What is an impact company?

Impact companies are characterized by:

01 | Search for solutions to social or environmental problems.

02 | It is economically viable to be able to maintain its model in the long term.

03 | Strives to scale and create systemic solutions that transform the lives of people and the planet.

04 | Constantly renews itself to adapt to dynamic contexts.

In this sense, there are different types of Impact companies:

1. Talent development

Companies that see talent and employ people who, for various reasons, have barriers to entering the labor market.

All those companies that generate income and employment opportunities for people with barriers to access the labor market fall into this category.

Some of these barriers are related to age, lack of education, area of residence, disability or deprivation of liberty (or imprisonment). Generally, on the other side of the table, there are companies with misinformation about these people who choose not to hire them out of fear and prejudice.

Impact companies in this category design their business model to provide real employment or income opportunities to people who, for various reasons, have no real access to the formal labor market.

By integrating these people into the value chain (as producers, workers, traders), these companies remove the barriers that have kept them out of the labor market and give them the freedom associated with their wages.

2. Access to goods and services

These companies develop business models to make critical products and services available to people who cannot benefit from them today. In this model, transformation is generated in the customers of an impact company.

Developing high quality products at affordable prices and building the right mass distribution networks are the main challenges facing this type of business model.

Its greatest influence lies precisely in facilitating this access to make it possible. In some cases, such as in low-income sectors, such access is not granted because these critical products and services are not delivered or because they are delivered penalized with high fees and/or very poor quality. In other cases, such as people with disabilities, they are not directly considered potential customers and therefore the products or services are not intended for them.

These companies focus on access to housing, education, health, financial services, energy, food and industrial equipment. And by providing that access, they improve the quality of life of their customers and break the paradigm.

Some of the questions we can ask ourselves if we want to create an impactful company may be:

Which consumer groups are not the focus of the proposals of large companies? What basic services are lacking in the out-of-town population? How could we offer this service without increasing its costs?

3. Circular Economy

Companies that promote recycling, renewable energy production or ecosystem restoration.

The circular economy involves the use of renewable energy sources and the use of waste as the main resource.

Companies in this category recycle waste, generate renewable energy or restore ecosystems.

Adapting processes to use renewable energy sources means energy savings and savings that have an impact on the environment. The generation of reduced energy values in turn contributes to the circular use of resources.

Their mission: they are companies that are developing their business model to consciously restore the planet and its biodiversity. Their resources are natural or reused and their processes restore life. They are models that do not harm the environment and do not produce waste, but go a step further and clearly benefit the planet.

Woodabu falls into this category, where it uses wood from sustainable and certified sources, guaranteeing the care of the forest and its long-term profitability. In addition, 25% of the workshop staff is made up of people at risk of social exclusion.

I hope you found it useful.

See you in the next one!