Being socially responsible entails thinking of others, the environment and the community other than thinking about the profitability of the business. Small businesses are not excluded in this practice. They actually play a prominent role in the community as they influence the members of the society on being socially responsible. This is because they are often the gathering places of members of the community.
The small businesses need to be more socially responsible by:
1) Behaving ethically in all the business transactions – Preventing corruption, smuggling or any illegal act is a form of being socially responsible. All activities carried out in the small businesses should be legal and morally upright.
2) Volunteering services to community needs – Identifying the community needs and providing free services to solve some of the problems in the society.
3) Providing healthy working conditions – This mainly involves the workers of the organisation. Providing the workers clean and healthy working environment and atmosphere will actually contribute to improvement of the business outcome.
4) Great treatment of your customers – This entails treating customers with exceptional respect. The customers are also provided with the correct information on the products and services of the business. Consumer education can be provided to the customers so as to enlighten them. The products and services should be standard and consumer friendly.
5) Avoiding negative environmental impact of your day to day activities – Negative impact may include air pollution, land pollution and water pollution. This is usually contributed by wrong methods of disposing the waste products of the business and noise generated from the business. The small businesses can safely dispose off the waste they generate so as to provide a safe environment for the community and the business itself. Noise produced should be minimised so as to avoid irritating those people that reside or conduct their business in the vicinity.
6) Contributing to the community’s economic development – Business can register under local business association so as to share ideas that can help in improvement of the economy of the community and that of the business.
When small businesses give back to the society, the benefits do not only land on the community but also the business benefits. The economic growth of the business tremendously increases.
