Why Partner with a Double Bottom Line (DBL) Company: Drive Profit & Purpose

Today, customers are getting smarter and more aware of what's good for them and what's not. Running a profitable business won't last long in today's time if it does not serve positive value socially and environmentally. Research says that 65% of customers boycott or don't buy from a brand that doesn't align with their personal values. 77% of customers prefer to buy from a brand that understands their inner values and makes the world a better place to live.

A quote by Henry Ford says,” A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.”

Today, every business is affecting the environment and society in some way. This is where the double bottom line concept comes as a helpful option to have a perfect balance of profit and social impact.

This is why big brands like Reliance, TCS, Myntra, etc follow the double bottom line concept and use sustainable methods of business like using paper bags and more.

This article discusses about the double bottom line concept and its benefits and will help you to implement it right and choose the best DBL partner according to your business state.

Most of the businesses have not heard about the bottom line concept as it is rarely discussed. So, let's first get into the basics of the DBL concept.

What is the Double Bottom Line Concept? How Was It Discovered?

The double bottom line is a business strategy or a concept that considers business success by how it creates a positive impact socially along with the financial profit. As most of businesses are concerned about making money blindly, they forget how their business affects their customers socially and the overall planet.

The double bottom line concept is for everyone’s betterment. Its goal is to make the world a better place that balances business profit and customers’ personal values.

So, how did the double bottom concept get started?

The double bottom line concept came into the market due to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement in the 1960s. The purpose of this movement was to encourage businesses to think beyond profit and contribute towards society in any small step they can.

In the 1960s, businesses and investors started to realize that making money wasn’t their only responsibility. The corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement motivated companies to support social causes, protect the environment, and follow useful business practices to run them ethically.

The person named Jed Emerson plays an important role in creating awareness of the DBL concept and promoting this idea. He introduced the "blended value" framework at Harvard School, which highlights how financial, social, and environmental impacts are interconnected and why it's a win-win situation for both business and customers for a long-term healthy relationship.

Let's take a look at double bottom-line examples to get more clarity!

Examples of Double Bottom Line Companies in Various Industries

• There are many big companies around us using the double bottom line concept. You might have seen PNG advertisements on TV. It donates a specific amount of profit to schools and communities, helping poor and rural area children to study. This is the best example of creating a valuable business while contributing towards social causes.
• Reliance Industries invests in renewable energy projects like solar, hydrogen, and much more to reduce environmental pollution. Other than this, it also supports and donates to many schools, healthcare, and development.
• Tata Group is known for ethical business practices. We all know Ratan Tata was a man of words. Tata Group has always developed affordable products, keeping middle-class customers in mind.
• Unilever- The company uses ethical practices and promotes eco-friendly packaging by reducing plastic waste.
• Salesforce and Patagonia donate 1% of their profits to environmental causes.

Other than this, there are a lot of companies all over the world that are contributing and creating a positive impact.

Key Benefits of Partnering with a Double Bottom Line Company

Partnering with a double-bottom-line company will always be beneficial because everything that is invested for a noble cause never gets wasted. It always comes in a multiplied form.

#1. Financial Growth + Positive Impact

By partnering with DBL, you are investing in a good cause so that your customers will recognize you as a good company that cares about social responsibility. This attracts more customers towards your business and ultimately creates a positive business environment.

#2. Stronger Brand Reputation

When you think about customers and other social issues, they think about your brand. Customers and investors usually prefer socially responsible businesses, so if you collaborate with DBL, this will create a trustworthy and reputed impression like Adani, Tata, and Birla have. Customers buy the products more which are donated for a social or environmental cause. Because they know it's not for their personal profit.

#3. Sustainable Long-Term Success

Business done with ethics and positive intention definitely gives better returns. This helps to build loyal customers and attract more investors. In the end, it is a give-and-take relationship that steadily grows the business and maintains the long-term relationship.

#4. Competitive Advantage

It boosts your corporate social responsibility and makes your business unique by aligning with global sustainability goals. When you get the tag of DBL company or partner, it gives your business a good jump over other competitors.

