Report #4

Community

We did a call to arms this year for businesses to pledge to audit their suppliers and how they’re impacting the communities they operate in. We fell short of our goal to formalise a RAP plan and took the first step in cultural training with Evolve Communities.

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Our superstar Sarah having a blast with the KOSI team in the Solomon Islands

“It’s always felt uncomfortable and inappropriate for me to do AOC"

“It’s always felt uncomfortable and inappropriate for me to do AOC, and Sarah often would lead them so I’d sit back and think ‘Phew’. But after doing the Evolve course I realised I was all in my head, and have started sharing. In my AOC I include personal perspectives, sharing what I know and don’t that we don’t have a RAP and that I don’t know what’s going on and recommend the Evolve course. I’ve been overwhelmed by the response, with people directly reaching out after meetings saying they changed their perspective, want to try it and are inspired to lean into RAP.” - Simon Smallchua, COO, Harvey

We are aware that every decision a business makes, whether conscious or unconscious, produces a ripple effect that impacts people, communities and the environment far beyond the scope of its primary stakeholders.

At a fundamental level, wielding business as a force for good means using the power of the market to positively impact stakeholders and shift the global economy to one that prioritises inclusivity and regeneration over profit and greed. But none of this would be possible without one important thing: community. Communities help businesses to flourish, making it the role of businesses to ensure that communities flourish too. 

This includes principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, as well as charitable giving, economic impact, supply chain management and more. Here are a few ways we do it…

Start with supply chain

As part of B Corp month this year, we launched a ‘Audit your supply chain’ campaign pledge.

One of the most impactful ways businesses GO BEYOND is considering the impact of their suppliers. Simply asking the question of suppliers can have a cascading impact; taking it one step further and switching can lead to a significant impact.

Globally businesses are asking questions of their supply chain - what impact do their suppliers have on people and the planet? Suppliers have suppliers, who have suppliers - the knock-on effect is massive. 

Maybe this is something you already want to do, or you already consider your supplier's impact - we'd love to know more. Some of you might be thinking, ‘Um, Harvey, we’re small, we don’t really have many suppliers.’ But hear us out; suppliers include more than you might think.

Your bank is a supplier, as is your superannuation fund and electricity company. Co-working spaces, software, hardware, coffee, coffee table books, it all counts. They’re all pieces of your business puzzle. But what are their social and environmental standards? And do they align with yours?

A delicious cuppa from Jasper

More companies are pledging to work with ethical suppliers, i.e. companies tackling diversity, committed to renewable energy, donating a % of profits to charity, etc.

Or maybe your suppliers are multinationals or mega-corps, and why would they care about your little business? Well, they are already thinking about this stuff, and your request will join a growing chorus of people, businesses, and governments asking the same questions. 

You don’t have to reconfigure your entire pipeline. It can be as simple as asking your current suppliers to share their ethical and sustainability policies.You never know. Asking the question can open the conversation, and inspire butterfly effect-like change. 

We provide a toolkit of how to audit your suppliers and 8 questions to ask them here.

Supplier accountability isn’t easy

As part of this campaign, we reached out to our suppliers with this letter to find out where they stand and maybe prompt them to do more - but in reality, it didn’t achieve much. The big companies like Apple, Google, Facebook didn’t have open channels so our request probably fell through the cracks. A few responded, like our accountants Dot Advisory, who were interested in learning more & Hub Australia, who had amazing policies and strategies.

So in short, it’s an opportunity but we think collective effort is needed to make real change.

Supporting local continues to be our thing

We bank with Bank Australia - Australia’s leading ethical bank.

Wherever possible, we use local (to us!) service providers and partners, and we work with businesses that are owned and run by under-represented groups in the business space. 

There’s also the role we play in the B Corp community, and doing what we can to utilise and work with B Corp (and B Corp-aspirational) companies.

Our business bank is Australia's leading ethical bank, Bank Australia (Sarah’s personal bank, too). And our default superannuation fund is Verve Super

Call out: However, as part of Becky and Simon’s plans to build a house they had to switch to Commbank for the loans as all the ethical banks we reached out to couldn’t accommodate our complex needs (building a house in regional victoria and being self employed) - as soon as we can refinance and consolidate to an ethical bank we will.

