by Sabiha Gokcen Swack
A business is the activity of buying and selling goods and services to make a profit (i.e., having an income or revenue that is greater than costs). All businesses must be financially viable.
Without this basic pre-condition they cannot sustain themselves, pay their staff, and continue to produce products or offer services to the market. Some businesses ONLY care about this. Or they may only care about their staff’s well-being or their environmental impact where it affects their production, reputation, and sales, and therefore, their profits. Sustainable development (and sustainable business development) has been defined in many ways. A frequently quoted definition is: “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”6 In the past, development of businesses,and the economic growth they drive, have generally been unsustainable froman environmental perspective.