Giving Compass' Take:

• Karry Schwettmann describes how companies pursuing a triple bottom line - profits, people, and the environment - can maximize their odds of success by employing compound impact skills. 

• Can philanthropy play a role in identifying opportunities for compound impact? 

• Read an investors guide to B Corps and Benefit Corporations.

Purpose-driven companies going for the “triple bottom line” not only care about profits but also about the people and the environment they affect with their business. These companies face a greater challenge than conventional businesses because the product needs to sustain an organization as well as the mission behind it.

When talking in numbers and business calculations as we know them, nine times out of 10, the interests of profit conflict with the interests of people and planet.

This is why social and sustainable companies (SSCs) face stiff headwinds when competing in markets where conventional businesses and low-priced products are the biggest competition. Under these circumstances, how can SSCs successfully outpace the field?

One option is to level up compound impact skills. There are two key factors for a successful compound impact strategy: the project (or actions) you invest in and the duration of the project.

Rigorously focusing on important actions, however small, leads to a second and third level of effects in the long run. In the best case, these effects will lead you to reach your goal faster.

One example is the social enterprise WakaWaka, a Certified B Corporation, that produces solar powered devices and tackles energy poverty. By providing solar power, WakaWaka aims to reduce the issues of energy poverty—health risks, environmental contamination, and low education levels—in a clean, sustainable and safe way.

But the compound impact effect of solar-powered light and energy unfolds, especially in the long run. By providing light so children can study after sundown and reducing the health risks from use of kerosene lamps, the country’s overall well-being improves along with its economy.

The compound impact results from picking the right project — tackling the cause first — and having the patience to wait for the (impactful) results to show. SSCs are inherently patient and persevering and know that important changes take time.

Read the full article about the triple bottom line by Karry Schwettmann at B the Change.