TLDR
Our skills in design and our creative prowess captures the essence of your brand.
Our skills in design and our creative prowess captures the essence of your brand.
Break down your business into three spheres—Control, Influence, and Change—to identify where you can take direct action,
Begin by making small, impactful changes within your sphere of control, then expand your efforts
Building an impact-driven business is about progress, not perfection.
As a founder, you’ve likely felt the weight of the world shifting beneath your feet. As we head into 2025 we’re all grappling with—economic volatility, climate urgency, and a growing demand for businesses to be more than just profit engines.
You didn’t start your business just to survive; you started it to make a difference. But in times like these, it’s easy to feel untethered, unsure of how to align your vision with reality.
Let’s start by acknowledging something: you can’t control everything. But you *can* control how you respond to the chaos. You can choose to lean into the areas where you have agency, influence, and the potential to create real change.
It’s a starting point, a way to help you audit your business model with intention and clarity. Because when the world feels chaotic, the best thing you can do is return to your core—your values, your vision, and your commitment to making a difference.
This is where your power is most direct. It’s your business operations, your internal policies, and your team culture. These are the things you can change today without waiting for permission or consensus.
Personal Practices
Your individual habits and routines that set the tone for your entire business. These include how you manage your time, handle stress, and interact with others.
Daily Decisions
The moment-by-moment choices you make in running your business. These are the practical decisions about how you spend your time, what you prioritize, and how you structure your work to match what matters most to you.
Value Alignment
The active process of making sure your business actions match your stated values. This shows up in how you choose clients, set prices, treat your team, and measure success.
Core Operations
The basic systems and processes that keep your business running. These include how you manage your work, communicate with your team, and deliver your services or products.
Ask yourself: How do my daily choices shape the business I’m building?
- What aspects of my business do I have direct control over?
- How can I align my day-to-day operations with my values ?
- What’s one immediate change I can make to reflect these values?
This sphere is about the areas where you don’t have direct control, but you do have influence. Think about your supply chain, your industry partnerships, or even your customers.
Network Effects
How your business practices spread through your professional relationships. When you do things differently, it can inspire changes in how your clients, suppliers, and peers operate their businesses.
Community Impact
How your business decisions affect the wellbeing of the people and places around you. This includes local relationships, resource sharing, and how your success contributes to community strength.
Supply Chain
The network of relationships that help you create and deliver your work. This includes your suppliers, partners, and the ways you source materials or services.
Relationship Building
How you create and maintain meaningful business connections beyond just buying and selling. This focuses on building partnerships where both parties can grow and thrive.
Ask yourself: How can your business relationships become regenerative partnerships
- Who are my key stakeholders, and how can I influence them to adopt more sustainable or equitable practices?
- What practices or policies can I advocate for within my industry?
- How can I use my platform to promote values that go beyond my immediate business?
Finally, there’s the sphere of change—the big, audacious, systemic shifts you want to be part of. This is where you think about the larger movements you want to support, whether it’s climate action, issues around equity, or economic reform.
Industry Standards
The common practices and unwritten rules in your field that could be improved. Your different way of doing business can help show others what's possible.
Cultural Shifts
The process of changing what's considered "normal" in business. Your choices can help others see new ways of measuring success beyond just profit.
System Transformation
How small changes in many businesses can add up to bigger changes in how all business works. Your practices contribute to this larger shift toward better ways of doing business.
New Possibilities
The process of showing what business could be, rather than just accepting how things are. Each time you try something new, you help expand what others think is possible.
Ask yourself: What becomes possible when we question business as usual?
- What larger systemic issues am I passionate about impacting?
- How can I engage with and learn from broader movements for change?
- What steps can I take to contribute to these larger systems, even if they feel beyond my immediate reach?
This sphere is about dreaming big—but also about taking intentional steps to align your business with those dreams.
Once you’ve mapped your practices into these three spheres, it’s time to get honest with yourself. Where are the gaps between where you are and where you want to be? This isn’t about guilt or self-criticism; it’s about clarity.
Ask yourself:
- Where are the biggest opportunities for improvement?
- What’s the most immediate change I can make to close the gap?
This is where you start to set intentional growth goals. Maybe it’s committing to a zero-waste policy within the next year, or launching a mentorship program to support underrepresented founders in your industry. The key is to be specific, actionable, and aligned with your values.
With your goals in place, it’s time to design an action plan.
This does not mean you have to overhaul your entire business overnight. Start small. Test new practices in safe-to-fail experiments. Gather feedback. Iterate.
This is about progress, not perfection. It’s a way to refocus, to find your footing, and to ensure that your business is not just surviving, but thriving in alignment with your deepest values.
Finally, build in time for reflection. Set up indicators to track your progress, and create channels for ongoing feedback from your community and stakeholders. Celebrate your successes, but also learn from your challenges. Ask yourself:
- How are my actions creating ripples in the world?
- What wisdom am I receiving from my community?
- What adjustments do I need to make to stay aligned with my vision?
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