How to Incorporate Social Justice in Your Business
Black Lives Matter. LGBTQ+ rights are human rights. A pandemic or recession disproportionately affects vulnerable populations (elderly, BIPOC, low-income).
The first half of 2020 has been a crash course in some of the deepest rooted social issues in America.
Over the past few months, businesses both large and small have had to assess (or reassess): What is our role in these issues of social justice? How do we engage? How do we build diversity, equity and inclusion into our business practices? How do we use our platform to advocate for change?
This post is a compilation of ideas and resources for small business owners interested in developing business practices that better promote social justice in our industries, communities, and world as a whole.
Social justice (noun)
Justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities and privileges within a society.
Equity (noun)
The quality of being fair and impartial.
To be clear: There are many injustices in the world. There are many injustices in America.
This post is not about a specific social issue, but rather about the concepts of social justice and equity overall.
Certainly (and sadly), prejudice and oppression affect some populations disproportionately—discrimination based on race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity is rampant, both in the U.S. and worldwide.
But, regardless of one’s own identity or background, social justice issues do innately affect us all:
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Where we allow injustice in one instance, we open the door for it in another.
Recently, individuals and companies have been stepping up to say NO MORE—we can no longer knowingly or unknowingly support systems of oppression. And that’s so necessary.
But it’s also important to acknowledge: being vocally involved in social justice work can be of particular challenge for some small business owners.
Social justice & small business
Do you, as an entrepreneur or small business owner, have a responsibility to understand how your business practices affect the world around you? Yes.
Do you have a moral obligation to promote social justice? I’d say yes.
Is it worth it, as a business owner, to engage in social justice work? I’m going with yes on that one too.
But there are some common reasons small business owners can be hesitant to bring social issues into business operations:
Fear of losing business (or alienating existing customers/clients) by engaging in controversial topics
The need to do your own internal work before understanding it well enough to apply to your business practices
Hesitation to speak up about social issues affecting a group you don’t personally belong to (what do you say, how do you say it, how do you join in and help without offending or stepping on toes?)
Overwhelm—when there are so many social issues to care about, how do you choose which one(s) to support? Is it okay to show support for one cause and not another?
Understanding how to effectively involve your business if its products or services don’t directly relate to a social issue
Limited time and resources to keep up with general business operations, without adding additional tasks or projects to your plate
Below are some ways to work past these hesitations and concerns and authentically involve social justice in your business practices, if you so choose.
Small vs. large businesses
Just a quick note about the difference in tactics and responsibility between large corporations and small businesses:
Large companies have dedicated PR teams that (usually) are on top of issuing statements regarding current events. In contrast, if you own a small business (especially if you’re a solopreneur wearing 800 different hats), it’s your responsibility to issue that statement, and you may not have the resources to be as well informed or turn around as quick of a response as larger companies and teams do.
Many small business owners feel rushed and obligated to respond to current events in the same way larger businesses do. If you’re well-informed, and are comfortable speaking to a topic, go ahead and engage real-time if that makes sense for you! But, it’s also completely okay to take the time you need to inform yourself (if needed), and develop your thoughts and approach before sharing them with your audience.
Additionally, large companies have a different level of resources and social responsibility than smaller businesses. (For example, a corporation with thousands of employees has an obligation to equitable hiring processes and a diverse workforce that doesn’t necessarily apply to a solopreneur team of one—though, of course, the solopreneur could begin to take on that responsibility as their team grows.)
The larger the sphere of influence, the larger a company’s social responsibility, in a sense. With visibility to millions of people, a large corporation’s actions and response will have a much broader reach and impact, for which they must take responsibility. Not to say that the actions of a small business owner are inconsequential—but the difference in reach is likely significant, and that does carry some difference in weight.
But, that said, there are plenty of things small businesses can do to support social causes within their own sphere of influence!
10 Ways to support social justice in your small business
Here are 10 ways small business owners can support social justice causes through our business operations:
1. Take a stand in your business
Addressing controversial topics can be a tough decision to make as a small business owner. When every client or dollar matters, some people fear the risk of losing business if they take a “political” stance. But there’s a big difference between politics and human rights. And, in defending human rights, there’s really no neutral option.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
— Desmond Tutu
It’s worth asking yourself: If you take a stand to support issues of social justice in your business and someone doesn’t like that—are they really your ideal client/customer?
