What it really means to prosper in business today

Written by

Estee Lutte Engao

on

November 6, 2024

4 minutes to read

Prosperity is often misunderstood. Business success has been confined to profits and individual gain for too long—a narrow, limiting perspective. True prosperity is about creating a ripple effect of shared value that extends beyond company walls, touching everyone involved. It’s about lifting others as you grow and building a flow of impact that reaches employees, customers, and communities alike.

A prosperous business never grows in isolation. Instead, it becomes a force that uplifts lives around it. When businesses thrive and share success, everyone benefits, and a legacy of shared growth takes shape. Let’s dive into what it means to prosper in business by creating a meaningful impact that elevates those around us.

Redefining success through shared prosperity

A business’ true measure of growth lies in the lives it impacts. When growth becomes a shared experience, businesses gain resilience, loyalty, and a purpose that stretches beyond financial returns.

Consider Hive Cleaning, a UK-based company that challenged its industry’s status quo by committing to tangible impact. Hive took responsibility for the unavoidable plastic used in its operations. Funding plastic collection provided income and social benefits to collection members in underserved communities. This genuine commitment has driven higher customer and employee satisfaction, fueling Hive’s continued success. Hive’s story proves businesses thrive when they grow with collective benefit as the goal—not individual gain.

Building prosperity by empowering people

Empowering people is at the heart of lasting prosperity. Businesses that invest in their people—employees, customers, or community members—build a foundation for collective growth. Empowerment means offering opportunities for skill development, advancement, and independence, which fosters loyalty and dedication.

Currensea, a financial services company, empowers its customers to make socially conscious financial decisions by enabling them to fund plastic collection with every transaction. By seamlessly integrating sustainability into daily life, Currensea gives people a meaningful way to make an impact, proving that empowerment can extend beyond traditional support to embedding purpose into everyday actions.

Creating thriving communities

A prosperous business contributes to the health and resilience of its community. Investing in community welfare—whether through local hiring, supporting small businesses, or sponsoring social programs—creates a ripple effect of prosperity. Thriving communities help businesses thrive, forming a mutually beneficial relationship where each bolsters the other.

For example, Reckitt, a leader in health and hygiene products, addresses critical waste issues through plastic collection initiatives that provide jobs and improve local infrastructure. This commitment has created a ripple effect: Reckitt’s collection efforts have led to improved social structures and greater community resilience. As a result, Reckitt saw a 130 basis point boost in conversion rates on its e-commerce channels and a significant increase in new-to-brand sales. Businesses that invest in communities build trust, loyalty, and long-term success.

Giving back more than you take

A prosperity mindset doesn’t stop at sustaining resources—it prioritizes regeneration, actively restoring what’s been consumed. Regenerative businesses don’t just reduce their impact; they reverse it, creating cycles of abundance by embedding responsibility into every operation.

A regenerative approach means seeing the business as a caretaker for the planet and future generations. These practices go beyond compliance and actively contribute to environmental and social renewal. This type of business isn’t just resilient; it thrives alongside a healthier society and planet, building a legacy of restoration that endures.

Plastic Bank collection members in Indonesia.

Purposeful partnerships

No business can create a widespread impact alone. Purpose-driven partnerships amplify reach and deepen influence, enabling businesses to tackle complex challenges together. Aligning with like-minded organizations allows businesses to address challenges across sectors, creating a network of shared prosperity.

The companies we’ve discussed here—Reckitt, Hive Cleaning, and Currensea—are all collaborating with Plastic Bank, a social fintech that helps end poverty and stop plastic pollution. Through its global bottle deposit program, collection members gather plastic and exchange it for additional income and social benefits. Each piece of gathered plastic builds resilience in communities, creating economic security where there was none. With an Impact Membership, businesses partnering with Plastic Bank create environmental impact, uplift communities, and invite their customers to join the movement.

These partnerships demonstrate that prosperity through collaboration is powerful. Collective action magnifies success and fosters resilience in an interconnected world. With today’s urgent social and environmental challenges, no business can do it alone. It takes a network of shared purpose and commitment to uplift one another.

True prosperity flows from those who lift others, regenerate resources rather than deplete them, and work together for lasting impact. It’s no longer just about the growth of one business but about how deeply it can touch lives and how far its legacy can reach. This is what it means to steward the planet and its people toward collective prosperity.

Curious about steering your business toward prosperity? Begin your journey at plasticbank.com and witness how purpose brings lasting success to your business.