Does everyone know what a B corp is ?

Anna Herman CEO , Eco Fashion Designer Herman's Eco INC.

January 24th, 2016

I have looked into it . Your corp would go on after you are gone. Its a people Planet Profit thing . I checked and they don't have them in Montana which is where I'm based. How many places do they have them ? Its important to watch your supply chain. I've had a lot of not so truthful suppliers over the years, but I continue to ask the hard questions.

Rachel Murray Co-Founder, Kind Eye & Co-Founder, She Geeks Out

January 25th, 2016

I love what the B Lab is doing. Not perfect but a step in the right direction. I completely understand where LanVy's coming from re: costs and pomp... unfortunately we live in a society where marketing does matter. It's nice that we can show some real work behind the marketing claims in a simpler way. B Lab helps consumers make choices that align with their own standards and without having to do hours of research (assuming the information is even available or true) and I'm all for it. If we can provide greater transparency and have a speedy way to identify the triple bottom line, I'm all for it. :)

Shel Horowitz I help organizations thrive by building social transformation into your products, your services, and your marketing

January 24th, 2016

Anna, B Corp has a good website that can help you. I think they are eager to spread to new areas. I talk about B Corps in my 10th book, Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World. Consumer packaged goods giant Unilever is pursuing B Corp certification.

Giles Crouch Digital Behavioural Economist | Speaker | Writer | Technology Strategist | on Twitter @Webconomist

January 24th, 2016

Almost all U.S. States now recognise a "BCorp"...it means People, Planet, Profit and is a way of running a business with greater transparency. First is people and recognising your employees and shareholders and respecting them and the human rights of people/employees. Second is planet and ensuring your business does not harm the planet (i.e chemical spills) and third is profit...yes, the purpose of a business is to make a profit and so should a B Corp...but it is having a business that doesn't sacrifice people and the planet in the process. Call it a new form of capitalism with a heart, unlike Trump and his ilk.

Michelle Hoexum principal at propeller

January 24th, 2016

BCorps are a growing force of good in the business world. There are two distinctions, a Benefit Corporation and a BCorp. The BCorp is a certification. You can be certified regardless of which state you operate. It is a scoring system, you must score at least 80 out of 200 on the assessment. More information can be found at bcorporation.net. A benefit corporation is a tax certification and not recognized in all states.

Ayelet Baron Author of Our Journey to Corporate Sanity: Transformational Stories from the Frontier of 21st Century Leadersh

January 24th, 2016

I have one of the founders of the B Corp movement and a few others in the book I am writing. I love what they are creating in the world. Half of the certified businesses are outside the US.

Shel Horowitz I help organizations thrive by building social transformation into your products, your services, and your marketing

January 26th, 2016

Marc Milgrom, thank you for your post. I was not aware that you could go through the assessment without applying for the certification (for which, as a non-incorporated sole proprietor, I don't qualify). I started the process and got a logon, but I'll wait until February to do it because they announced they're putting up a new version after this month. I expect it will be a nice tool to offer in tandem with the simpler assessments I designed to help my clients self-evaluate (which are available for use at no charge at http://impactwithprofit.com).

I do believe certifications and other 3rd-party validations make a difference. I've had a number of people comment that things like my Green America Gold Certification (I was the first business ever to get this, and had to train them how to work with a sole proprietor who has no employees), my induction into the National Environmental Hall of Fame, and the endorsements of my books by green biz experts like Joel Makower of GreenBiz and Jacquelyn Ottman, author of The New Rules of Green Marketing--as well as endorsements by marketing luminaries including Jack Canfield of the Chicken Soup Books and Seth Godin with his dozens of marketing best-sellers--influenced them to do business with me.

Doug Bend Legal Counsel For Entrepreneurs @DougBend • Real Estate Broker @BLGProperties

January 24th, 2016

Yahoo! Small Business Advisor published an article on this topic that you can review here.

Ajax Greene Providing expertise to emerging social entreprenuers

January 25th, 2016

I am a founding B Corp. In my belief this movement is the future of business. Just all the comments here seem on track. A Google search will bring of many articles etc.

Anna Herman CEO , Eco Fashion Designer Herman's Eco INC.

January 27th, 2016

Thats nice Shel . I use the Green America seal sometimes. Then my Fabric is Gots .Global organic something etc. They have a bunch of seals according to which country your selling in. I don't really understand them all. The one thing that works for me is that my customers are real aware .I'm sure some of yours know things that are green before you met them. They have taught me a lot . When I'm online I screen my contacts then if they promote fast fashion, I unfriend or unfollow them . I have a hope that I could get more people to go green but they seem to want me to change my values instead. I do like your books.

Marc Milgrom Business Manager at Bloomberg, LP

January 26th, 2016

To reiterate: the BLab questionnaire and methodology are FREE. Anyone can use them to benchmark what they are doing and only pay for the certification if they feel it's important.
Also, as a non-profit, the BLab fees are plowed back in to a) support their research and analysis, b) support audits (they do conduct them, the 10% audit rate is ANNUALLY, not ever), and c) advocacy. BLab's education and lobbying efforts are a major reason many states now have benefit corporations recognized in their statutes in the first place.
Finally, the BLab founders are true believers: as entrepreneurs who walked the talked on social consciousness and were then sued by an investor for not taking the highest bid regardless of the bidder's social commitment, they wanted to change the landscape. They know they aren't perfect, but they are improving the status quo.

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