support small business

Think Global, Act Local

 Sustainability is the hub word now. Everyone knows and everyone is talking about it. Sustainability and sustainable practices are becoming common interests, it is no longer a niche. The extent of awareness and knowledge is building slowly and concerns about environmental impacts have begun to result in organizations and multinational companies altering their operational approaches to comply with environmental regulations and to respond to growing consumer demands for sustainable goods and services. In the simplest terms, sustainability is the ability to sustain, be it lifestyle, be it business, be it development, wherein each clogs in the system is working in accordance to the ways of nature, with minimal adverse effects on our environment and also to facilitate a safe space for all to not just survive, but to thrive! 

Sustainable development seeks to minimize environmental damage and involves economic, environmental, and social concerns for the future (Hart and Dowell, 2011). In regards to sustainable development, there is a popular slogan “Think Global, Act Local” in the sustainability circle, the epitome of sustainable practices, wherein all our needs and requirements are fulfilled from our immediate surroundings, and our actions resonate throughout the globe. Globalization may seem like it has brought the world to your doorstep, but this is a very small percentage of people who are able to access this privilege, the rest of the world’s population is paying the price. The hidden costs of these goods and services are too high to be justified by the mere notion of “making the world smaller”. 

The way forward with sustainability and sustainable practices at its helm, is to invest and aid in the growth of small-scale businesses and building micro-economies that will sustain themselves and thrive in the future, thinking local and acting global being in its core. Sustainable business development is the most efficient and carbon-positive way forward for capitalized consumerism. We may not be able to give up on our shopping habits, but we can make better choices. With a little thought, one can see why supporting small business owners is important for our collective future.

When you are buying from local enterprises and small businesses, you are most likely investing in a localized system wherein the entire supply chain is a small, closed loop within a community, as opposed to goods being subject to multiple levels of import-export processes to eventually reach you.  For example, the process of packaging most food products is not completed in the same country of its production, instead, it is shipped across the globe, just to be packed and shipped, again, to the country to which it is being imported. The energy used to do one round of this will be able to power a small island country for a few months. Is that box of imported cranberries really worth the environmental cost of acquiring it? Instead, making an effort to look for a vendor who supplies fruit that is grown locally, with the same or more nutritional value as the imported cranberries, without the dire environmental cost is part of sustainable business practices. This is applicable to all products used in our daily lives, each time we are looking to purchase any product, make it a habit to check the label for the place of origin, and where it is packaged, or better yet, to find a small business whose values align with yours, where you can find locally produced goods without having to forgo your right to good quality, viable choices.

Small business owners are more likely to invest their limited precious resources in producing quality goods, in small batches or capsule collections, to ensure there is no back stock and wastage. It is all about close-knit small-scale circles. With small business ideas, there is freedom of creativity and risk-taking, often leading to life-altering inventions and technological advances that would not have been possible in the world of standardization and stick-to-the-norm thinking. 

 By capitalizing on sustainable small business ideas and sustainable practices in India, where 70 percent of the population lives in small towns and villages, the road to thriving micro-economies will be paved and sustained for our future generations. Having closed loops within the locality, where one can live a secure healthy life with mental, physical and financial stability, the small town and village communities will thrive, without folks having to look for the โ€œbetter lifeโ€ in metro cities, which will invariably ease the chokehold of dense population in cities where people end up living in dismal conditions, unfit for human existence, let alone excellence. Droplets of small steps will lead to an ocean of change. 

Investing in Cottage Industries is the most relevant pearl of wisdom we gained from the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. It is a timeless lesson in economic reform, where self-reliance is key. In his words, a free India meant a flow of thousands of self-employed small communities who can sustain themselves without dependence on others. He focused on the needs of the people at the village level. A form of his thoughts is a Sarvodaya movement for ending poverty by establishing cottage and small-scale industries in every village which is basically an early version of sustainable practices. Gandhiji visualized that mechanization will not only lead to mass industrialization, to massive urbanization, to unemployment but will also lead to the destruction of the environment. His words ring true even today, where globalization has brought with it the looming threat of pollution on an unprecedented scale and climate change. The concept of Sarvodaya is also similar to that of sustainable development and forms a part of environmental ethics. Gandhi’s vision of Sarvodaya implies a healthy development and environment that can be evolved by man to ensure his harmonious existence with nature and other living beings.

As much as we consider ourselves to be citizens of the world, the place we are born plays a major part in our shaping our bodies and lifestyle. We need to re-integrate our lifestyle choices with nature and the natural settings of the space where we are born for us to function to our fullest capacity, or in the least, try to stick to our roots in parts of our lives where it is still possible to do so. That is where small-scale businesses and companies come into play. Most of them practice traditional methods of production and keep local art, craft, and traditional method forms alive, saving them from becoming obsolete or forgotten in this world of fast-paced trends and giving talented artisans the will and way to continue practicing the skill they have honed for generations. 

 Small-scale businesses set sustainable development goals knowing their limitations without having to resort to malpractices and violations of human rights just to achieve their impossible profit projections.  A small business owner is more likely to take care of their employee, taking into account their well-being along with their productivity, building bonds that last a lifetime, and providing them with a secure livelihood unlike the faceless corporate machine, sucking workers dry with no regard of them or their basic rights as human beings. Transparency is a fundamental value in the sustainable development principles of a small-scale entrepreneur, where business practices will be more likely to succeed when consumers place their trust in them.

Sustainable business models are created with the intention of specializing in one aspect and perfecting it, giving their patrons good quality goods and services that are dependable while improving the lives of those employed with them, and over time, being profitable and self-sustaining. It may sound like an impossible eutopia of economic well-being, but it is very much possible with a sustainable business and sustainable practices plan. With an optimal sustainable business model with well-integrated sustainable business ethics and development, we can start forming small ripples that will inevitably establish a new norm, with more and more adoption of the alternate methods of production and consumption.

Paraphrasing a quote that is most often referenced in terms of inspiration and growth by Mahatma himself, โ€œWe must be the change we wish to see in this worldโ€; our collective change in creating new trends that are investing in sustainable businesses and sustainability is our way forward, tackling the major issues that threaten humanity and our existence on our beloved planet all in the helm of this change. It is possible, let us be this change. 

References:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652608001054

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652605001757

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652619330756

https://ijtech.eng.ui.ac.id/article/view/2332

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6515736/