How to Set Up Your Sustainability Strategy (With Limited Budget, Time and Resources)
If you are struggling to set up your sustainability strategy because you have limited time, limited resources, and a limited budget — this blog is for you. I will show you exactly how you can do that despite the presence of constraints.
TIP #1 - Accept that You're Going to be Imperfectly Sustainable
If you think about it, there is no truly sustainable fashion brand or truly sustainable business in the world. Every single business emits carbon, uses electricity, and has an impact on the environment. If you wanted to be truly sustainable, you would not have a brand.
Some people feel pressured when they first start their sustainability journey to be perfect because they are afraid of backlash. Some are afraid of doing it wrong, but I am permitting you to be imperfect! This should hopefully be freeing for you and alleviate a lot of pressure. People go into this being overwhelmed and scared to approach it because they think it needs to be perfect and everything has to be done 100% correctly.
Quite frankly, sustainability is a journey. It does not happen overnight. You are going to be imperfect at this and that is okay. You just need to start and you need to try. Give yourself time, resources, and a budget. Let yourself improve continuously and do your best each day.
TIP #2 - Choose Your Sustainability Priorities
I always tell our clients to choose their priorities because sustainability, in general, can be so overwhelming. You do not have to solve the entire industry’s problems with your brand alone. Do not shoulder all that pressure or else you are going to get overwhelmed very quickly and likely feel paralyzed. Instead, pick and choose your battles to have the most impact.
Choose one or two priorities, especially if you are a small business that is just starting out or even if you are a medium-sized brand. Furthermore, choose the areas you are going to go above and beyond and knock it out of the park. You would want to make sure that you are being the leading edge and top of mind in that area. And as you get more funding and traction, you can expand and address additional things.
Here are the seven sustainability priorities we typically get our clients to choose from:
Carbon Emissions
Water Usage
Harmful Dyes
Plastics
Animal Cruelty
Ethical Production
Textile Waste
TIP #3 - Assess Where You’re Currently At
Once you narrowed down your priorities, the next step is to set your goals and break down how you are going to get there. Another tip is to analyze what is happening in the industry so you have a benchmark. See where you are and assess your current position. Then, set both ambitious and realistic goals.
Take inventory of your current state. Analyze the following:
What materials you have gotten
Where they are coming from
A detailed audit of any of your factories and certifications
What is your impact right now
Make sure you know the status of your business sustainability. That way, you know where you are starting from, and then you can start to build out where you want to go.
TIP #4 - Industry Benchmark
The next best practice is to take a look at industry benchmarks and assess where you are. Prioritize your goals and objectives. For the priorities you have chosen, look at where you can push the needle. Outline business activities that will help you get there. This will help you determine where you want to get to or whether you need to catch up.
TIP #5 - Set Targets
If you do not have a clear objective, you are not going to make an impact. You are not going to expand and grow, so make sure you have goals and you set the targets you are prioritizing.
Another tip is to analyze what is happening in the industry so you have a benchmark. See where you are and assess your current position. Then, set both ambitious and realistic goals.
I also want to challenge you — and this is where the ambitious targets come into play. However, make sure you’re still realistic with your target — you need to look at your metrics and indicators to see if it’s achievable. I have seen brands set ambitious targets but fail to plan their course of action and not consider how they will get there. This is just not helpful. It is important to set goals that you know deep down you are going to reach that set impossible ones with unrealistically high expectations.
TIP #6 - Develop a Plan
Set up a roadmap, identify easy wins, and put aside time to update your plan continuously. For example, for your one to two priorities, if you chose plastic and water usage – then you've noticed that maybe your brand currently uses a lot of water. Therefore, in the next year, one of the plans you can set is to switch up some of those materials for things that do not use as much water.
Conduct your research and take action. Be as detailed as possible with your plan, because the more details you put in the effort, the more likely you are going to be able to achieve it. Spend a few hours or spend a few days to sit down and think about this.
TIP #7 - Continuously Improve
I talked about this a little bit at the beginning already — sustainability is a journey. You are going to continuously be trying to do better so just know that you are not going to reach perfection in just a snap. Hence, you need to continuously look at where you and your brand are, where the industry is at, and where you're going.
Additionally, iterate this process and monitor your progress. You are not just having the roadmap and the target setup and then having it collect dust on a shelf. These are aspects you need to consciously improve on, tackle with your team, as well as have at the forefront of everyone's mind.
If you’d like help with your sustainability strategy, sustainability priorities, sourcing materials and manufacturers, reporting impacts, and communicating efforts to customers — we can work together through our Sustainability Consulting Services. Our team only works with a limited number of clients every year so if you’re interested in working together, you can request a complimentary consultation to see if it’s a fit to work together and create a tailored consulting package for your needs.