I’ve talked about this before, but your business’ target audience is not “everyone.” At the end of the day, it’s your responsibility to authentically communicate your business’ values, and realize that is part of the process of connecting with your ideal clients.
Side note: During the protests surrounding George Floyd’s murder, I sent out anti-racism emails to my Four Wellness Co. audience (available verbatim on the blog: Racism Is a Public Health Issue and Anti-racism for Health Coaches). There were a few angry responses from people who felt the emails were not relevant to a wellness company (I disagree)—but, less than 1% of those audiences unsubscribed or responded negatively. And now, my lists are more closely aligned to our business values and policies.
2. Consider your business practices
Consider how your business practices impact social issues, both locally and nationally (or even globally).
For example, in considering racial equity, you might look at how your business practices are influenced by race, and how they impact the broader social movement to dismantle racism in America. Depending on the size and specific operations of your business, some things to consider might be: your hiring practices, the racial composition of your team, the vendors you work with, the partnerships or collaborations you participate in, the resources you share, etc.
In general, consider how your business practices promote diversity, equity and inclusion. How can you improve upon that? How can this be done most authentically and sustainably?
3. Vote with your dollar
Another way to engage your business in broader social causes is to look into the business services you use and their stance on those issues. As important as it is to vote on election day, it’s also important to consider how you’re voting with your dollar—a vote you cast much more often.
Do the companies you purchase from have a social mission? Are you refraining from supporting companies that use your dollar to work against the causes you care about? Do you have opportunities to choose businesses owned by socially or economically marginalized groups (BIPOC, LGBTQ+, women, veterans, etc.)?
Many people think the small amount of money they spend doesn’t make much difference. But it adds up over time and over scale. Collectively, purchasing power makes a significant difference.
4. Inform & inspire your audience
If you’re passionate about a social justice issue, that’s a great starting place to engage your audience, inform them about the topic and provide opportunities to join you in taking action!
(Often, people who are comfortably inactive regarding social issues happen to not be very well informed about them—and in becoming informed, also become inspired to engage.)
“Informing and inspiring” can come in the form of blog posts, email newsletters, social media posts, or any other medium you use to communicate with your audience.
In general, it can feel more seamless if the topic is somewhat relevant to your business products or services—for example, if you’re an interior designer and have built an audience interested in architecture and interior design, it’s relevant to discuss racial disparities in the housing market, or introduce LGBTQ+ designers, or raise money to safely house domestic violence survivors. Those are all examples of adding layers of awareness to your audience’s existing interests that you’ve already been in contact with them about.
However, just because your business does not directly relate to an issue you care about doesn’t mean you can’t find a way to be involved and share about it. In some cases, a personal story may help with that connection. If you’re comfortable, sharing with your followers a story of how you came to be interested and involved in a certain cause can create a personal connection that also interests and draws them in (even if it’s not a topic that would have felt very relevant to your business in the first place).
There’s a bit of a balance to strike here because, on the one hand, if you’re passionate about an important topic, it’s your right to go ahead and share that. But on the other hand, as business owners, we need to be respectful of our “rights” with our audience (particularly our email list). If someone has subscribed to your interior design email list, that’s the content they’ve agreed to allow you to send them. Not to say that you can’t also share content about social justice in interior design, or which furniture companies have socially responsible practices—those are important topics and very worth sharing.
But the point is, in sharing social justice work via a business platform that was not initially set up for that particular topic, it’s helpful to create a bridge of connection—both to reach your audience where they’re at and bring them along with you, and to maintain respect for their initial opt-in.
5. Know your language & how to use it respectfully
There are so many terms used to discuss any characteristic that differs from a societal “norm.” Some of these terms are well-meaning, and some very much not.
In some cases, it can be confusing to know which is the most respectful, accurate or appropriate term to use—and what’s widely considered to be the politically correct option can change over time.
But despite all this complexity, it’s incredibly important to understand the meaning behind the language we use to discuss groups of people, as well as the origin of these terms, and any specific or negative connotation associated with them.
The language you’ll need to be aware of depends a bit on your industry, audience and the causes you’re engaging in, and will likely involve some personal research. The Racial Equity Tools Glossary is a great resource for anti-racism.
