We’re incredibly proud of the fact we’ve recently been accredited with a B-Corp certification. It’s been a great way to kick start 2026 and allows us to be recognised not just for our hard-work and dedication to digital marketing but also to our people and the planet. We feel it’s only fair for us to share the journey and offer some tips on how you could achieve B-Corp accreditation.
For the last fifteen months we’ve been working around the clock to ensure we have all the correct paperwork, reports and evidence to show we’re following the B Corperation policies and deserve that certification. Being a B Corp isn’t just about ticking a few boxes or greenwashing your way to success; if your business isn’t ready to live and breath balancing people, planet and profit, you’re about to falter at the first hurdle.
It’s Kind Of Serious
It’s easy to think you’re doing all the right things, so how hard could it possibly be. But, it’s really important to thoroughly review and understand the B Impact Assessment (BIA) and familiarise yourself with the five key areas: governance, workers, community, environment and customers. That way you can understand where you already score well and where there may be gaps that require further work to get you to the needed standard.
What’s Your Baseline Score
You need to achieve 80+ points in your BIA to qualify, it’s important to answer the assessment honestly because this will not only help you going forward, but B Corp certification isn’t something you can fib your way through or take short cuts. Your initial score should be seen as a roadmap, an indication of the work you have up ahead rather than a pass or fail exercise. If you score below 80 that doesn’t mean you should write off becoming a B Corp, it just means you’ll need to spend some time looking into how you can improve and that’s where this blog should be able to offer some assistance.
What Are You Already Doing And Where Is The Proof?
Chances are you’re already doing some pretty great stuff, however, are you documenting it? Evidence is paramount when it comes to being successful at becoming a B Corporation. You can’t just say we do X,Y,Z, make sure you’re creating written policies that showcase not just what you do but why and the impact of this. You should also track your metrics consistently such as your carbon footprint, anything you do to offset this, water usage, waste, any volunteering hours, any initiatives you have in place for employee engagement and how you can prove these are having a positive impact. This can also help you set reduction targets if you notice things such as high water usage or emissions.
Take into consideration the suppliers you’re also working with, where possible swap to suppliers who’re doing their bit for the environment which will in turn show how serious you are about doing your part.
Something To Remember
Once you achieve B Corp certification you should definitely celebrate and feel exceptionally proud, however, it doesn’t mean you can start to let things slide and think all the hardwork is done. Recertification happens every three years, so you need to embed impact thinking into your everyday decision-making. Keep your policies updated, your evidence up-to-date and don’t stop implementing the things you put in place to help you become a B Corperation in the first place or it’ll be a relatively short trip down the green bricked road.
What’s Impact Thinking?
Every decision you make has an impact. A relatively straight forward example is, if you know it’s forecast rain and you leave the house with an umbrella you’ll stay dry, if you choose to risk it and leave your umbrella at home the chances are you’re going to get soaked and that’s the impact of your decision. Looking at it from a business and environmental standpoint an example may be, you stock the staff fridge with bottled water and the team drinks a lot of it, but there is nowhere to recycle these bottles so they go in the general waste bin and are sent to landfil. The CEO makes a decision to put a plastic recycling bin into the office, but also invests in reusable branded bottles and a water filter to reduce the consumption of plastic bottled water, the impact of this is less waste.
There could also be an incentive put in place where staff are rewarded for cutting down on their single-use plastic and using impact thinking when making choices that may impact the environment or their team.
How Did eComOne Do It?:
Work Experience For The Community
We spend a lot of time supporting students from local secondary schools with their work experience. Whether they need a few days, a week or something during the holidays, we’ll work with them to find areas of the business they’re most interested in and help nurture this interest while learning them new skills. This also works as a talent pipeline, helping us spot potential rising stars who would be ideal candidates for future roles within the agency.
Being The Best Company To Work For
As proven by our position in The Times Top 100 Best Places to Work. We’re able to offer employees flexible working hours allowing them to work when they feel their mind is at its most creative. We have hybrid working, staff can work in our spacious office with plenty of natural light and comfortable seating or from the comfort of their own home. Our mental health policy allows staff to know who our trained mental health advocates are within the workplace and what they can do if they’re struggling. We pay over family living wage and have a key focus on staff development through training and personal development reviews as well as Big Visions where there is transparency on the business goals.
Charity Of The Year
Every year the team votes on their charity of the year, often a charity close to their heart that they’d love to support. This year we’re supporting Breast Cancer Now. We spend the year doing activities such as Lincoln 10k and bake sales to raise vital funds for the charity as well as volunteering our time where possible to support the charity with events. This gives the team a sense of purpose and fits in with our corporate social responsibility. We believe all businesses who’re able should try to give back in some way.
Green Choices
These seeminly small choices can make a big difference. We have bins in our office to recycle tins, glass, plastic, paper and general waste. We try to be paperless wherever possible, only printing when it is completely necessary. Our CEO has an electric car to cut emissions when traveling long distances to different events. We promote team car sharing to events and days out to again cut our emissions. We aso have the Purple Meadow, this is where wildflowers are planted to offset our carbon footprint and we would recommend this to any business who has staff members driving to work or where emails are sent etc.
Supporting Local
Where possible we try to support local, whether that’s sponsoring local events, choosing local suppliers from our community for our own events or supporting local businesses to reach great heights. Giving back to our people and community gives us a great sense of pride.
You Don’t Have To Do It Alone
It can feel like a big task with lots of different elements and things that need to be implemented. The evidence and documentation of all the amazing things you’re already doing can sound like enough stress to make you want to give up before you start. So, you’ll be pleased to know that there are specialist Environemental Consultants who will be more than happy to work with you in reaching your goal of becoming a B Corporation. Have a look around and find someone whose values align with yours, it could make the difference between a smooth journey or a bumpy ride.
Achieving B Corp certification has been one of the most challenging and rewarding things we’ve done as a business. It’s pushed us to look closer, think deeper and act more intentionally in everything we do. But more than anything, it reinforced what we’ve always believed, that success isn’t just measured by profit, but by the positive impact we leave behind.
If you’re considering starting your own B Corp journey, see it as an opportunity rather than an obligation. An opportunity to empower your people, support your community and protect the planet while building a resilient, future-focused business. It won’t always be easy and it certainly won’t happen overnight, but it will be worth it and remember B Corp isn’t just a marketing badge, it’s about showing a commitment to doing better every single day.