Apart from this, it has many benefits like-

• This will attract Eco-friendly organization partnerships to your business
• Clear and positive business image
• Higher customer retention rates
• Helps to reduce carbon footprint and overall negative impacts on the planet
• Opens more doors of finances

How a DBL Partner Can Add Value to Your Business?

Here is how a DBL partner adds value and goodness to your business!

#1. Ethical Supply Chain & Operations

DBL partner helps to ensure fair labor practices, eco-friendly processes, and ethical sourcing. This includes using sustainable materials, reducing waste, and treating workers fairly.

#2. Community Engagement & Social Responsibility

DBL companies usually participate in social work and support local communities through education, healthcare, and environmental initiatives. By investing in social programs and charitable efforts, your business can build stronger relationships with customers, employees, and stakeholders.

#3. Innovation with Purpose

DBL partners are concerned about making business useful to customers, socially, economically, and eco-friendly. Hence, they can help to create products/services that solve real issues of the customers. It can be about anything, like developing sustainable packaging, eco-friendly tech, or ethical AI solutions.

This helps to create a meaningful business.

#4. Data-Driven Impact Measurement

DBL companies track social and financial performance by using data analytics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the business impact. This helps to understand how well they are balancing profit and social good and making decisions accordingly.

How to Implement a Double Bottom Line Strategy?

If you want to use the double bottom-line strategy, here is how you can use it.

#1. Identifying the Right Partner

First, select the right DBL partner. Discuss your business objectives, finances, and working method to the DBL partner and understand how they create social and financial balance between this. Ask questions about their impact goals, sustainability efforts, and success stories. Check their level of transparency, ethical practices, and commitment to long-term change before finalizing the DBL partner.

#2. Measuring Impact

Once you have chosen the DBL partner. It's your responsibility to track the result. You can use KPI or Tools like B Corp certification, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) metrics, and sustainability reports to see the progress and stay in touch with the stakeholders.

#3. Integrating DBL into Business Operations

Before you connect DBL with your business operations, your company’s core strategy must align with it. What you can do is:

• Set clear social and environmental goals and align them with your business model
• Involve all employees in the process
• Ask stakeholders to create ethical supply chains, sustainable practices, and community-driven projects for long-term success

How to Choose the Right Double Bottom Line Partner?

Choosing the right double-bottom-line partner is crucial because the way they work and the strategies they follow impact your image, finances, and social reputation in every way. Follow this thing to choose the wise one.

1. You must be 100% sure about their clear mission, ethical business practices, and sustainable operation. The company must focus purely on both profit and social impact. Because loss is not an affordable option.
2. You must ask these questions before selecting any DBL partner:

• How do you balance profit and social impact?
• What sustainability and ethical policies do you follow?
• How do you engage with local communities and employees?
• What is your approach to long-term social responsibility?

Real-World Case Studies of Double Bottom Line Success

Let's read a case study of a leading brand, Patagonia, to know how it implemented the DBL concept and the results it got.

Patagonia is an American clothing and gear company founded in 1973 by Yvon Chouinard. Being a clothing company, they are definitely harming the trees and other natural resources on the earth. And it's normal; every business is doing the same in some or another way. But the thing is, Patagonia has continuously prioritized sustainability while maintaining a strong business model.

Here is how they use the double bottom line concept:

• They donates 1% of its profit to environmental causes. Plus, they also use recycled resources and ethical source clothes in the supply chain.
• In 2019, Patagonia gave away all of its $10 million tax savings to support environmental causes.
• They offers fair wages, safe working conditions, and responsible manufacturing through its partnership with the Fair Trade Certified™ program.
• They mention environmental policies on their clothing brand to motivate customers to buy only what's needed to prevent unnecessary resource use.
• The company introduced the Worn Wear program, which repairs and resells used Patagonia clothes. The aim of this program was to promote sustainability and reduce waste.

Impact & Success Patagonia Got After Using the DBL Concept

It boosted brand loyalty, increased revenue, and made significant environmental contributions. This motivated other businesses by showing that businesses can be both profitable and socially responsible.

