Sustainability of business has been an important issue for many people, especially in the business

world. Businesses must be aware of the issue at hand and understand how important it is to make
changes.

Sustainability in business practices Pushed by growing demands from consumers for products and
services that cause minimal effects to the ecosystems, corporations have shown interest in bringing
sustainability aspects to the core of the business. https://www.co2australia.com.au/why-is-
sustainability-important-for-business

Environmental Sustainability Environmental sustainability can be applied in many ways, such as

creating alternative routes in a production process to reduce waste generation and increase water
and energy efficiencies. Investment in renewable energy is also growing momentum among big
organizations, with many building their own solar or wind farms, in order to phase out the
consumption of fossil fuels and reduce their carbon emissions.

Sustainability and employment Businesses with strategies that are sustainable in the long run pay
their workers’ salaries and benefits that allow them to live a sustainable life within their community.
This builds loyalty within the organization, benefiting the company through increased productivity
and creativity, as well as lower levels of fraud and mismanagement. Besides, when organizations look
to improve the health and well-being of communities, they are able to motivate employees who are
genuinely interested in contributing to the success of the business.
Importance of establishing and sustaining businesses as a source of job opportunities:

• Investors invest on your products which are the necessities of people Upon investment on
products, there is a need to manufacture more and keep up with the demands of the investing
company, thus, there is a need to hire more people for the industry.

• Commerce and regional economic integration When new businesses export goods and services
to nearby regions, these enterprises contribute directly to a region’s productivity and earnings.
Having this type of production and rise in services, it promotes job considering that businesses
involve needs more people for production

• New technologies are created and utilized In the height of progress in some businesses,
technology always earns it place. We need modernization for the fast-pace production and efficiency
of labor. In this thought, more skilled and knowledgeable workers from the field are needed to sustain
the demands of technology.

According to David Jones and Chelsea Willness, there are 3 Reasons why sustainability attracts job seekers.
Among these are as follows:

Sustainability draws job seekers because it’s a source of employee’s pride Sustainability actions
often lift a company’s reputation and status, leading many job seekers to believe they’d feel proud to
work for a prestigious organization admired for its sustainability. Reinforce that anticipated sense of
pride by creating and celebrating a distinctive reputation for sustainability.

Sustainability draws job seekers because it implies the company cares about
its employees. To some job seekers, sustainability initiatives suggest that if a company genuinely
cares about the well-being of the greater society, it would therefore stand to reason that it likely treats
its employees well. Reinforce the belief that the company cares about society and the planet more
generally, and link this to your people practices.

Sustainability connects organizational values to job seekers' personal values. Job seekers want
an employer whose values are a good fit with their own. More than three decades of research shows
that the match a person feels with an organization is a major driver of job choice decisions. Clearly
link your sustainability initiatives to specific organizational values and demonstrate their
authenticity. David Jones and Chelsea Willness. Published June 7, 2013
https://www.nbs.net/articles/three-reasons-job-seekers-prefer-sustainable

Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) The social enterprise movement is growing and gathering
supporters across the globe as an innovative approach to business activity offering disadvantaged
populations a path to human development and economic prosperity. There is increasing recognition
among businesses, governments, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that their
participation in these initiatives can lead to substantial benefits for disadvantaged and underserved
populations, while simultaneously providing opportunities for income generation (Nielsen and
Samia, 2008). The SRI movement can be said to have taken off in 1970, when the first shareholder
resolutions were filed against companies investing or working under the apartheid regime in South
Africa. By the 1980, billions of dollars had been diverted from South Africa related companies. They
were forced to sell their operations in South Africa. The US government enacted statutes, such as the
Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, banning new investments in
5 South Africa. All over the world similar actions were taking place. In response to the growing concern
about environmental issues, “green” unit trusts arrived in 1988 with the launch of the Merlin Ecology Fund
(now the Jupiter Ecology Fund). Other environmental funds soon followed. In the beginning of the 1990s
the first social index was created by the social research firm of Kinder, Lydenberg, Domini & Co., Inc. (KLD):
Domini 400 Social Index. In creating the Index, KLD started by screening the companies in the Standard &
Poor’s 500 Index at that time, eliminating those companies that failed to qualify under the exclusionary
and qualitative screens. The Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS), part of the Co-operative Movement, was
the first financial service organization in the UK that adopted an ethical policy for all its funds, the so-called
Responsible Shareholding Scheme. In the United States, there are about 230 mutual funds that follow SRI
strategies in their investment process.

