And Conscious Business Owners need Conscious Consumers

What is a Conscious Consumer?

Conscious Consumers and Conscious Business Owners are leading the global shift from
“Greed is Good” to “Harm None” and “Maximize value for all stakeholders.”

Conscious means awake, aware and intentional. I define a conscious person as one who
is committed to being aware of how she makes decisions AND how those decisions impact
her and others. And she takes responsibility for her decisions and their consequences.

We are all consumers. From the minute we are born, we start consuming. Ultimately every act of consumption is tied to commerce.

An aware person who chooses to extend their awareness to the act of consuming is a
conscious consumer. I consider myself a conscious consumer so I will use “we” as I talked
about “us.”

A conscious consumer is an aware human being with double vision. We focus our awareness on our personal and household wants and needs and also on the needs of society and the planet.

We are aware that we have choices about what companies we support with our purchasing
dollars. And we take responsibility for making informed decisions. We do research before
buying. We read company websites (especially purpose statements) and look for customer
reviews. We buy from companies that reflect our values.

According to research studies of the rapidly growing Conscious Consumer movement in the U.S., almost 9 out of 10 Americans “say the words ‘conscious consumer’ describe them well.”

The study finds 5 core values drive this market segment:

1. Health and Safety

• We want natural, organic and unmodified products that meet our essential health and nutrition needs.
  

• We want to be able to avoid chemicals that can harm our health or the planet.
  

2. Honesty

We’re not putting up with any more BS. We’ll only support businesses that are

• honest about processes and practices

• authentic about products

• and accountable for their impact on the environment and larger society

And if we catch a company lying about being green or fair, we out them on Facebook and
Twittter.

3. Convenience

• Along with being adamant about our values, we are also very practical.

• We want quality, affordability and sustainability

• We put a high priority on convenience and fair price.

• We want products and services that fit into our budgets and lifestyles.

4. Relationships

• We want to know the human beings behind the products and services we consume. “Who made it? Where does it come from? Am I getting back what I put into it?”

• We want more personal interactions when doing business. (Twitter and Facebook)

• We support our local economy when possible.

5. Doing Good

• As responsible conscious consumers, we want to do our part to make the world a better place.

• We know that our purchasing dollars are votes for the businesses and causes we support.

• We reward companies that produce environmentally-friendly products and practice fair

trade and labor practices

“While consumers continue to prioritize personal and practical concerns like health, safety,
price and quality, they are also looking to make a difference in the world,” said David Lubensky, founder of Bagatto, a San Francisco-based ethnographic research firm. “We see a trend toward ‘self-centered consciousness,’ whereby consumers want companies to meet their personal needs and positively impact society.”

What is a conscious entrepreneur or conscious business owner?

As aware people who are doing business consciously, we are clear about our purpose and
value. We are conscientious about the outcomes of our decisions and actions. We are aware of what is happening internally within our business and externally within the larger marketplace and related communities.

We want our work to deliver a whole range of high value outcomes. Our business is our vehicle for

• our personal creativity, self-expression, fulfillment and freedom

• creating a meaningful, respectful relationship with people our business touches

• helping them to have more creativity, self-expression, fulfillment and freedom in their lives

• having a positive impact the rest of the world

That means having double vision-having the ability to see from one’s own personal point of view and from others’ perspectives, often at the same time. Conscious business owners use their double vision a lot.

Yes, that does take practice. It means stretching our awareness so that we can see how we
make our decisions and projects not only the short-term consequences, but the long-term
impacts as well.

Therefore I add a third and fourth description to the definition. As a conscious business owner:

• I am mindful that my business exists within complex ecosystems of interdependent stakeholders.
  
• I intentionally create value for myself, my business, my team, my partners, my
  professional peers, my industry, my communities, and my planet in ways that are aligned with the purpose of my business.

Seeing the interconnections and their potential opportunities and consequences requires double vision.

Conscious consumers, called ethical consumers in the U.K., are the fastest growing market segment. A recent study says 9 out of 10 Americans put themselves in that category.

Business is about People. Commerce is part of human community.

Business is about people giving and receiving value. Having an exchange of value with every person the business touches, inside and outside the organization.

People around the world are in frustration and pain from the negative value business has been delivering:
• Economic collapse
• Scams & fraud and dishonesty
• Continued depletion of natural resources
• Dire condition of major eco-systems
• Exploitation of people, individually and groups
They feel at the effect of decisions made by government and big business.

People are tired of being treated as merely the instrument of someone else’s self-interest.
They are skeptical about how big business treats people and the planet in the grasping for greater and greater profits.

Consumers are aware of the consequences of the decisions that have been made over the past 100 years. They consider themselves stakeholders in the actions of business throughout the world.

What is a stakeholder?

A stakeholder is a person who has a stake or interest in a business. Initially the definition of “stake” was a financial interest or equivalent. Lenders, landlords, and stockholders are recognized as legitimate stakeholders.

Now the definition has expanded. A stakeholder is someone who is impacted by a company’s products and services, including their manufacture, their use and their disposal. It also includes people who are impacted by the company’s profit-making process.

The planetary environmental crisis demonstrates that we are all stakeholders in our biosphere.
The ongoing global financial crisis proves that seemingly unrelated individuals and communities are indeed stakeholders in the activities of large and small financial companies.

A growing number of conscious consumers are looking closely at how businesses conduct themselves in the marketplace. They are demanding that businesses of all sizes prove that they deliver outcomes with real value in the areas of People-inside and outside the organization

• Treat them with respect, fairness and honesty

• Products and services that do no harm & create results they promise

• Give value beyond the physical product or service itself

• Honor customers and employees, vendors, communities as whole persons, not just the means to achieve their ends

Profit-making process

• Honest, ethical, legal, moral and fair

• Use of Planetary resources

• Do no harm to eco-systems

• Repair or benefit eco-systems

Consumers are less skeptical about small businesses, but still wary. They like dealing with a business that is owned by a person-someone they feel they know and can trust. They apply the same criteria for value that they use for big companies.

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