Supposing you’ve made the decision to live more sustainably and are leaving the Rat Race in order to set up in self-employment, doesn’t it makes sense to incorporate sustainability into the new business plan? That way your business will be run in alignment with your interests and values and working in it will ultimately lead to a higher level of enjoyment, fulfilment and meaning.

So, what is a “sustainable business”? One official definition goes something like this:

“A Sustainable Business is a constituted organisation that takes full account of its triple bottom line – i.e. managing and contributing to social, environmental and economic improvements in its business practices.”

Simply put, a business’s “triple bottom line can be expressed in terms of the three Ps – People, Planet, Profit, and, most importantly, in equal priority. So now, rather than taking the conventional view and running our business primarily for profit, we are running our business for the welfare of society and of the environment with the same emphasis on these aims as on earning a profit.

Let’s face it, for most of us there are a host of different ways in which we care capable of earning money, even if some of those ways we believe wouldn’t generate “enough” income for our current needs. When we set up our own businesses, hopefully there are reasons other than money and capability that prompt us to do so. These reasons form our Business Purpose and they stem from our Business Values. They are what’s most important to us in our business lives: the non-negotiable parts. Examples of business purposes might be “providing enjoyable education programmes for adults”, “helping others to improve their health”, “enhancing the lives of children/the elderly/new parents”, “making marketing ethical and easy”.

Let’s look at the elements of the triple bottom line in more detail:

People

Think about all of the people who are involved with your business. Even if you don’t directly employ anyone else at present, who else do your actions affect? Who else does your business depend on? Your answer might well include your suppliers, your clients, your associates and colleagues. A sustainable business treats all of these people in a way that’s in keeping with its business purpose and sustainability, for example, by employing staff who live locally and sourcing from local suppliers. You could reduce your clients’ needs to travel by providing your products and services local to them rather than centralised wherever possible.

Planet

Many of you will be familiar with the term “Reduce, Re-Use, Re-cycle”. Maybe you are not aware that those instructions are stated in order of priority. That is, it is more important for us to reduce our consumption than it is to re-use items and re-using items is more important than re-cycling our waste. So, uppermost in the sustainable business owner’s mind will be minimising the negative impact on the planet of running that business by reducing consumption of energy, fuel, water and toxic substances.

Profit

Just because profit has now been relegated to one of three in the business’s bottom line does not make it any less important as a concept. For a business to be sustainable in the sense of growing and surviving long term it will need to generate a profit (unless it was set up as a not-for-profit organisation.) What the triple bottom line does is to remind us to keep profit generation in perspective with the other elements. With our business accounts as with our personal finances, if we keep our costs to a minimum and minimise our consumption, the income we need to generate to cover our costs and pay ourselves is reduced.

To help you in your business planning, I’ve produced a “Sustainable Business Checklist” which you can view here.

Communicating your Sustainability

Once you have incorporated sustainable business practices into your everyday business operations, it is worth considering how you can use that information to communicate your sustainable approach with the outside world. For example, on promotional leaflets you could include the words “printed on recycled paper”. If you are providing refreshments for visitors to your business, you could let them know, for example, that the food they are eating is organic and locally sourced wherever possible.

How will this benefit you? Other people who are endeavouring to lead sustainable lives and run sustainable businesses will be attracted to doing business with you if they believe doing so will make a positive contribution to their triple bottom line. They will feel more comfortable in your company and better able to establish a relationship of trust with you. In short, it will strengthen your business connections with similarly minded people and contribute to your business not only being a financial success, but inwardly rewarding and meaningful for you too.

According to a recent research report (January 2007) produced by a financial services company in the USA, 60% of Americans are planning a gradual transition into retirement by downshifting into part time employment or a less demanding full time job.  A simple google search reveals that similar trends are also being reported in Europe, Australasia and Japan. Some are choosing this route of voluntary simplicity in order to reap the benefits of a downshifted lifestyle, while others feel forced into downshifting rather than complete retirement due to adverse financial circumstances.