Additionally, the rise of social indexes as counterparts to the traditional, exclusively financial indices will
give ethical investment a further boost. In 1999, the Dow Jones Sustainability Group Indexes (one global
index, three regional indexes and one country index covering the US) were launched and in 2001, the
arrival of the FTSE4GOOD index marks a further move of SRI into mainstream investment (Broadhurst et
al., 2005). Socially responsible investments, thus have a special role to play in alleviating poverty, creating
empowerment, and establishing entitlement at the grassroots level of socioeconomic development. They
require easily accessible, low cost, and amenable funds and technology that can be sustained in the long-
term rather than be some quick-fix solution. The end point of many social enterprises is a participatory
socioeconomic transformation in which not only the non-competing poor and needy cooperate with each
other, but also meaningful relations are created between the resourceful and the needy to enhance
community well-being (Choudhury et al., 2008).

Financial Freedom

Job creation, good investments, sustainability will always lead to financial freedom of every people,
local community and the whole society. Financial freedom according ETMONEY Blog is, “having
enough residual income to cover your living expenses. It is not about being rich and having tons of
money but having enough to cover your expenses so that you can spend your precious time doing
what you like rather than doing things just to earn money.” Nowadays, it is so difficult for us to achieve
financial freedom although we are earning money especially if we are burdened with growing debt,
6 unexpected cash emergencies, wildly extravagant spending, medical emergencies and other issues that
hampers us to achieve it.

According to Matt Danielsson, there are 12 ways to help us in achieving financial freedom. Among of these
are as follows:

1. Set Life Goals Every person must have a clear plan of his/her life and that includes checking your
bank account, what the lifestyle entails, and at what age this should be achieved. Your goals must be
written down so that you can prepare and establish a financial milepost at regular intervals.

2. Make a Budget Most of us fail in making a budget. What you will do is to list down all your monthly
dues and make a monthly budget for all your expenses. You must stick to your budget and do not
make unnecessary purchases.

3. Pay Off Credit Cards in Full Credit Cards are toxic to wealth – building. When you go to malls
although you do not have money, you will be tempted to swipe because of your existing credit card.
See to it that those purchases must be paid in full at the end of the month to avoid any interests and
fees.

4. Create Automatic Savings There are retirement plan, insurances, and other contribution benefits.
Enroll in these benefits so that you can have an automatic withdrawal in case of emergencies.

5. Start Investing Now Take note that there has been no better way to grow your money than through
investing. The beauty of compounded interest can make your money grow exponentially over time,
but you need to wait to achieve meaningful growth.

6. Watch Your Credit Do not acquire what you cannot afford. Always keep track of all your credits so
that you will have no burden in paying all of them.

7. Negotiate You must know how to negotiate things especially in buying stuff from small businesses.
Sometimes, spending huge money in big groceries is not practical compared in spending money in
markets. All you need to do is negotiate in buying bulk or repeated orders so that you can avail
discounts.

8. Continuous Education Knowledge is always the greatest defense against fraud. If you have
knowledge, they cannot just fool you. You will know how to track your transactions, you will know
how to audit, and you will also know that will help protect your rights.

9. Proper Maintenance Taking good care of your properties can make them last long. Maintaining
the properties is better and more practical than buying a new one.

10. Live Below Your Means Being economical while living a life to the fullest is not a hard thing to
do. Live like a poor but earn like a rich. Do not wish for something you cannot afford especially if you
want it right away. Patience is always a virtue.

11. Get a Financial Advisor If you have lots of money yet they are not as readily available to convert
to cash- get a financial advisor to educate and help you make decisions.

12. Take Care of Your Health Health will always be a wealth especially in this time of Pandemic.
Many wealthy people, companies go bankrupt because the owner got sick and the money that is
intended for the business is now used as buying the maintenance. Invest in good health with regular
check-ups to doctors and dentists. Other companies have a limited sick days and others will even
mark you absent which will lead to loss of income. Ailments make insurance premiums skyrocket and
poor health may force earlier retirement with a lower monthly income.