GreenComp Enterprises is pleased to announce the successful execution of Focus Groups across all six partner countries, namely Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Italy, and Sweden. The primary objective of these meticulously organised sessions was to facilitate the identification and documentation of challenges faced by start-ups and entrepreneurs during their business initiation and subsequent operations.
Comprising a total of sixty stakeholders, each partner country diligently invited experts from various domains, including business and sustainability sectors, seasoned entrepreneurs, consultants, and other pertinent actors. The comprehensive discussions spanned an array of topics, encompassing the requisite processes for launching an enterprise, crucial business skills pivotal for company development, and the intricacies of supply chains and sustainability concerns.
The valuable insights gleaned from these Focus Groups have proven instrumental, providing GreenComp Enterprises and its partners with a nuanced understanding of the multifaceted issues at hand. The outcomes of these sessions are poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the forthcoming Business Sustainability Handbook. This handbook, once developed, will serve as the cornerstone for the creation of innovative learning materials geared towards fostering entrepreneurial knowledge for greener and more ethical enterprises.
The Focus Groups were effectively executed between February 3rd and March 17th, 2023, paving the way for a wealth of insights that will contribute significantly to the advancement of sustainable business practices.
Key outcomes and conclusions derived from the Focus Groups in each participating country are summarised as follows:
- Integration of Sustainability into Company DNA: The consensus is that sustainability should seamlessly integrate into a company’s DNA, and a gradual approach to integration can yield manifold benefits.
- Strategic Business Planning: A concrete business plan, respectful of the environment and centered around individual contributions, is deemed indispensable for sustainable business practices.
- Human Capital and Values Alignment: Recruiting individuals who embody the company’s values and are motivated to activate their vision of sustainability is identified as highly beneficial.
- Leveraging Business Knowledge for Sustainability: The understanding that good business knowledge can be applied to sustainability-related competencies is underscored, and finding sponsors supportive of small, sustainable companies is recognised as advantageous.
- Addressing Challenges and Barriers: Challenges encountered by enterprises include supply chain and energy source issues, stemming from resistance to change, limited expertise, complex regulations, and high upfront costs.
- Importance of Communication and Networking: Communication and networking are emphasised as fundamental for enterprises to facilitate knowledge and best practice sharing.
These outcomes and challenges serve a dual purpose within the GreenComp Enterprises project. Not only do they guide businesses aspiring to shift their mindset towards sustainability, but they also play a pivotal role in shaping the Business Sustainability Handbook. GreenComp Enterprises is committed to leveraging these insights to support businesses in their journey towards environmentally conscious and ethically driven practices.