Patagonia sets an inspiring example for companies worldwide to adopt the double-bottom-line approach.

Challenges and Solutions

Apart from the positive side of DBL, there are also a few challenges that many businesses face while implementing. Here they are.

• Balancing short-term financial goals with long-term social impact: If you are a company that is looking to have profit quickly in a shorter time, then the DBL concept might not be suitable for you. Because sustainability and social impact takes time.
• Measuring and communicating the value of DBL initiatives: If you don't track KPI, result, and business data via tools, then you might face problems to show your social contribution to customers and investors.

But You Can Solve This by

• Setting clear goals and metrics for success.
• Using technology and Certifications like B Corp and ESG frameworks and data to track impact.

Conclusion: The Future of Business is Double Bottom Line

Now you might have understood why DBL is useful for retaining customers, improving reputation, and creating a good image in the market. In short, DBL can be the best choice to drive business in the right direction.

If the business is not run ethically, then it could lead to a shortage of resources. Every business is using some or other resource of the environment in any way such as air, water, heat, and other energies. If the DBL concept is not followed, the planet may be affected badly, and resources can be replenished. This indirectly affects business.

DBL partnerships are the best way to do business in a profitable and positive way. DBL partnership is one type of business strategy that enhances user experience and makes the brand impression stronger. If you want to balance customer, business profit, and social progress, let's talk about DBL partnership and create a good impact. 

Balancing profit and purpose is not an easy thing to do, but the right digital solution can make a difference. See how we have helped our client develop a mobile app that balances profit and social good.

Frequently Asked Questions

#1. Does working with a DBL partner mean sacrificing profits?

No, working with a DBL partner does not cause sacrificing profits. Instead, it helps in better financial growth with time with higher customer trust, better brand reputation, and long-lasting customers.

#2. Can small businesses benefit from DBL partnerships?

Yes, DBL partnerships can help you gain more customers by achieving social and financial goals at the same time. This helps to have a good start in the market with ethical practices and a good image.

#3. How do DBL partnerships help with employee retention?

Employees love to work with companies who think about social as well as other people rather than just thinking about profit. A safe working environment and ethical values make employees valued hence, they are most likely to stay with such companies that care emotionally rather than just making money.

#4. How do I measure the impact of a DBL partner?

Here, the bottom line means business. You can measure the impact of DBL partners by checking the financial and social impact it made. Financial growth is the first line that includes revenue growth, profitability, return on investment (ROI), market share, and customer acquisition cost.

The second bottom line includes social growth, which includes the number of jobs the business created, community development projects, and environmental benefits like less use of carbon footprints, waste reduction, and other sustainable practices.

• Other than this, get regular reports from your DBL partner.
• Conduct surveys, feedback, third-party audit, monitoring and track KPI using tools.

#5. What are some successful companies that follow the DBL model?

There is a long list of companies using the DBL model; below are just some famous names:

• Patagonia (Sustainability & ethical sourcing)
• Tata Group (Community development & responsible business)
• Grameen Bank (Financial inclusion & poverty reduction)
• Tesla (Clean energy & innovation)
• Unilever (Sustainable consumer products)

#6. How do I get started with a DBL partnership?

Get started with DBL partnership by doing these steps:

• Identify companies that fit into your values and business goals
• Research their social impact initiatives, sustainability efforts, and ethical practices
• Ask about their impact measurement methods
• Analyse their transparent accountability standards

#7. How can partnering with a DBL company help mitigate risks related to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) compliance?

This can help to mitigate risks because you can access sustainable practices like responsible supply chains, community engagement, and environmental impact measurement to align business with changing ESG standards and regulations. This eventually helps to reduce the risk of reputational damage, legal penalties, and investor concerns.

Vaibhav Patel

Project Manager

Vaibhav Patel is a project manager with expertise in web development, API development, Laravel/PHP/WordPress/Node/Perl development, database management, server management (AWS/ Microsoft Azure), mobile app development and Agile practitioner.