Want to build a business with purpose beyond profit? It’s time to get strategic
Having a strong social impact mission has always been good for the communities and world around us – and in the 2020s it’s essential for a thriving business too. But there’s a huge difference between doing a charity bike ride here and there and being a truly aligned, purpose-driven business that will change people’s lives for the better.

By Rob Wolfe - CHY Consultancy
At CHY Consultancy we’ve had almost two decades-worth of experience helping businesses develop social value strategies that make a real difference. The bit most people don’t realise? Often you have all the tools you need at your disposal already. The trick is understanding where your biggest impact lies.
Where can you have the most influence?
Zoopla is one of the UK’s leading property websites. What do they have in abundance? Housing data. By partnering with homelessness charity Crisis, they’ve carried out a joint market analysis to show the availability of low-cost rentals for people claiming housing benefit – with a view to changing government policy. They’ve also created guidance for agents and landlords, used their sizable online presence to promote Crisis fundraising campaigns, and contributed hundreds of volunteer days.
By channeling their efforts into a single cause that makes sense for their business, using resources that are already in the business, they are having a far greater impact on homelessness in the UK.
Your business is probably very different to Zoopla. But by working out your business values – what you really stand for – and how this fits with the resources you have, you can devise a strategy for having a real impact in the world.
What assets do you already have in your business you can use to help others?
A small rehearsal studio in Leeds, The Old Chapel, wanted to do more good things for the community. They weren’t a big company like Zoopla, and they didn’t have a lot of spare cash. What they did have were studios that were mainly used by their customers in the evenings – leaving them with empty rooms in the day. By offering this space out to community groups and letting them use their equipment, they brought the gift of music to hundreds of young and disadvantaged people in the city. This move has been incredibly successful – and has led to the formation of the charity Leeds Music Trust.
What do you have in your business that others could benefit from? What levers can you pull on to make good things happen? What product or service could be repurposed to have a positive social impact?
Here are a few ideas to get you started.
- Procurement – can you choose more ethical products? Work with VCSE suppliers or those with strong social value credentials?
- Existing resources – can you share your real estate, data, access, or in-house skills with a community? Can your assets be repurposed to benefit someone who really needs them?
- Your end product or service – is there a way to make it more environmentally friendly, repurpose it to tackle a social challenge and/or make it more accessible?
- Partnerships – do your partners, clients and investors align with your mission? Can you work together to enable even more social impact?
How do we know when it’s working?
Tracking is a good start! Recording your good work is helpful for so many things – as well as allowing you to quantify and build on your impact each year, it helps you communicate what you’re doing to stakeholders and customers, means you can submit a powerful social value response in tenders, and will inspire and motivate your workforce too.
But how do you know when your purpose has truly become part of your working culture?
At CHY we say if it’s really working, your purpose should be considered in every business decision you make. Nothing gets signed off without the question being posed: what is this doing to further our cause?
That doesn’t mean that you will never go against it – businesses still need to profit to survive and there will always be a balance to strike. But if you’re always asking the question, and finding a way whenever you can? That’s how you change the world for the better.
Contact us
We’d be delighted to hear from you. The Enterprise Works team can be contacted via:
enterprise-works
+44 (0)1904 321420
@@UoYEntWorks
LinkedIn
Contact us
We’d be delighted to hear from you. The Enterprise Works team can be contacted via:
enterprise-works
+44 (0)1904 321420
@@UoYEntWorks
LinkedIn