6. Use inclusive messaging
Marketing your business is complicated. On the one hand, you’re told to narrow, narrow, narrow your target audience. (And that’s true, you should, that will help you reach and serve them better!)
But on the other hand, we want to be as inclusive as possible with our messaging.
Here’s the thing: Most methods of narrowing your business’ target audience tend to be more along the lines of “busy young professional with a side hustle,” which is not a racially-specific category, nor does it infer sexual orientation, religious affiliation, etc.
So why might your business’ messaging and marketing unintentionally become a bit socially homogenous? Because, if you happen to share characteristics with the “societal norm” (white, cisgender, heterosexual, etc.), you can quite easily get used to assuming that something reflecting your own identity is sufficient.
Imagery is just one aspect of messaging to consider, but as a whole, we as business owners need to practice inclusive marketing and messaging that helps customers and clients of diverse backgrounds know they are welcome and valued in our businesses.
Here’s an example: A few weeks ago, a well-known influencer in online business sent out an email expressing her support for Black lives and outlining the anti-racism work she and her company will be doing. It was a very well-meaning email with some great content. Unfortunately, it was written with the assumption that her audience was entirely white (which it’s not). Unknowingly, as a white person, she spoke about systemic racism while ignoring the existence of any person of color reading the email. (How poignant!) She quickly apologized and corrected herself, and continues to do important work in this area. But this story is an example of how it’s all too easy if you belong to a social majority group to assume that everyone else out there is just like you.
Inclusivity goes many ways (and there’s more to it than race!), but this is something for white business owners to be particularly aware of, as societal norms make it easier to accidentally discount the existence and experiences of others.
Side note: Of course, inclusive messaging does not apply in the same way to businesses that do actually serve a specific racial/ethnic group, such as Therapy for Black Girls, an online space that specifically addresses the unique mental health climate for Black females.
7. Donate
If you’re able, you can donate a portion of business income to causes or organizations you’re passionate about, either via a one-time or recurring donation.
8. Develop a pro bono program
The nature of small business operations is that you must set prices that sustain your business. There’s really no way around that, or you run your business into the ground.
But, if your prices result in your services being inaccessible to an audience you would like to serve, what can you do?
One option is to develop a pro bono program to offer your services free of charge. (An example of this is my pro bono web design program—check it out if you know of an organization/business with a social mission that would like to apply!)
Depending on your business model, some other options might be:
a buy one / give one program
sliding scale payment
offering a reduced rate or complementary spots based on certain criteria
9. Partner with an organization you’re passionate about
Another way to support a cause you’re passionate about is to partner with an organization doing work in that area. You can use your platform to inform your audience, raise awareness and assist with donations for the partner organization.
This is a great way to get involved without reinventing the wheel or duplicating efforts—instead, your involvement will help support another group already doing important work.
10. Be open to discussion & correction
It can be quite challenging to talk about social issues in spaces or cultures that are grappling with their deep entrenchment, and have varying degrees of awareness about that.
There’s not necessarily a “right” way to speak about issues of social justice. (Though there are some wrong ways… which include discounting their existence.)
Many people avoid speaking about tough social issues out of fear of saying something wrong or causing offense. But:
If you work to get and stay educated on these topics, you will be less likely to inadvertently say something ignorant or offensive.
And, the reality is that if you are advocating for marginalized group that you are not personally part of, you likely will say something ignorant, ill-informed, or even offensive at some point because you don’t know better—you did not learn better from your own education or experience (or perhaps you were not open to learning).
So now, it’s time to be open and willing to engage with different perspectives and experiences, and to be corrected when needed, so we can learn from others what their experience is like, and what we can do better.
By staying away from discussion out of fear of saying something wrong, we lose out on meaningful experiences that teach and unite. By being defensive or close-minded when we’re corrected or presented with new information, we miss the opportunity to grow and be better humans and allies.
And one last note: Being an ally is not about being perfect.
For example, being “anti-racist” does not even mean you’re not racist in some way (we all have unconscious racial biases, no matter how much we think we don’t). To be “actively anti-racist” means you commit to the conscious dismantling of racial bias and oppression and you are engaging in the personal and collective work to get there.
The same concept can be applied to other areas of social justice work as well. Start where you’re at and commit to learning and improving from there.
However you’re able to promote social justice via your business at this time, start there. There are certainly always opportunities for growth and improvement if we look for them. 💛
