Sustainability: When?

When to think about sustainability in your product or service development process? Currently it is an after thought - after the finances, operations and marketing aspects of the product are sketched out, one turns to sustainability to see IF it can be somehow fitted in.

But if sustainability must become a profitable path for your business, it must be as foundational as finance, operations and marketing. It will affect the very nature of your core offering, how it will be developed/produced, its sourcing and cost, and hence the need to make it a foundational pillar of the new product development process.

Why? Imagine making a fruit spread that can rate high on sustainability. Your plans will need to consider things like sourcing of raw fruits from regenerative farms, utilising a processing technique which minimises waste, using a packaging which is not excessive and is reusable/ recyclable. As you can imagine, all of these aspects will affect your operations, marketing and financial strategy.

Only when sustainability is deeply ingrained in your offering will you see its positive impacts on your business in the form of lower cost (lower production, transport cost), better revenue (justified premiumness) and/or higher brand equity (exclusivity, trend setting).