Innovation

Founded in 2021 by Nathan Stuck, Profitable Purpose Consulting (PPC) has created a new genre of business consulting that enables other businesses to shift towards making a positive impact. PPC offers B Corp and culture consulting services geared toward companies across the United States. PPC has created two main services: B Corp Certification Consulting and Fractional Leadership Consulting. The programs help PPC approach businesses from a holistic perspective to allow for renewed positive impact.

The B Corp certification program has been streamlined into a simple process that PPC uses to guide companies through the life cycle of earning a B Corp certification. Starting with an easy online application and preliminary data gathering, PPC can begin to analyze the current state of the business to gather recommendations and actionable insights into the current business and its relationship to the outside environment. After working systematically through the business processes, PPC will help the organization reach the 80 point threshold required to be recognized as a B Corp. Once the assessment has been submitted for verification, PPC remains by the client’s side through the final audit meetings to defend the company and ensure reasonable standards are met to earn the final certification.

Founder and CEO Nathan Stuck has used this process to work on 40+ successful B Corp certification projects, and the results show the effectiveness of this solution. Nathan has a passion for creating a new version of capitalism that works for all. Aligning with SDG 8 (Decent work and Economic Growth) and 17 (Partnership for the goals), Nathan has enabled mission-driven businesses to work together towards a better future.

Inspiration

Nathan Stuck was always the go-to guy when it came to helping a company get certified as a B Corp. In fact, when he worked for his former boss, anytime another company would ask anything about their B Corp status, his boss would say, “You need to talk to Nathan, he's our B Corp guy.” One day, a few years back, a business approached him inquiring about certifying as a B Corp. After discussing it with his boss, his boss said, "You should open your own business."

So, he took his boss' advice and opened his own business. He told himself at the start of his business "I don't want to be a box-checking B Corp consultant. I want to be the person that helps companies make impactful and lasting changes, allowing them to tell a compelling story about how they created a social impact." This is what Nathan strives for every time a company reaches out to him about becoming certified. When asked about his source of inspiration, Nathan shared, "When I lay my head on my pillow after I retire, I want to be able to know I made a difference.”

Overall impact

As a growing number of people, mainly younger generations, are taking stands on what they demand from companies, both in where they work and where they spend their money, businesses have been forced to improve and become more transparent about their impact. The B Corp certification was created to help people determine which companies are affecting real change with their business operations. PPC works to help companies achieve this B Corp certification. Because obtaining B Corp certification is such a long and thorough process (taking around 12 months to complete the application), PPC works alongside individual companies to ease the operational burden. PPC also aids in improving the culture within organizations through a fractional leadership approach once certification is complete. They take companies through three questions: Who they are, who they want to be, and how to reach that ideal future state.

Currently, PPC works with companies to improve their culture and transparency. In the long term, PPC works to better the world overall. More certified B Corp companies mean more environmentally and socially friendly entities that care about both the present and the future of the planet. Unlike many companies that simply state that they are doing positive things for the planet and the people who live on it. Being a B Corp certified company means that your company is constantly putting in the actual work to be sustainable. PPC works to make the corporate world a better place, helping develop companies that people want to work at. Given the current state of our world, PPC and the services it provides are very much needed.

Business benefit

Through the launch of Profitable Purpose Consulting, Nathan Stuck has met a growing need for guidance through the certification process, as more and more firms realize its value. B Corp certification is a growing trend among sustainability and social-responsibility-oriented companies. Stuck, through his reputation as a thought leader in the B Corp space, is capitalizing on this trend.

Profitable Purpose Consulting greatly differentiates itself from countless other aspiring B Corp consultants, both in terms of experience and protocol. Stuck’s professional reputation provides PPC with a competitive advantage. He is the winner of the 2020 North American Community Builder Award from B Lab US & Canada, co-founded and chairs B Local Georgia, serves on the board of B Academics, and works as a part-time lecturer at the University of Georgia, where he teaches an MBA level course on B Corps. Reputation aside, however, PPC views itself as a long-term business partner, differentiating them from a majority of other B Corp consultants. “We focus on doing good as a primary function of the company,” shares Stuck, “We don’t just check boxes.” This differentiation serves the companies, their employees, and their stakeholders. It also brings Profitable Purpose Consulting business.

Social and environmental benefit

Despite being a relatively new company, Profitable Purpose Consulting (PPC) has already made a strong impact. The firm currently has a dozen paying clients and provides pro-bono work to an additional three companies. Nathan Stuck and the rest of the team at PPC help companies through the B Corp certification process, which involves meeting rigorous standards of transparency, accountability, and sustainability. They work with these businesses closely and encourages leaders to consider their impact on all stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers, and the environment.

Nathan Stuck says his company’s stronger competitive advantage and greatest impact stems from his experience as a Director of Culture & Strategic Impact at Ad Victoriam Solutions, a Georgia based B Corp where he cut his teeth learning the ins and outs. “Many companies,” Nathan describes, “shoot money at random charities with no real strategy.” PPC helps companies to focus their philanthropy on one mission that aligns with their core business. Doing so allows the company to tell better stories that combine their impact and their brand, attracting culture-aligned talent and a loyal customer base. This element of storytelling is vital. Creating a narrative around philanthropy, Stuck beams, allows companies to ‘create a competitive advantage and draw in others who support the cause.’ Nathan Stuck, prior to even starting this company, was known as ‘Mr. B Corp’ and Profitable Purpose Consulting has served as a vehicle for Stuck to spread the B Corp movement: Promoting ethical business practices, creating more equitable workplaces, and driving positive change.

Interview

Nathan Stuck, Founder and CEO