Business in Vancouver’s “How I Did It” feature asks business leaders to explain in their own words how they achieved a business goal in the face of entrepreneurial challenges. In this week’s issue, Toby Barazzuol, president of Eclipse Awards (which supplies glass and crystal awards to corporations) explains how he’s managed to have a profitable business and keep sustainability and community relations at the top of his business agenda.
“I put in about 20% of my time a week toward community-related activities. I do that by volunteering with the Strathcona Business Improvement Association. I am currently the chair there, but I have been involved for over eight years.”
“I didn’t start like that. It grew over time as I got more involved with community initiatives and volunteering. In the first few years it was about growing our business, and then after about five years it became [about] the goal of the business. Do we continue to grow larger or is there an additional meaning to having a business? For me it was finding a deeper meaning for running a business, and that was finding a way of contributing to the community in a meaningful way.
“I started the business in 1998 in Yaletown. We had to move out after about the third or fourth year. That was the time I was wondering what is our business for, and I thought let’s try and move to a community where we might be able to make an impact, which is why we chose Strathcona.
“There are a lot of challenges in that area, but improvements are happening. Of course, that wasn’t the sole reason.
“Community service and corporate social responsibility will strengthen your business. As a way to differentiate your business it’s important, but I also think the next generation of businesses is not going to be so purely business-focused. I would like to believe it would be more of a mixed social mission and environmental consciousness. It’s a way to position your business; it’s a way to show leadership by making those contributions.
“Being sustainable and community-conscious has earned us some new customers, and it’s certainly built our reputation in a way we couldn’t have done otherwise. What we have done with our community contributions is add value to our brand.Understanding sustainability is the single greatest investment you can make toward your future success. I definitely believe that and run my company in that way. The world is much more transparent now with social media. People now know what organizations are up to. I think more and more people now buy based on their values. We are also a living-wage employer. If you are running a sustainable business, part of that means paying living wages because if you’re not, you are essentially surviving off the sacrifice of your staff.
“It is a healthy process to think about your business in new ways in terms of manufacturing, marketing and how you relate to your staff. All those things you can look at through a new lens of sustainability it can be very beneficial and enlightening … you might come out with some kind of money-saving program that will not only reduce your environmental footprint but your costs too.”
