A big part of our vision centered around certifying as a B Corp (a for-profit business certified by a third-party nonprofit organization) and joining the elite ranks of Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, and Warby Parker as companies using business as a force for good.

Our hard work paid off in 2018 when we earned our B Corp certification. And now, almost three years later, we’re recertifying as a B Corp, which allows us to evaluate our commitment and reflect on the big picture impact this journey has had on our business.

Becoming a B Corp Helped Us Scale

In four short years, we went from eight employees to ninety. Going through the initial process of certification did two things for us. First, it exposed gaps and the next steps. These were steps included in the handbook, which would include travel policies, a code of conduct, and other HR-related items. But it also exposed opportunities and offered us insights into what type of policies were included by the best companies. So we added benefits such as 40 annual hours of paid volunteer time off, a matched 401k, and a travel policy that prioritized virtual meetings, or when necessary, renting the most fuel-efficient vehicle rather than the cheapest.

Becoming a B Corp Gave Us Mission Lock

If you’ve done as much as work for a company that experienced rapid growth as we have, you’re familiar with the wild swings of scaling a business. Every milestone you pass brings incredible trials and tribulations amongst the lingering questions. Should we hire more employees? Do we have the business to justify the payroll expenses? What does our pipeline look like? Succinctly put, it’s easy to take the first step in forming a socially responsible company. It’s another thing to remain true to that mission when you’re in the middle of it. But through everything, we remembered our commitments. We remembered our annual goals for volunteer and pro bono hours. We remembered our promise to strive towards a more diverse and inclusive workforce. And every day we remember that the B on our door means that we stand for something that we wanted, and continue to want to be.

Being a B Corp Made us Better

Our founder and fearless leader is a great guy, with a great family, that truly wanted to build a better version of the companies he had worked for. But there is no denying that being a B Corp made us better. We became more transparent, we added benefits, we welcomed feedback and made improvements based on it. And we quickly became a place where employees enjoyed working, and candidates wanted to work with.

Why We’re Recertifying

We became a better version of ourselves these past three years. Well, five if you include the original certification process. We’ve gone from 73 percent white male to 48 percent. We’ve expanded our community outreach efforts, and promoted an employee to serve as Director of Culture. The process and this certification have encouraged us to be more intentional in everything we do, and it has indeed made us better.

Our annual evaluation to develop our impact report has been instrumental in keeping us honest. We’ve developed tracking methods and built reports using Salesforce® of course, which gives us insights to set annual goals and track outcomes. Our first run at the assessment took two years. Our second run-through took us 13 hours. And the best part, our score has improved, which proves B Corp has made us better.

The bottom line on this recertification journey is, we’re stoked! We believe strongly that business should serve as a force for good in the world. We also believe that capitalism, if it’s to be sustainable, must work to serve all of its stakeholders and not just shareholders. And we are grateful to be at the front of this wave, building an amazing (and profitable) business, and encouraging others to dip their toes in the water to develop a better version of themselves.

B Corps are the bridge connecting 20th-century capitalism to 21st-century values, an opportunity to lift all stakeholders and prove that profit can be made in a manner beneficial to all. If your company is contemplating a path toward B Corp certification, Ad Victoriam is happy to answer any of your questions – we’ve been there! Reach out to us here.

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If you would like to learn more about how your company can become a Certified B Corp, AdVic’s three-part blog series has all the information you need to succeed: Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3. You may also find this recent AdVic B Corp/Corporate Social Responsibility webinar helpful, too.

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For the following two years, the UGA MBA students worked with the AVS team to formalize our social impact goals. On January 11, 2018 B Lab, the B Corp accrediting body, officially declared us the 10th Certified B Corp in Georgia. As a B Corp, we joined 3,000 companies around the world who have made a commitment to make money responsibly, in a way that prioritizes their employees, their community, and the environment.

Our first year as a B Corp got off to a roaring start. We set aggressive goals for volunteering and pro bono consulting work. When the year closed, we evaluated our work, and produced our first Annual Social Impact Report.  We exceeded our social impact targets. Our team donated more than 530 hours of consulting work and spent more than 500 hours volunteering in the communities we serve.

Download our Annual Social Impact report for the details of our first year as a Certified B Corporation.

Related: Combining career success with a passion for social impact – one woman’s journey.

In addition to doing good for the world, our Ad Victoriam Solutions Salesforce Consultants work as a dedicated, innovative team of problem solvers, taking on your technology challenges. We are Salesforce cloud and data consultants who customize our approach to suit your processes for increased efficiency, accelerated productivity and scalability. Contact us to learn how we can help your business flourish. 

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B Corporations focus on purpose rather than profit, so the B Corp Summit is an opportunity for certified B Corps around the world to share ideas and best practices on inclusivity, sustainability, and how to truly be a force for good.  We’re enthusiastic about learning from these industry leaders and bringing their lessons back home with us, to both strengthen our footprint and to encourage others to join the movement.

As we look ahead to next month, here are four things we are eager to experience at the B Corp Summit and share with you:

1. Improving our Impact. This is our first year as a B Corp and we’re thrilled to meet the other companies that are committed to this movement. These companies have years of experience using business as a force for good and can enlighten us on ways to do even more.
2. Strengthening Employee Involvement. One of the breakout sessions will focus on stakeholder alignment and individual employee contributions to company values and missions. As you probably know, one of the biggest hurdles to corporate social responsibility initiatives is educating your employees on how and why they should get involved.
3. Branding with the Best. Since our accreditation, we have worked on how to best align our brand with our B Corp mission.  The summit will offer two sessions led by international marketing agencies focused on branding corporate social responsibility.
4. Getting Plugged into the B Corp Community. When we talk to other B Corps about improving our impact and strengthening our commitment to all stakeholders, the most frequent advice is to start attending events like the B Corp Summit.  What better place to start than scenic Amsterdam?

Follow our Trip
We’ll be posting the lessons we learn to share with our followers on social media, so be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook and don’t miss a minute of the B Corp Summit! And if you’re curious about why we became a B Corp or about the B Corp process, please reach out and connect.  We’re happy to answer any questions you may have.  Maybe next year you can join us at the B Corp Summit! 

About B Corp
B Corps are for-profit companies certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Today, Ad Victoriam Solutions, along with the more than 2,200 other B Corps around the globe, is working toward one unifying goal — to redefine success in business.

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