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Sustainability advice for SMEs

Together we make your business ready for the future

Climate change, human rights, biodiversity, transparency: themes that you too, as an SME entrepreneur, are increasingly confronted with. Almost a quarter of SMEs already receive requests for information on sustainability from large customers, and that number is growing rapidly. Medium-sized companies in particular are facing these issues.

How do you respond to this as an entrepreneur? Do you go for compliance, make sustainable adjustments or do you change course and develop a completely new business model? At Empact, we believe that this is a choice only you as an entrepreneur can make. But rest assured: as a sustainability advisor for SMEs, we stand beside you and help you with all complex and less complex issues.

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Why sustainability pays off for your SME business

For SME entrepreneurs, sustainability is much more than a luxury: in our view, it is essential for the continuity of your business. From our extensive experience, we know that SMEs that proactively implement sustainability experience tangible benefits:

  • Ensuring Continuity: By responding early to scarcer resources, you are better prepared.
  • Access to finance: Banks are investing less and less in companies that stick to the “old economy.”
  • Attract and retain talent: In a tight labor market, employees choose sustainable employers.
  • Building competitive advantage: Being an early adopter sets you apart from competitors.

Sustainability with the VSME

As an SME entrepreneur, you have probably already noticed that large customers are increasingly asking for sustainability information, for example for the CSRD. The VSME was developed specifically to support SMEs in this regard. This European standard:

  • Streamlines your reporting so you don’t have to provide different data for each customer
  • Provides a structured approach that fits the scale of your business
  • Helps you proactively meet the information needs of large customers
  • Provides insight into areas of improvement and offers great opportunities to stand out from competitors.

At Empact, we use the VSME as a framework within our proven five-step approach for SMEs:

  1. Analyze: We map your current situation and identify where the biggest opportunities lie.
  2. Develop strategy: We formulate an appropriate sustainability strategy with concrete objectives.
  3. Implement: We support the implementation of targeted sustainability measures.
  4. Reporting: We provide clear reporting according to VSME standards.
  5. Evaluate and improve: We monitor progress and make adjustments as needed.

Depending on your level of ambition, you can choose from three VSME packages with us:

VSME Basic

For business owners who want to efficiently meet information needs from the supply chain. We help you collect and report essential data, allowing you to respond quickly to inquiries from large customers.

VMSE Deepening

For business owners who want to bring focus to their sustainability efforts. In addition to the basic reporting, based on a double materiality analysis, we develop together a targeted approach to the sustainability themes most relevant to your business.

VSME Strategic Impact

For business owners who want to maximize sustainability as a strategic advantage. We fully integrate sustainability into your business strategy, leading to new market opportunities, cost savings and a stronger competitive position.

Find out all about our VSME packages

Sustainability opportunities for SMEs

Our approach gives you immediate insight into opportunities and challenges in the area of sustainability. In particular, there are great opportunities for medium-sized companies in the following areas:

Lower your carbon footprint. Manufacturing companies, for example, can save a lot of energy through smart process optimization and things like LED lighting with motion sensors. This leads to significant CO2 savings without large investments. Moreover, these investments deliver long-term returns.

From cradle to cradle. In the fish sector, for example, fish processors convert waste streams into high-quality by-products. This reduces waste and creates new sources of income.

Having a supplier code of conduct and monitoring system gives you full insight into the origin of materials, which helps with reporting requirements and supplier negotiations.

Ensure healthier and happier employees. Manufacturing companies often see significant improvements through ergonomic adjustments and task rotation, resulting in lower absenteeism and higher employee satisfaction.

For example, technical service providers can develop service models aimed at extending machine life, leading to a smaller carbon footprint as well as new customer segments.

Start sustainability today

Climate change, transparency, human rights: they don’t have to be stumbling blocks. With the right approach, they actually become opportunities to stand out. At Empact, we believe that SMEs can also make real social impact.

Don’t wait for big clients to knock on your door with complex information questions. As your guide, we’d like to help you move forward yourself and make a real impact. Because sustainability also starts with your company by asking the right questions and finding reliable answers.

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Common questions

Sustainable business is about continuity. By becoming more sustainable, you protect your company against three crucial risks: shortages of raw materials due to climate change, more difficult access to financing (banks are financing fewer and fewer “old economy” companies), and staff shortages in a tight labor market. In addition, you differentiate yourself from competitors and strengthen your relationship with large customers who themselves must meet sustainability requirements.

Research from The Hague University of Applied Sciences shows that SMEs already reporting experience tangible benefits: better insight into their own performance, improved competitiveness, better access to financing and new business opportunities with large customers seeking sustainable suppliers.

The VSME (Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for SMEs) is a voluntary European standard that helps SMEs report on sustainability in a structured way. It prevents you from having to submit different data for each client and provides a proportionate framework appropriate to the size of your business.

The Hague University of Applied Sciences’ research shows that large companies mainly request information on: CO2 emissions and energy use (50%), material consumption and waste (45%), and employee health and safety (34%).

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