Those of you who have been subscribing to my newsletter for a while will be well aware of the many benefits of downshifting in terms of stress reduction and improved quality of life. What if downshifting fills you with dread because you were looking forward to stopping work altogether and now you find you will have to carry on earning for a while?

Did you have other plans?

Maybe you’re in a job you love and you can simply reduce your weekly working hours as you near retirement. If you’re in a job that you are desperate to leave then just switching to part-time working is unlikely to fill you with enthusiasm. Now could be a good time to consider other, more enjoyable and fulfilling options. It will probably help you to look for the positives in your situation. Keeping active, having a fulfilling vocation and focus can help to keep you young and healthy. Perhaps this is your chance to work at a less stressful, more meaningful job, maybe hobby related? What would you be doing with your time if you knew you didn’t have to earn money? How can you turn that into an income generator?

Are you fit for work?

Perhaps you were looking forward to total retirement because you have an ongoing health problem and you believe that continued work will aggravate your condition. This is where it’s even more important to use this opportunity as a way to reduce the stress in your working life. In what way does your current job threaten your health? If reducing your working hours alone will not be sufficient to alleviate this negative effect on your health, in what ways would your job need to be different in order for it to benefit your health?

Are you ready to slow down?

Perhaps your drive and ambition are changing; you had envisaged that stopping work would enable you to slow down and lead a more leisurely, simple existence. If this is you, then you’re not alone. Many people imagine that that they will have to wait until retirement before they can have more leisure time. Then, when full retirement is delayed for some reason, they assume that the new, more enjoyable way of life will have to be put on hold too. Yet most people can achieve this simpler, less stressful form of existence at any time in their working lives simply by reassessing their goals in life and what’s important to them. If you don’t believe me, then do make a point of reading the guest articles that appear in this newsletter each month as they are inspiring examples of real life downshifting stories.

The good news is that it is possible to do both i.e. slow down and simplify one’s life, whilst at the same time earning a living. This is what downshifting is all about.

Are you worried by financial difficulties?

The prospect of living longer and not being able to cover medical expenses, fuel bills, home maintenance costs etc is a serious one.

My previous article “How will I cope?: The financial implications of downshifting” may well help you here.  If you are seeking an alternative to your current employment in order to downshift, where are you going to look?

Talk to others, whoever you can think of who will be knowledgeable in the arena in which you would prefer to work and stay open to unusual opportunities emerging. It is worth searching on the internet too. Employers and Government agencies are wising up to the fact that a combination of an ageing demographic with ageist practices could deprive companies of a wealth of talent, experience and insight, so they are keen to persuade companies of the benefits of recruiting mature employees.

What about opportunities for self-employment doing what you most love to do? If being self-employed does not appeal to you because you do not want to shoulder that level of responsibility, are there friends who you could team up with to run a joint venture? Maybe you could create a business that would be worth selling in 5-10 years’ time and that would provide a supplement to your current pension or other financial provision for retirement.

Whatever situation you are starting from when you consider downshifting into retirement, the key to a happy, simpler and low stress lifestyle will be in giving yourself time to re-evaluate your priorities in all areas of your life and to act in accordance with them.

Many of us are aware that communication plays a vital role in any relationship. That doesn’t always mean that it’s easy, of course! When we are approaching a major change in our lives or perhaps have changed our priorities, as is often the case when we are thinking of leaving the rat race, it is important to be able to convey that information to the ones we love. We’ve decided we’ve had enough of leading a high pressure, high stress lifestyle and feel that the rewards do not justify the costs in terms of our health and wellbeing. It’s at times like this when we most need our partner’s understanding and support. And they need to know how and why we’ve changed and how that affects them. How do we communicate this in a way that maximises our chances of success?

