What Impact Can Your Business Have?

By Earl Shindruk

Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash

When we think about impact, we think of hitting something hard, like an impact hammer does. It is bigger and hits harder than smaller hammers. Impact drills drill in many screws and work fast, unlike a regular drill. Yes, impact can be strong and hard hitting.

Businesses have a lot of impact on our lives and our communities. What Impact Can Your Business Have?

What term are you looking for with your impact? Short or Long? 1 Year? 3 Years? 5 Years? Or even longer?

What legacy do you want your business to have?

Think about some of the businesses that you admire and that have had significant impact. Right now, a few select companies are having immediate impact around the world. These are the ones that are top of mind for all of us. Pfizer, Moderna (with BioNTech) and AstraZeneca (with Oxford) are being talked about every day. They are all due to have huge effects that will be felt all over the globe, as they bring their Covid vaccines to many countries. With the vaccines, they are also offering much needed hope to a hopeless world.

Nestle, the company from Switzerland, is far from perfect, but serves as an example of wonderful things that can be done to change lives. It sources products locally and helps small farmers in over 50 countries. Nestle is purging slavery and child labour from its suppliers. They are diligently working to become a Nutrition, Health and Wellness company, by including healthier ingredients in their food products. As well, they are adding many nutrients to foods like soup, to help those with health issues in a variety of developing countries.

Earth Group in Edmonton, Alberta, formerly known as Earth Water, exists entirely to provide meals to school children around the world. Through the sales of its expanding product line, it has helped tens of thousands of children globally. It has provided over 3,700,000 meals. What an accomplishment!

What are the main areas of impact that your company has on you?

We usually spend 40 hours or more per week working at a business or other type of organization. Whether we realize it or not, our place of work does influence and impact us. We spend a lot of our waking hours with our business every day and every week. From Monday to Friday, where we work is where we spend most of our time.

Is your place of work having a good impact on you or a bad one? Do you look forward to going to work or would you rather be someplace else?

Here is a checklist for you, and will help you think about what type of culture and environment you would like to work in and be a part of:

Is your place of work known for being positive or negative?

Is it regarded for being friendly or unfriendly?

Is it known to be a place of giving or taking?

Does your place of work listen to you or just tell you what to do?

Do others outside of your workplace tell everyone how good it is or are your owners always bragging about how great they are and how fantastic their company is?

Does your company focus on client needs or the wants and desires of its owners?

Is it other-oriented or self-centred and known for looking after its own interests first?

Does it engage people or does it ignore them? Does it communicate well or poorly?

How can your company make an impact in the world? We may not have millions at our disposal like some of the big companies mentioned previously, but we can all do something with what we do have.

One thing is to focus on community needs. Concentrate on those who are the most vulnerable in our society. In our business, we have chosen to partner with local charities that help men and women with the basic necessities of living.

Some folks are struggling with having enough food to eat, enough clothing to wear and somewhere to rest each night, especially in colder weather. Some are very poor financially and find it hard to have enough money each month for basic needs. Poverty is a growing issue in our city and in many areas of Canada.

Every business of which we are a part, whether that business be 1-2 people or a few hundred or a few thousand, can have an impact.

Choose Today to Have That Impact!

Earl is a key contributor to his community, donating lots of time and expertise to charities and not for profits. He is past board chair of the NPO Collective, and board member of The100YEG and the Edmonton Business Association. His legacy includes sharing knowledge and expertise. For over 11 years he was an instructor and guest speaker at MacEwan University, and a guest speaker at the University of Alberta.

Successful businessman and community leader, Earl Shindruk, launched Optimax Benefits in 1998 after a vast career at TransAlta, Laidlaw Waste Systems & with a local contractor. He has grown Optimax by harnessing people skills, ‘being accessible’, ‘getting to know your client’, and ‘being innovative’.