CSR: What’s In For Small Businesses?

Here are some prejudices concerning CSR/Sustainability and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME):

• Sustainability is for big companies
• Sustainability is too expensive
• Sustainability requires too many resources
• Sustainability is marketing, we cannot afford marketing campaigns
• We are far too few people, we don’t need social responsibility

These are some of the opinions I have to counterback when I explain sustainability to friends, relatives or even owners of small businesses. Most of them look at me skeptical and surprised. Their looks say «Small businesses have enough to do trying to survive in the current situation, they dont have time to think about social responsibility or sustainability». However, the expression on their faces changes as soon as I start talking about the benefits of a sustainable strategy for a SME. SME are in fact open for CSR, as I explained in a previous post.

Which one is the most important benefit for a SME that engages in CSR/Sustainability? Take the poll!