Prepare the ground – open up discussions. Get the discussion started by asking your partner to set aside some time to chat through something that’s important to you. This does not need to be a long discussion to begin with. It’s just to introduce the ideas and see what their reaction is. If they show signs of actively wanting to know more at this early stage, point out a few relevant books, courses, websites, magazines, but not so much they that are overwhelmed! Then ask questions to find out where you other half is with it first. What are their opinions on what you’ve just said? Focus on understanding their point of view on the situation.

Sow the seeds – in the context of your partner’s situation and understanding, explain your thoughts. Let them know that you are serious about it and that it means a lot to you to at least investigate the options together.

Apply some nourishment – discuss how you will investigate the realities of a possible new lifestyle together. Respect your partner’s right to take time to adjust to the ideas. Accept that, whilst they may be supportive, they are likely to have different perspectives on the situation. View this as another opportunity for learning together rather than a sign of possible problems. Whilst there may well be some heated discussion and difficult conversations, remember that working your way through these times is likely to lead to a deeper level of intimacy and sense of connectedness.

What if your plans don’t thrive? – you may need to accept that your partner does not share your enthusiasm for downshifting. If this becomes evident, don’t panic just yet. There may well be other solutions open to you both that will make you happy. Explore the possibility of your downshifting and your partner continuing as they are alongside you. You could perhaps agree to downshift but take just a few small steps and re-evaluate the situation. Some may find that they are faced with a stark and challenging choice – what is more important to you, your relationship with your partner or your own wellbeing and authenticity?

Watch it grow – set aside time on a regular basis to discuss your research, plans and progress made. If your partner is actively engaged in your ideas by now, make downshifting a joint venture, even if you’re not each doing an equal amount of the work in the beginning.

Harvest time – take your first steps together on your downshifting journey. Remember to offer each other support when mistakes are made and to celebrate your successes at each stage.

Isn’t life wonderful when you look back on it and see all the lessons you’ve learned from all the mistakes you’ve made? :o)

One of the first business development books I ever read was Edward De Bono’s “Opportunities” and his words have inspired me at many times during my downshifting years. What I remember particularly is his lateral thinking approach to problem solving. He urges his readers to view problems as potential opportunities, to see beneath each stressful situation that we encounter and to look for the opportunities in it. To do this we need to go beyond just reacting to problems with the first solution that comes into our heads and to brainstorm for lots of potential solutions.

Why spend the time and effort doing that? Because then we have a choice in how we proceed and can choose the best solution rather than any old fix so long as it works. De Bono also states “Necessity is the mother of invention – unfortunately” because he says most of us will only go looking for opportunities when our backs are up against the wall and we’ve got no alternative. When we lose our jobs or fall ill or lose a loved one. If we get made redundant and decide to start our own business, for example, that business opportunity was always there ready for us to pick up whether we got made redundant or not. It’s just that we do not generally go looking for those opportunities or have the courage to act on our findings unless we feel forced to.

Those ideas have guided me along the downshifting path, which is why I wanted to share them with you this month.

I’ve been taking the opportunity over the festive holiday to review where I am with my personal downshifting plan. Looking back over the major decisions that I’ve made on my downshifting path, I’ve noticed that many of them came about as a result of one thing – my attempts to deal with various stressful events and situations that arose during my participation in the Rat Race. My approach when dealing with stress has been to identify the problem and then fix it.

What were those problems? For me, Rat Race stress resulted in poor health (physical, emotional and spiritual) both for me and my children. My first downshifting decision was to become vegetarian. Initially, this was a way I saw to solve my health problems. However, as time went by it became evident to me that vegetarianism was far more than just preventing poor health. I began to learn about the wider benefits, such as the impact on the environment and animal welfare. I was beginning to feel as though I was making a larger contribution to society than just fixing myself. It also gave me the opportunity to completely overhaul how I was looking after myself and subsequently my children. We have all benefited enormously from this.

