How to become a B Corporation
As a purpose-led business it’s hugely important to us to ensure we walk the talk and remain accountable for our commitments and impact. In 2020, we achieved B Corp certification. This is a robust framework to meet highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability for companies working to balance profit and purpose.
Becoming a B Corp isn’t a simple task, but the process and results are hugely rewarding. We were lucky to have our Business Impact and Customer Support person Sophie Ribton join the team and manage our B Corp certification process. It makes things go more smoothly to have a dedicated team member leading the project.
Once Sophie got started, the process took 5 months and was a journey of discovery for our young business. It helped us turn big ideas around social justice and sustainability into concrete, measurable policies and goals.
There are more than 300 B Corps in Australia and Aotearoa, part of the 3,745 B Corps worldwide. It’s great company to be in and the value of this rigorous third-party assessment of impact keeps growing.
What you need to know
To certify, you must have been in business for 12 months
The BIA (B Impact Assessment) process can take from 3 months for small businesses to more than 12 months for large businesses
The verification process can then take around 8 months, depending on complexity and any score changes during review
Fees scale based on revenue. Here are the current B Corporation fees (opens in a new window)
It’s a positive points system: you earn points for beneficial practices. There’s no negative scoring, but there are risk factors that are weighed before certification
The B Corp certification process
Step 1 – Engage the business
Before you begin the B Impact Assessment (the meaty part of the certification process, where you complete rigorous screening questions) it’s important to get the support of your leadership team. This could take the form of a simple presentation, introducing the concept of being a B Corp and outlining the benefits.
Some benefits you might want to highlight include:
Attracting the best employees
Improving business impact
Protecting your mission (from leadership changes, for example)
Joining a global movement
Step 2 – Complete the B Impact Assessment
You can take the BIA to get an idea of where you’re at without going through the verification and certification process. Taking the BIA is free, and many businesses find it valuable in galvanising their vision and preparing them for the full BIA process.
To go through the certification process properly, you can expect to devote an afternoon or a day to completing the questions.
Completing your BIA accurately
Work with relevant team members and stakeholders to complete sections of the assessment
Gather data into the spreadsheet template provided to help with completing the assessment and the verification process later
Answer based on current and past performance, rather than aspirational goals
Take notes as you answer the questions explaining rationale, as this will help later during verification
Once you’ve submitted your assessment, a verification phone call will be set up with someone from B Lab to review some of your answers and documentation. Your score might change (approximately 10 points either way) as part of the review process. If your score remains greater than 80, congratulations, you’re almost there!
Legal requirements
In some regions, businesses are required to meet certain legal requirements. These can include changing your company’s legal structure to a benefit corporation or updating your company constitution to reflect considerations of impact on stakeholders.
Businesses in Australia and Aotearoa aren’t currently required to change their constitution to earn B Corporation certification. This is because wider legislative changes would be needed for this to be possible (B Lab Australia & New Zealand is working on it).
Instead, B Corporations in Aotearoa must sign a terms sheet to contract with B Lab Australia & New Zealand, which includes a commitment to consider the impact of your business on shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, the community and environment.
Find out the options for meeting legal requirements in other regions by using the B Corp legal requirement search tool (opens in a new window).
Step 3 – Sign the agreement and pay your fees
The final stages of becoming certified include signing the B Corp Declaration of Interdependence and B Corp Agreement, paying the annual fee and publishing your profile on the B Corp directory.
Step 4 – Spread the word and join the community
You’re B Corp certified! What's next? The B Corp label is still relatively unknown so spread the word and tell the story of what it means for your business. Share how your business is having a positive impact on stakeholders. Engage with the global community in the B Hive. Join B Corp networking events and deepen your ties to this growing movement.
B Corp Resources:
B Corp slide deck (to engage your business in the B Corp movement)
Momentum is growing and B Corps are setting themselves up to attract investment and staff who want a better way of doing business. Stay tuned for more information about our B Local meetups and, if you want to learn more about the process, we’re always here to chat!