Sustaining SMEs
Turn your ESG intentions into reality
Chances are your ESG initiatives are dominated by a focus on the environment. But there are immediate steps you can take to meet Sustainable Development Goals related to Social and Governance, especially if:
-
You are looking to balance your company’s large material environmental impact by supporting the
communities you operate in,
or - Your company has a small environmental impact, so you are looking to demonstrate your stewardship of sustainability in other ways
Small & Medium Enterprises make up the bulk of companies and employers, and a substantial proportion of GDP – yet they all face two intractable challenges, and they need your help.
Programs that aim to foster self-sufficiency and entrepreneurship often miss these two crucial issues:
CASH FLOW
IP PROTECTION
You can play your part to safeguard these by taking material but easy-to-implement measures. Lead-to-cash efficiency and Intellectual Property Rights protection are linked directly to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:
8.3 – Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services1
12.7 – Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities2.
Small- and Medium Enterprises are the well-spring of many creative products and services – yet their ability to innovate sustainably is severely curtailed by idea theft.
Anybody who has ever pitched a product or service to a prospect has had a bad experience: they weren’t awarded the contract, but soon saw their innovation shamelessly used without their authorization or consent. They did not receive either an economic benefit nor any personal recognition for their innovation.. Soon, the prospect develops a bad reputation in the market for not respecting the IP rights of suppliers. This results in lower quality pitches from fewer suppliers, who increasingly charge pitch fees to protect themselves. But this shuts them out from many bids, costing them business. Stop the cycle by raising awareness and educating all of your organisation’s staff who receive pitches in how to treat the intellectual property (IP) of current and prospective vendors.
How we can help
Participants learn how to:
- Create the right pre-conditions to receive vendor IP.
- Safeguard the IP of vendors once their pitch has been received.
- Warehouse, monitor and audit vendor IP.
- Communicate your IP policy to internal and external stakeholders.
We provide:
- Training for staff members who receive IP from vendors concerning its proper receipt, use, and treatment in how to properly receive, treat, store and use their IP.
- Templates for your website and email correspondence with vendors, highlighting your care and concern for their IP.
- Independent IP perception audit of your vendors and our community.
- Certification statement for your sustainability report.
- Brand pack with logos and text for your website and email signature.
- Recorded video testimonials with key suppliers.
- Branded IP submission portal
Why you should say ‘yes’ today:
- Real impact – the issues identified in this document are real, daily struggles for millions of SMEs across the world.
- Scalable – we can reach many SMEs, and when they are better off the benefits flow to their staff and their families, and the wider community.
- Value for money – our fees are reasonable.
- Risk free – The courses are self-contained and do not require additional courses, paraphernalia or software for participants to get maximum value
Where will your money go?
- Expertise - Nothing of value comes for free. We must compensate the domain experts who support our programs.
- Outreach - we will alert SMEs to the outreach program and your support.
- Promotion - we will raise awareness among your core constituency.