Just a little off the top

I am basically a bald guy.   This is news only to me – the expansion of my forehead has been steady and entirely visible to all. Still, the power of denial is strong, if not infinitely so. It is undeniably cold up there these days. 

 

The darkest irony: less hair necessitates more haircuts. If I don’t keep it neatly trimmed, I end up looking like Dilbert’s pointy-haired boss.   It is fortunate, then, that I am very fond of my barber, Greg Zrust. His technical skills are excellent, but more important, he’s a pleasure to see every few weeks, and a source of informed opinion on a wide range of topics. 

 

This is not a shameless plug for Greg (and I’d rather not think about plugs in my sensitive state). Rather, Greg and I have been discussing – you guessed it – the Hill Center during our increasingly-frequent meetings. Last time, Greg raised some interesting questions: essentially, he wanted to know whether all this social responsibility stuff might be of any value to him, a self-employed barber? How could his extremely small business profitably apply the principles I’m developing and espousing (and espousing, and espousing, and espousing)? If I didn’t have some answers, I wouldn’t be blogging…

 

Recall that I tend to think of social responsibility in terms of stakeholder relationships.  Specifically, the key questions concern how well sound ethical principles are embedded in the organization and the degree to which those principles guide an organization’s actions with respect to its stakeholders, those whom the organization touches. These include owners and shareholders, as well as employees, customers, vendors, partners, and the communities in which a company does business, including the natural environment.  I advocate creative business strategies that improve relationships with those entities in ways which measurably benefit the business. Can we sensibly apply this approach to a self-employed barber (or a hair stylist, or an esthetician…)?

 

The suspense is killing you, isn’t it?

 

Of course we can! Stakeholder relationships and social responsibility become especially relevant as we look for ways to sustain and grow those very small businesses.  So as not to embarrass Greg, let’s consider how a hypothetical colleague, Sandy the Stylist, might grow her business. 

 

Sandy is self-employed, and rents space from a salon, where she shares walk-in business and does her turn at the chores, but otherwise is on her own.   As we shall see Sandy has some opportunities to invest in social responsibility in ways that pay off. We shall begin with the obvious stakeholder, the customer.  There are many opportunities to explore:

More generally, Sandy can capture the business value of her efforts through improved customer satisfaction and retention, as well as referrals. These are easily measured, and they are the keys to her business. In fact, as Sandy builds stronger relationships with customers, she should call on them to give her candid feedback to help her continue to improve her business.

 

While Sandy doesn’t have employees, she does have vendors, including product suppliers and the salon owner from whom she rents space. She also both cooperates and competes with that owner, and with her other salon-mates.   Basic rules of fairness should govern these relationships, but there might also be some written terms to assure clarity and mutual understanding. When problems or tensions arise, there should also be candid, constructive conversations to address and resolve them. Does Sandy take the lead in resolving conflicts and finding win-win solutions to problems?   Do Sandy and her salon owner have a clear understanding – in writing - about how revenues and costs are divided?  

 

The environment is a hot topic, for good reasons. Sandy may have considerable opportunities to green up her practice:

Sandy can often probably recoup the cost of her efforts simply by reducing waste. She can also market her services to customers who truly care about the environment. Buying a company Prius? Maybe…

 

We can all take time to support the community, but for someone in Sandy’s position, time is truly money. Getting involved in community activities that are generally of interest to her will also yield networking opportunities to grow her business. She can make charitable contributions that result in marketing exposure (like, sponsoring a blog on commercially-savvy social responsibility, for example).  She can spend some of that chair time sharing worthy events of interest to her customers.   She might even use her Website to highlight worthy social causes or upcoming events of interest to her customers. Low cost stuff, with the potential for reasonably high impact.

 

I could go on, but I will spare you. My point should be obvious by now: almost anyone in business can find ways to integrate socially responsible practices into their business, in ways that will pay off commercially as well as socially. It isn’t about becoming a paragon of virtue. It is about creativity and commitment to ongoing improvement.