the majority of agencies to embrace
a better way to do business. This
doesn’t mean you have to become a B
Corp, but every company has room to
improve its practices and better align
purpose with profit. So what are you
waiting for?
Endnotes
1. See https://bthechange.com; https://
consciouscompanymedia.com; https://
www.triplepundit.com
2. See https://hbr.org/2018/01/facebook-
blackrock-and-the-case-for-purpose-driven-companies; https://bthechange.
com/how-investors-really-feel-about-
b-corps-7dcf7988a6e3; https://hbr.
org/2016/10/the-type-of-purpose-that-
makes-companies-more-profitable
3. Frick, T. Designing for Sustainability: A
Guide to Building Greener Digital Products
and Services. O’Reilly Media, Sebastopol,
CA, 2016.
4. While B Corp certification is available
only to for-profit corporations, anyone can
use the B Impact Assessment to measure
their impact. Currently, over 40,000
organizations use it to improve their
environmental, social, and governance
(ESG) performance.
5. https://www.mightybytes.com/blog/
mightybytes-wins-illinois-sustainability-award; https://bthechange.com/the-203-
companies-taking-impact-improvement-
to-heart-23362e1463e6.
Tim Frick is CEO of Mightybytes (www.
mightybytes.com/), a Certified B Corp and one of
the oldest digital agencies in Chicago. He is also
a speaker and author of four books, including,
most recently, Designing for Sustainability: A Guide
to Building Greener Digital Products and Services,
available from O’Reilly Media.
→ tim@mightybytes.com
• By powering the websites we build
with renewable energy and offsetting our
company’s greenhouse gas emissions,
we support SDGs 7 (affordable and
clean energy), 11 (sustainable cities
and communities), 12 (responsible
consumption and production), and 13
(climate action).
• By joining 1% for the Planet and
committing 1 percent of our top-line
revenue to environmental nonprofits,
we support SDGs 6 (clean water and
sanitation), 7 (affordable clean energy),
11 (sustainable cities and communities),
12 (responsible consumption and
production), 13 (climate action),
14 (life below water), and 15 (life on
land). Our 1% membership also
helps us foster productive partnerships
with member nonprofits, which
supports SDG 17 (creating strategic
SDG partnerships). Some of these
partnerships in turn provide business
referrals for us, helping the company
generate sustainable profit.
• The majority of our company
advisory committee comprises women,
which supports SDGs 5 (gender
equality) and 10 (reduced inequalities).
• Many of our clients are in the
education sector, which supports SDGs
4 (quality education) and, longer term, 8
(decent work and economic growth).
• Finally, by helping values-aligned, mission-driven organizations
find success, we support the majority
of SDGs in some way. In 2016, over
70 percent of our client base was
nonprofits, community foundations,
and mission-aligned businesses, such
as other B Corps. That number rose
to 81 percent in 2017.
We know we can improve
performance on several more goals,
such as SDG 9 (industry, innovation,
and infrastructure), 5 and 10 (gender
equality and reduced inequalities,
respectively), and 16 (peace, justice,
and strong institutions). How we track
all these goals over time could use some
improvement as well.
We renew our B Corp certification
every three years. Staying on point
with all our social and environmental
goals between certifications can be
an ongoing challenge amid the day-to-day tasks of running a business.
To do this, we fold environmental,
While the B Impact Assessment is a
wonderful toolkit, as a small business
we can do only what our resources
allow, and this can impede progress
on some goals. After our first
certification in 2011, it took several
years before we hit our stride. This
took team turnover, new policies,
revised hiring practices, and more.
Unfortunately, we overextended
ourselves several times during those
early B Corp years, often the result
of wide-eyed idealism usurping
financial practicality. It’s a balancing
act. Last year (2017), however, was
the company’s most profitable year to
date, and we were still able to create
significant impact, earning industry
and community accolades in the
process [ 5]. Being a B Corp, in my
experience, is the most rewarding way
to run a business.
AGENCIES MAKING
CHANGE HAPPEN
There are thousands of B Corps around
the world. Over 50 percent of them are
outside the U. S. Each company charts
its own course toward a shared and
durable prosperity for all of society,
and redefines success in business while
doing so. In order for change to happen
in our industry on a scale required
to meet the SDGs, however, we need
DOI: 10.1145/3289489 COPYRIGHT HELD B Y AUTHOR. PUBLICATION RIGHTS LICENSED TO ACM. $15.00
STRATEGIC COMMUNITY
PARTNERSHIPS