While the financial bottom line (net income) is always important, I wouldn’t recommend leading a company using just this metric as a guide.  Most business leaders have a variety of financial metrics on their dashboard including sales, profit margins, efficiency ratios, liquidity ratios, and more.  All of these are designed to help the business leader safeguard the organization and drive profitability.

What is missing from their dashboard are the non-financial metrics of a sustainable company.

So how does a business leader improve the people and planet portions of their triple bottom line (TBL)?  By using a similar approach to capture and report on people and planet data.  What is missing from most accounting systems are the tools to capture and report non-financial data.

You know the two related sayings:  “We measure what matters.” And, “You can only manage what you measure.”

On the environmental side you must create systems to track energy, water and material usage as well as waste steams including garbage, recycling and greenhouse gas emissions.  These can be as simple as writing them in a log or tracking them in a spreadsheet.

On the people side you can use metrics such as average pay, employee turnover, workplace democracy, human rights complaints, highest:lowest paid ratios, educational opportunities, employee well-being investment, your service to the larger community, etc.  Whatever you deem important to your success and strategy should be measured, monitored and reported on.

The important thing is to create the systems to capture this data just like you create systems to capture financial data like sales.  Once you begin to capture TBL data, you’ll soon be innovating your way towards a sustainable business.

Eighteen green remodels and new homes will be open 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. in the Portland metro area. You’ll be able to chat with homeowners and contractors about solar panels, rain water harvesting, ecoroofs, affordable housing, natural landscaping, eco-friendly building materials, co-housing, energy efficiency, alternative construction techniques, salvaged materials and healthy indoor air quality.  Pick up some great ideas for YOUR home! 

David Todd, Bridges Green Business Network member, will be volunteering at the Moon Brothers’ project on SE Woodward. Stop by for a tour of this amazing, innovative site.

A family-friendly Info Fair with green vendors, demonstrations and music will follow from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at ecohaus, 819 SE Taylor, Portland, OR 97214. The Information Fair is FREE to everyone. 

David Todd of Meadows Group Inc., Realtors will also have a table at the info fair. Please, stop by to learn more about green building in the Portland real estate  market or about Bridges Green Business Network.

Turn in your Tour and Info Fair evaluation for a chance to win a whimsical chicken coop made from salvaged cedar.

For more information, visit http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?c=41893. Tour information courtesy of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

Structured networking is perhaps the best form of networking. A group of people, comprising one professional per industry or profession, meets regularly, with every meeting following the same structure. Structured networking has several advantages over general networking meetings, some of which include:

• Stability. Go to any networking event twice in a row, and you’ll likely see two different sets of people. Membership of structured networking groups remains relatively steady – members pay dues and invest their time, and each member represents her profession precluding competitive pressures within the group. The structure of every meeting also rarely changes.

• Relationships. Because you meet roughly the same people regularly throughout the year, you can build stronger and longer lasting business relationships with them, many of which grow into personal friendships (many Bridges members keep in touch with past members and Bridges also holds annual retreats and informal summer parties). Because each member represents a profession, each member becomes that industry’s resource and expert for other members.

• Business. Though limiting the number and composition of members may seem , structured networking helps build business. Members are likely to fulfil their business needs with the help of fellow members. Based on personal experience, members are better equipped to pass on quality referrals to their networks. Structured networking groups thus serve as business generation hubs of sorts.

Bridges is one of many structured networking groups. What makes Bridges different from groups like BNI, I Take The Lead, or Le Tip? Bridges comprises service professionals with similar values – we all aim to build sustainable businesses in a sustainable economy. While Bridges members all participate out of the need to grow their business, the group is less about generating leads and more about cultivating friendly business relationships in a friendly atmosphere (guests often remark on this as the primary difference between Bridges and other groups).

———————

Peter Korchnak is a sustainable marketer, blogger, and speaker. As the principal of Semiosis Communications, author of the Sustainable Marketing Blog, and trainer and presenter, he explores the intersection of marketing and sustainability.

———————

Image credit: dsevilla

Today’s auto insurance pricing model has been considered inefficient by many as the traditional factors that contribute to your auto insurance rate such as driver characteristics (age, gender, marital status, & address), your vehicle usage, your driving record, and your insurance bureau score do not correctly assess the true risk of a driver.

It’s common sense that the more time a vehicle spends on the road the more it is prone to a loss rather than when it is sitting in the garage, right? Well the data collected by insurance companies suggests this and those individuals who are low mileage drivers often subsidize insurance costs for high mileage drivers. What if there was a true ’pay as you drive’ insurance option for low mileage drivers?

If you are a low mileage driver you certainly deserve to pay less for your auto insurance. To learn more about ‘pay as you drive’ insurance options continue reading here.

___________________________________

Mark Strauss is an independent insurance broker with the Leonard Adams Insurance and offers affordable, personalized peace of mind for both individuals and business. You can learn more about him and his business at http://www.oregoninsuranceadvisor.com.

1. Purchase your hardware from a company committed to the environment. This is harder than it seems – pretty much all of the tech companies these days are trying to green some aspect of their business, but the truth is that building computers is hard on the environment – the plastics and metals used in these devices have to come from somewhere. I’d look for a company that tries to be carbon-neutral, like Dell – just make sure to read read the fine print.

2. Purchase low-power devices when possible and turn them off when you can. Laptops use much less energy than desktops, and most desktop computers stay on all the time. Anything that uses a rechargeable battery is going to use less power – they are designed from the beginning for conserving battery life.

3. Recycle – take your computer to a reputable computer recycler when you are done with it (FreeGeek here in Portland is a perfect example).

______________

Albee Kara is the owner of Faster Connections, Inc., which builds and maintains computer networks for small businesses and non-profit organizations in Portland Oregon. More about him and his business at http://www.fasterconnections.net