Who we collaborated with

Doing cool stuff with community-focused clients

June 2023: One of the products being tested by the KOSI team in the Solomon Islands

As you may have read above, we have a guiding framework for helping us choose who we work with. For us, these decisions have an impact even on our idea of community. By supporting businesses that we know are taking great strides to enrich their communities, it means we can amplify our impact through them – in communities we may never have reached otherwise! Which we think is pretty cool.

Spotlight - Solomon Islands

June 2023: Our superstar Sarah having a blast with the KOSI team in the Solomon Islands

Sarah’s trip to the Solomon Islands took her from virtual collaborations over Zoom to the bustling capital of Honiara, where she witnessed the transformative effects of Strongim Bisnis's (SIB) initiatives first-hand. Read all about it here.

Collaborating with entrepreneurs in agriculture, tourism, and women's economic development, SIB facilitated the creation of the Solomon Islands' first eCommerce store with MK Local Foods, addressing logistic challenges and enabling community scalability. Additionally, SIB played a key role in launching a new product category with Kokonut Pacific Solomon Islands (KPSI) through customer research campaigns. The work with the Northwest Guadalcanal Development Association (NWGDA) boosted sales and positive brand awareness for Fresh Market produce.

SIB's impact extends to local farmers, providing essential support in marketing strategy, brand identity, and packaging. By fostering partnerships with the private sector and the Solomon Islands Government, SIB is instrumental in creating a positive and lasting impact on businesses and communities.

Passing the baton 

Sarah personally donated her photography equipment valued at around $7,500 to empower a content and brand producer Eugene Kerekere of Storeroom Productions, in the Solomon Islands. 

The geographical barriers, high costs to import and professional services industries in the early stages in the Solomons, it can be challenging for startups to benefit from the same peer knowledge exchange and equipment sharing we’re fortunate to enjoy at home.

Just as Sarah has experienced the opportunities to progress her skills and connected with the tools and experts to improve her craft, she paid this forward to her new colleague in the Pacific. Sarah hopes to continue her partnership with Eugene in the future.

June 2023: A whole load of photography equipment!

No (bad) days off, again! 

As much as we love a day off, we choose not to celebrate Australia Day and the Melbourne Cup public holidays. As far as we’re concerned, neither is cause for celebration. Instead we ask if each person wants to work, take time in lieu and take a public stance against the day.

Yet to start  on our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) 

We acknowledge there is still a lot to do to improve our knowledge and take action to become true Allies. A few steps we’ve taken in this area include:

Sharing from the heart with AOC 

“It’s always felt uncomfortable and inappropriate for me to do AOC, and Sarah often would lead them so I’d sit back and think ‘Phew’. But after doing the Evolve course I realised I was all in my head, and have started sharing. In my AOC I include personal perspectives, sharing what I know and don’t that we don’t have a RAP and that I don’t know what’s going on and recommend the Evolve course. I’ve been overwhelmed by the response, with people directly reaching out after meetings saying they changed their perspective, want to try it and are inspired to lean into RAP.” - Simon Smallchua

Learning how we can become allies

Completing Evolve’s ‘Seven Steps™ to Reconciliation and Allyship’ - designed as a learning journey, each step of the online course is explained by a short, engaging video followed by a quiz. Evolve Communities is Australia’s trusted authority for Indigenous Cultural Awareness and Ally training.

Hand on First-nations work

Learning and engaging with First-Nations people through our client Studio Schools of Australia.

Power of language

Small but worth noting, in our brand strategies we would use language like “Mission” but for First Nations people that word is deeply painful, so we shifted to “Purpose” or “Ambition”. This perspective is something we’re trying to be more mindful of - how traditional language can impact various groups.

