The Existential Wet Fish to the Face Moment
Tim Jones
That B Corp Bloke | growgood.co
Tim Jones is a leading global B Corp consultant (and New Zealand’s first qualified) based in Christchurch. To date, he has assisted a third of the New Zealand B Corp community on their journey to certification.
We’ve all probably experienced that moment in time when out of nowhere the universe comes and gives you one right in the guts.
It’s what I call the ‘Existential Wet Fish To The Face Moment’ (EWFFM). After the sale of the basketball apparel company AND1 in 2005, Jay Coen-Gilbert consolidated his EWFFM that had started in 2001.
The near-miss of his sister being pulled out of the rubble on 9/11, followed by one of his team members at AND1 and then his father passing away, were the EWFFMs that made him stop and think.
Reflection led him to see that profit maximisation in business didn’t make sense. The damage that can do wasn’t worth it.
He sought a way for businesses to be more accountable for their actions. In 2006, he launched B Corp in the United States – a new form of business that seeks to balance purpose and profit and is willing to be held accountable for this.
Rather than solely focusing on profit maximisation, they must consider the impact of their operations on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.
That’s why the B stands for Benefit. What benefit do you provide beyond making money?
Today, B Corps are leaders of a global movement of business committed to being a force for good.
To get the B Certification, businesses must meet verified higher levels of transparency and accountability regarding their social and environmental performance.
However, beyond this, it’s also a movement, community, and guide for maximising your business’s positive impact.
A recent insights report demonstrated that B Corps outperformed ‘ordinary’ businesses in terms of topline growth, and around the world, B Corps were significantly more likely to survive the pandemic.
It’s great to see such an amazing selection of my fellow local ‘Bs’ showcased in this edition, as Christchurch is the spiritual home of B Corp in Aotearoa.
That’s perhaps due to the large number of Cantabrians who had an EWFFM in 2010/2011. I certainly know I did.
It’s what led me to discover B Corp and reach out to Steve Ardagh (CEO of New Zealand’s first B Corp, Christchurch-based Eagle Protect) so I could understand more about B. Hopefully this edition of Avenues will help you also understand the benefits of being a B Corp.