11 Ways Investing in Impact Helps Your Business

You’ve bought into the idea that investing in your business is a good idea. You’ve seen the results in action, the return on investment.

ROI is by no means a guarantee. It never is. You do your due diligence and research, and then you decide if it’s worth the calculated risk for the return you want.

What is guaranteed, though, is that without investment - of time, energy, and money - there is no return.

The decision to invest in a strategic shift can be most challenging, because the benefits are often delayed. Why do it? Because strategy drives everything in your business.

Your commitment to a strategic approach that is focused on impact is at the heart of your decision to invest in it.

So why invest in impact? Here are 11 reasons, 11 ways you’ll reap the returns:

1. Companies that focus on impact have 12-14 times more income than those that focus only on profit. They even perform better than best practices companies in Jim Collins’ Good to Great

2. You have distinctive positioning. This is especially important for crowded markets and those with established and well-regarded players. Both millennials and over-40s are drawn to companies with a higher purpose, by knowing that their purchases matter. People are increasingly willing to look at products and services not just as commodities, but as the opportunity to have a high value experience grounded in impact and the ability to contribute themselves just by supporting impact-focused companies.

3. You attract the best people, ones that are motivated by your mission. That means an engaged workforce. People are inspired to perform above and beyond, to bring themselves more fully into their work. Fulfilling work, where we spend so much of our days, helps us have a fulfilling life.

4. You reduce the churn of employee departures. You avoid money and knowledge lost due to increased turnover and the loss of valued employees It’s a renewing wheel where you retain valuable employees in the older age range with their wealth of experience and promising young performers too, and bring in even more engaged people into your workforce, and potentially even new customers as engaged employees become brand ambassadors.

5. You thrive with a higher purpose. What helps you get through those challenging times is a bigger picture, a greater contribution that you are willing to make. So you move through obstacles more easily, you stay motivated to move through them, and you don’t waste a lot of time and energy wishing things were different.

6. You avoid commoditization. For people aligned with your vision of impact, a purchase from your company becomes a moral and ethical decision, not just a cost comparison.

7. When you don’t invest in impact, you remain trapped in the profit economy, which is dying along with the companies in it, at a faster and faster rate. A move to the impact economy, with a pivot in your company to focus on impact, helps you be sustainable.

8. You nurture a company culture that helps people flourish. We all want to contribute to something bigger than ourselves. We don’t want to just be a cog in a wheel that churns out products and services. We want to know that what we do matters. With impact in mind, we elevate day-to-day work to this enhanced level of contribution and creativity. We work together to achieve that.

9. You create value for all stakeholders. This happens at multiple levels: financial, employees, suppliers, investors, and your community.

10. Your company has enhanced market valuation. Your financial performance is directly related to impact. Even if you’re not building to sell, increased market valuation can give you leverage with investors.

11. You make a difference. You have more opportunities to innovate, build, and contribute. Companies can do good in the world. You can contribute beyond money, to your employees, to customers, and the larger world, with an impact focus.

It’s not enough to think that impact is a good idea. You have to commit to it on a strategic level. You have to invest in it.

Impact is where your business meets the world and makes it a better place. True leaders value the well-being of all. Invest in making your company impactful.