement, lower costs, higher revenues and profits, improved employee performance, and…… doing the right thing for the environment and current and future generations.

“Gym for the Brain is doing wonderful work by helping people remove toxins, reduce inflammation, increase body and brain strength, and improve health.  Sending those people back out into a toxic world is frustrating.  The Edenark Group ISO 14001 sustainability certification program and the Edenark Group ISO 14065 / 14001 carbon neutrality program combine to allow Gym for the Brain to not only help people while at the Gym, but also when they leave the Gym, by proactively participating in improving the environment via internal and external environmental sustainability and carbon reduction actions,” says David Goodman, CEO of Edenark Group.  “They are agreeing to adhere to the world’s Gold standard for sustainability and carbon neutrality certification; and are joining an elite fraternity of over 300,000 organizations, in over 150 countries, that have committed to continually improving in every way.”

Gym for the Brain (https://www.gymforthebrain.com/ ) can be reached at info@gymforthebrain.com

A Better World Starts With Me ( https://abetterworldstartswithme.com/ ) can be reached at https://abetterworldstartswithme.com/pages/contact

Edenark Group (https://edenark.com/) can be reached at +1 561.512.2257

A study by Impact ROI, titled “Project ROI: Determining the Competitive and Financial Advantages of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability” reaffirms what we have been seeing from study after study over the years – sustainability drives financial and competitive value for companies.

• Sales can be improved by as much as 20%
• Profit can be improved by as much as 21%
• Firm Value can be improved by as much as 36%
• Shareholder Returns can be improved by as much as 6%

You have been seeing studies like this for years.  The percentages change, but the overall statement that sustainability drives corporate performance, remains the same.

As our tag line states, “Doing the Right Thing can lead to a Good Thing”

For those that choose to act, like our clients, it is better that you continue to ignore these studies, as it helps them.

If you want to understand what they know that you don’t know, read this on what you want in a sustainability program, watch this master class, and contact us.