Book
Who Said Your Business Is None of Our Business
Your next business book
The small business’s response to our global sustainable development goals
The clock is ticking. We need to ACT NOW on our climate crisis. Humanity is at risk.
When the whole world is talking about creating a more sustainable, equitable and conscious way of living, how has this changed the way we consume?
Our daily lives are surrounded by all sorts of choices. From the food we eat, to the clothes we wear. We live in an era where we look everything up, we are not shy to express our views, we ask questions. We trust but verify.
We want our answers, and we want them fast.
We need to poke our nose into someone’s business to scratch a bit beyond the surface if we want to do the right thing.
How are the hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses around the world navigating through this change in our expectations? Will they be the key to helping us move the needle?
About the book
Featured topics
Trees, Bees, Beans…
This chapter was inspired by some very creative business ideas. From encouraging farmers to move away from single-use cacao land to producing more sought-after award winning crops, to projects that encourage customers to support the economy of tree-planting. We look into why these business models work today, and what kind of impact can we collectively make by supporting these SMEs.
Whilst I like every chapter in the book, I must admit that I learnt a lot of very interesting concepts during the research and interviews for this topic. It is one of those concepts where you can see that if we can live in harmony with nature, balancing between the trees, the bees, and the beans…we can sustainably live almost infinitively on this planet because of the amazing regenerative nature of our ecosystem.
The Story of Kai Tak Airport
A horror story for pilots, a love-hate flashback to the residents of Kowloon City area, and a fascinating piece of aviation history for the little bit of aviation blood running in me.
Kai Tak airport, once the one of the most dangerous airports to land in the world, backing the economy of a fishing village’s transformation into an international trade and finance centre.
After the airport’s relocation to Chek Lap Kok, it took more than 10 years to settle on what to do with the abandoned land. This is a rare story of unused land in a city holdling the Guinness World Record of the most expensive piece of land ever sold (round about $96,896 per square foot).
Without spoiling the story entirely, I used the story of Kai Tak to explore what Integrated Thinking means from a different lens.
The Know-it-all Consumer
This book was inspired by one simple idea of how demand has changed in the last decade where consumers have become a bit “know-it-all”.
Convenient access to information changes the way that we think, we make decisions, and ultimately, how we consume.
Whether supply influences demand, or demand pushes the boundaries of supply, is a chicken and egg question, and the slightest change in either should have a ripple effect. That effect I call “The honest brand”.
Delve into my world of the “Know-it-all Consumer” versus “The honest brand” and see how that relates to something as important as the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Don’t miss out
Amazon Best Sellers Rank #
in Green Business (Kindle Store)
in Green Business (Book)
in Small Business (Kindle Store)
Reviews
What people say about the book
Deed Industries
“For a small book it covers some big topics. From unpicking and navigating just how much our individual choices as consumers and businesses affect our environment and climate change through to what it really means to be sustainable in a small business.
For anyone who believes in the power we have as consumers to vote with our wallets and affect change and for anyone in business who wants to do the best they can for the world around us this book is a great way to learn and do more.”
Ripplz.co
“Having got this a few days ago it’s very timely and fantastically written. Wan helps define the current climate problem and actions of SME’s. Wan then explores the a know-it-all customers (also employee) perspective, before providing some idea’s on getting us on to a better path. This one is for you if you are an SME or someone interested in the direction they are heading with regards to ESG.”
Bernhardiner
“A must read for everyone who runs a small business and is into sustainability!”
Atelier Emeraude
“A must read for small business owners.”
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