Innovation

TBL Property Company is a local property maintenance company working in Oakville, Milton, Burlington and Mississauga. It specializes in residential pure water window cleaning, but also provides interior and exterior painting, and interlock sealing.

It is not the product, but the business model that is the innovation.

The owner, Ben Miles, developed a business model for TBL having a triple bottom line aspect; people, planet and profit. In addition to using eco-friendly, soap-free filters, he helps the people around him by giving back a portion of his profits to the community and environment. About 2.5% of net profits are donated to planting trees in North America and 2.5% of net profits are donated to supporting developmentally delayed adults at Community Living in Milton. TBL Property Co. helps with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development because it promotes economic growth and supply jobs to students, helps combat climate change, and uses responsible consumption and production.

Inspiration

Since school, Ben has wanted to start a company, but didn’t know what he wanted to do. He wanted to start a business about something he was passionate about; the environment.

Ben stated, “I don’t just want to minimize my environmental impact, I also want to have a net positive come out of the company. We offset our carbon footprint and have a positive impact on top of that.” He heard of a company, Carbon Farmer, on TV that planted trees in North America and thought this would be a great company to put into his business model to have an edge on his competitors. Carbon Farmer was involved in the creation of TBL Property Company because they gave him the idea of helping the environment by planting trees. Ben’s father was also involved in the creation of the innovation because he gave him advice about how to run a business and meeting customer needs. He helped Ben brainstorm products and services that are needed around him and became an integral part of the development process.

Ben did not particularly have the intention of using an eco-friendly business model, but knew that he wanted to have a “net positive impact”. “I operate the company as eco-friendly and socially responsible as I can. On top of that, I want to have a net positive effect, so I actively donate”.

Overall impact

Through the use of corporate sustainability measures, TBL Property Company has been able to produce a significant impact towards business, society, and the environment. The innovation created has had a positive impact on the state of the company in multiple ways. With environmentally-friendly products becoming increasingly popular, the demand for environmentally-friendly services has also increased. The way TBL Property Company marketed its eco-friendly services was effective as it "helped sales drastically, making a profit in the first summer." This helps demonstrate there is a direct effect on the company choosing to market itself as a green company.

TBL Property Company has also aided society with innovation. A portion of the profits received is donated to charities involved with adults that experience developmental delays. These charities are also located within the companies operating area, so the community is able to witness more of an impact on the donations instead of donating to charities that serve larger areas. There are also positive short term effects pertaining to society through providing students summer employment. This allows future generations to experience the impact of working for a socially responsible company. Through their experiences on the impact the company has done, they may be motivated to create or work for a socially responsible company after graduation.

The use of sustainable innovation has created a positive impact on the environment. TBL Property Company not only uses cleaning products that are environmentally safe, it also uses a portion of profits to plant trees. This allows the company to offset its carbon footprint. As it generates more business, it plants more trees. These trees remove pollutants from the air, and increase the air quality in the surrounding area. The long-term effects of the environmental impact is by being a new alternative to the industry. As competitors experience the competitive advantage TBL Property Company has over them, they will have a reason to become more socially responsible. Another long-term effect would be the constant planting of trees. The trees will clean the air as long as they live, which can provide a significant impact for future generations.

Business benefit

Ben saw a market where he knew he could excel through the reconstruction of a flawed business model. He wanted to achieve not only the goal of generating a profit but hoped to make an impact in creating a service that did not negatively affect the environment.

The benefit of eco-friendly window washing was received extremely well by the public. People were recognizing that they were able to receive a service that was doing a job better than it was before with no harmful effects on the environment. The core premise of the business model was to make a difference by being a leader of sustainability. Having the company redistribute a portion of the profits back into the community has immense effect on the public's perception of the business. The societal impact that has on word of mouth business is exponential.”As we operate we remove pollutants from planting the trees so the more we work, the better air quality gets." The businesses environmental benefit comes in the form of not only its ecofriendly window washing devices, but the trees that are planted from donation proceeds generated from the business. What Ben is doing is creating an avenue for doing good while still operating a profitable business that satisfies a thriving market. Without young entrepreneurs incorporating beneficial factors into their businesses there is no sense of responsibility to ensure that our world thrives.

There is always something special about a business owner that gives back to the community. A business owner that is not only concerned with profits but ensuring that what they are doing brings a sense of pride. What Ben has done can be attributed to a potential snowball effect in the making. When Ben was inspired by a pitch on Dragons Den he followed the initiative of his fellow entrepreneurs and decided he was going to make a difference. A difference that transcends beyond providing a service, a difference that positively impacts the surrounding community and environment above and beyond what anyone could ask for.

Social and environmental benefit

Through the use of corporate sustainability measures, TBL Property Company has been able to produce a significant impact towards its business, society, and the environment. The innovation created has had a positive impact on the state of the company in multiple ways. With environmentally-friendly products becoming increasingly popular, the demand for environmentally friendly services has also increased. The way TBL Property Company marketed its eco friendly services was effective as it made a profit during the first summer in operation. This helps demonstrate there is a direct effect on a company choosing to market as a green company and the sudden rise in sales.

TBL Property Company has also aided society with its innovation in using profits to help adults in need. These charities are also located within the companies operating area, so the community is able to witness more of an impact on the donations instead of donating to charities that serve larger areas. There are also positive short term effects pertaining to society through providing students summer employment. This allows future generations to experience the impact of working for a socially-responsible company. Through their experiences on the impact the company has made, they may be motivated to create or work for a socially responsible company after graduation.

The use of sustainable innovation has created a positive impact on the environment. TBL Property Company not only uses cleaning products that are environmentally safe, they also use a portion of their profits to plant trees. This allows the company to offset their carbon footprint. As they generate more business, they plant more trees. These trees remove pollutants from the air, and increase the air quality in the surrounding area. The long term effects of their environmental impact is by being a new alternative to the industry. As competitors experience the competitive advantage TBL Property Company has over them, they will have a reason to become more socially responsible. Another long term effect would be the constant planting of trees. The trees will clean the air as long as they live, which can provide a significant impact for future generations.

Interview

Ben Miles, Owner