Making the decision to move from full-time work to part–time self employment was a decision I took after giving birth to my first child. The source of my stress in this situation was the thought that I would have to go back to work full time in order to pay the bills but I did not want to be parted from my baby. I quickly realised, having cut our living costs considerably during my maternity leave, that this was not necessary. I could do what I really wanted to do, which was to spend lots of time with my new baby and also balance that with a couple of days work per week. I also wanted far more autonomy in my work and the flexibility to work from home when I chose. So I elected to become self-employed. The stressful situation of being parted from my baby had been averted and I had discovered some new ways of working.

A few years later, and with my children finding their school environment increasingly stressful, I started researching alternatives and settled on deregistering them from school altogether, electing to home educate them. Initially, this was a way to fix the problem of my children being unhappy and not receiving a suitable education. As time went by, it became evident that not only had we solved the problem but that they were positively thriving and in ways I had not dared to imagine. If you are curious as to how this can be, please see my article, “How is home education sustainable.”

Gradually, opportunities emerged that we had not been aware of before. The children were healthier because they were exposed to fewer infections and had a healthier diet. They gradually became increasingly more autonomous in their learning and more self-confident in facing the world at large. We developed closer family relationships as we had more time to spend together and to express ourselves.

When we use the stresses of being in the Rat Race to re-examine how we are living our lives, we can uncover the opportunities we need in order to downshift.

Suggested Further Reading:

Opportunities. By Edward De Bono

Money can be such an emotive issue. Our attitude towards it can be affected by our childhood circumstances, our positive and negative experiences of financial matters in adult life and the extent to which we feel in control of this area of our lives. It has the potential to make or break relationships.

How does this affect our children and their financial independence?

For children to learn to be financially independent, they need to have the opportunity to take responsibility for money. This means having some kind of allowance, or pocket money of their own. Very young children are likely to find abstract concepts difficult to grasp and so they might well start with keeping a small supply of cash at home. This can be manipulated, counted and played with and then exchanged at shops for items they value. Later, opening a bank account in their own name will introduce them to some of the more abstract areas of money management, such as understanding bank statements and interest payments on their savings. Even the process of choosing a bank account can lead to some interesting and educational discussions. Where does this bank invest its money? Where does it stand ethically and do you agree with that? How well does it treat you as a customer? Is it respectful of children? Can you access their banking services online, by telephone, at a local branch? Which is most convenient for us?

Once children have been given some financial responsibility, then we need to consider what our involvement is going to be. Are we going to let them make mistakes e.g. overspending? If so, do we bail them out? What about credit? Do we offer them loans when they are short of money or suggest that they save a certain proportion of their allowance each month? And how do we feel about children earning part or all of their allowance rather than it being given to them?

With matters such as these, I would encourage parents to discuss the issues with their children and to listen carefully to their children’s ideas and contributions. It really is amazing how creative and insightful children can be. In one family I know, the children asked their parents for an increase in their monthly allowance. Their parents could not afford to do this without finding the extra money from elsewhere and explained this to the children. The children suggested that they forego their Christmas presents and that the money that the parents would have spent on them be divided by 12 and added to their monthly allowance instead. According to the parents involved, this has worked out well for the whole family, since they now find it easier to budget for Christmas and the children are more financially independent for the rest of the year.

Another family I know regularly partake in car boot sales. They view this as a fun and interesting family outing, a chance for the children to experience haggling and negotiating and handling money from the seller’s point of view. The children have also learned the value of recycling unwanted items and the advantages and pitfalls of buying items second hand.

Children need good role models who are adept at handling their own financial affairs and are prepared to discuss such matters openly. That’s where we come in!

When we are open and honest with ourselves about our attitude to money then we are free to discuss these matters with our children. For them to learn from us, they will need to see us carrying out activities such as earning money, reconciling our cheque books with our bank statements, paying bills, dealing with insurance, tax, credit card payments, and exchanging currency if we travel abroad. So, as with many aspects of parenting, encouraging financial independence in our children works best when we’ve got our own financial act together first!