Lauren Tancer
Case Western Reserve University - Weatherhead School of Management
Chris Laszlo
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Better World Books works to fight illiteracy worldwide through their sustainability-woven business model. For each book purchased through BetterWorldBooks.com, a book is donated to someone in need. Similarly, a portion of each purchase is put into a grant fund. The organization donates grants all over the world with the overarching goal of bringing quality education to all and ending illiteracy.
The innovation at Better World Books is their business model. At the core of the organization, you will find sustainability. Their sustainability efforts span every aspect of the organization. BWB focuses on the triple bottom line: People, Plant and Profit. This for-profit business strives to end illiteracy through their book donation program. For each book purchased on BetterWorldBooks.com, a book is donated to someone in need.
Woven into the online bookstore platform is a grant fund. Part of each purchase made on their website goes into a Literacy Grant. The Better World Books Cares movement donates literacy grants to libraries, nonprofits and individuals across the globe. The Better World Books literacy grants are another aspect built into the business model that makes large strides towards increasing literacy.
Not only does Better World Books strive to give everyone a quality education, they also have a large emphasis on protecting our planet. Their ultimate goal is to prevent any book from ever entering a landfill. When books are donated to the organization, they work to find them a home. If they are unable to find them a home, BWB makes sure the book is properly recycled so it can continue to make a difference.
Not only does the business model focus on donating books when they are unable to be used, it also outlines the importance of sustainability in the warehouse, office space, and throughout the organization. Better World Books has a Sustainability Council that meets weekly to make sure the organization is making strides to keep the organization reducing their carbon footprint, protecting the environment and working towards being a leaner, more efficient organization.
The inspiration for Better World Books started in South Bend, Indiana at Notre Dame University. Two friends, Xavier and Kreece, were recent graduates of the University. Kreece decided to list their old textbooks on the Internet in an attempt to make some extra money. The books sold quickly, and the guys knew there was a potential market. Xavier was the entrepreneur of the two, and started brainstorming how they could capitalize on this new information. The following spring, they launched the idea by collecting donated books and started re-selling them online. With the success of the business, they recruited a friend, Jeff, who had a business background to join them as well. The sustainability-based business model came shortly after realizing that, "by generating revenue to fund literacy, they would also earn profits to support and grow the company. And in funding literacy, they would help give struggling people all over the world the skills and self-esteem necessary to thrive and succeed" (betterworldbooks.com).
From there, the company grew and developed with many changes to the business model along the way. Throughout the process, they kept the people, plant and profit in mind. This company is on track to continue to disrupt the book-purchasing world, while improving literacy rates worldwide.
Better World Books' impact has breadth and depth. The main impact of BWB is to bring literacy and opportunity to people around the world. They do this through a variety of channels. First, for every book purchased on www.betterworldbooks.com, they donate a book to someone in need. So far, they have donated over 24 million books. They partner with non-profit organizations to distribute the books all across the globe to people in need.
Secondly, Better World Books has Literacy Grants that are received all around the world. The grants can go to actions like building a new library in Africa or helping the Texas libraries get back on their feet after Hurricane Harvey. The grants are aimed to bring literacy and education to all of those in need and approach the issues from the front lines. Overall, their goal is to bring education to all and help fight poverty through education.
Not only does Better World Books go above and beyond when it comes to bridging the educational gap across the globe, they also go above with their commitment to environmental sustainability. First, they will never throw a book away. If they are unable to find a home for the book, they will always make sure it is properly recycled so the paper can be used again. Secondly, they offer a carbon-balanced shipping method to reduce their carbon footprint. They have an in-house sustainability council that meets weekly to discuss how they can become an even more sustainable company.
Better World Books learned early on that sustainability would be an important part of their business model and their success. According to Dustin Holland, Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing, “Early on they discovered the customer base was very in tune with sustainability whether it’s within a library, community or otherwise. By holding the environment and sustainability as high values in the company, the clients relate to the business model that much better.” Holland also reflected on how overall sustainability benefits the company financially. Essentially, a sustainable business is a lean business. When you’re doing good for the environment, you’re doing good for the company. He provided an example of the warehouse forklifts. The sustainability council had re-evaluated the routes the forklift drivers were taking. By making a more direct route for the forklift drivers, the forklifts are using less propane per trip, making it better for the environment and for the pocketbook.
They have also gained national recognition for the good they are doing. Last year they were awarded the Small Business Partner of The Year by the EPA. This was extremely exciting for the company, because it is a huge honor to be recognized as someone doing so much good.
Also, their scalable business model provides them with the opportunity to continue to grow and develop as an organization. They’ve saved millions of books from landfills, and they’re hoping to reach even larger goals in the years to come.
The Societal and Environmental benefits from Better World Books are scalable and impressive. To date, they have donated nearly 24.5 million books to those in need. They donate books all over the world, the photo of the map provided in the story shows a graphical representation of all of the areas where they donate books. Providing individuals who many not have had access to books with the opportunity to grow their educational opportunities.
As an organization, they have raised and donated over $26 million to literacy and libraries. These donations have been sent world-wide and have done things from building new libraries in Nicaragua to hurricane relief for Texas libraries after Hurricane Harvey. One example of a recent grant recipient is the Kenya Self Help Project, which aims to help impoverished children and youth improve their reading skills. Recently, BWB also donated $10,000 to the Texas Library Association Disaster Relief fund to help with damage from Hurricane Harvey. Better World Books has raised more than $26,640,000 towards their literacy grant, with more money being donated with each and every purchase.
When it comes to keeping books out of landfills, they are second to none. Since being found, they have recycled nearly 300 million books! They strive to keep all books out of landfills. If they are unable to find a home for a book or resell the book, they make sure it is safely and responsibly recycled instead of being thrown away and ending up in a landfill.
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Dustin Holland, Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing