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  • Maintain B Corp score from 134.1 with workers included
🟢
  • We officially re-certified in November 2023, and are pleased to report we achieved the same score (to the decimal point). Wild! We shared our experience of recertification here.
  • Share templates, documents, insight into business for good
🟠
  • We haven't done this publicly, but when people have asked, we have shared. And we're sharing a series of things as part of this impact report.
  • Maintain current ownership and governance
🟢
  • Harvey is 100% owned by the Smallchua Family Trust. Rebecca Smallchua is our sole Director.
  • Re-use, recycle and manage dangerous waste
🟢
  • We continue to implement our hazardous waste policy and are on a continuous learning and improvement journey.
  • We repair damaged hardware and minimise purchasing of new equipment.
  • Personally we're all Facebook Marketplace fans.
  • Be climate positive at work and at home
🟠
  • We don't track our CO2 emissions, rather we take a much more general and high emissions view. However, this year, we didn't donate to the environment (see above) so we can't say we countered our CO2.
  • Advocate for climate change / inspire sustainable living
🟢
  • We hosted a panel event on Zero Emissions Day in September 2023, along with our friends at Portable, where we interviewed industry experts on the opportunity to engage with community and work towards a more sustainable future. Recording here.
  • Donate 5% to the environment
🔴
  • We didn't make the donation this year as we're revisiting our impact giving model - more details here
  • Invest $20k in impact businesses plus $20k of pro bono time
🔴
  • We delivered some pro bono time but dropped the ball and had no official measurements in place.
  • We also did not invest $20k in impact businesses, and are reviewing this goal going forward. In the last 12 months, our three Impact Investments all lost their value (Whole Kids, Pronto Bottle & Kester Black). While it's not great, we accept this is part of ambitious investing, and each had their own challenges that they couldn't quite overcome.
  • Buy with intention from local and discriminated groups
🟢
  • We continue to be intentional about our suppliers as outlined in our policy and report the details in the Community chapter of our report.
  • Protest and boycott important issues (Australia Day, Melbourne Cup)
🟢
  • Yes and yes!
  • 9 day fortnights, with option for 4 day weeks
🟢
  • 80% work 9 day fortnights, 40% part-time hours, 10% standard working hours.
  • Improve and increase capability across team
🟢
  • Raising our emotional health levels through a leadership development program with Global Leadership Foundation.
  • Expanding output skills: Market research, Web design, content & copywriting, strategy & development and automation strategy.
  • Targeted and clear personal growth, if we are better our clients will be
🟢
  • A new process for 360 feedback, plus personal goal setting questionnaires that ask the big questions of where we want to go and how we'll get there. Also lots of accountability check-ins.

Client survey metrics

  • 3 / 5 value for money (1 - 'could charge less' and 5 - 'could charge more')
  • 8 / 10 likely to recommend
🟢
  • 3.4 / 5 value for money
  • 9.2 / 10 likely to recommend

No destructive clients. Revenue breakdown: 17% Good, 59% Great, 24% Amazing

🟠
  • No destructive clients.
  • Revenue breakdown: 17% Good, 59% Great, 24% Amazing (A little over on Good and under on Great, but on target for Amazing - which is most important, so we're happy with that)
  • All staff spend 80%+ of their time on clients
🔴
  • Spent 64% of our time on clients (under). Due to team changes (recruitment, onboarding and offboarding) and extra investment in training, personal development and community engagement (e.g. B Local), we did not hit this target. On reflection, we will think 80% is too ambitious and we'll be revising to 70% going forward.
  • Regular, honest check-ins about how we feel
🟢
  • Stand ups, development sessions, watercooler chats, impact updates and more.

$994k revenue (Up $211k on FY2223)

🔴
  • $833,588. Revenue was up 6% YoY. Midway through the year, we adjusted down our target to $879k as team growth / services shifted. The main reasons we didn't hit target were scope creep and overruns, both of which we're trying to manage better with process improvements.
  • Maintain B Corp score from 134.1 with workers included
🟢
  • We applied for our B Corp re-certification at the end of this financial year and are pleased to report we achieved the same score (to the decimal point). Wild!
  • Share templates, documents, insight into business for good
🟠
  • We haven't actively done this publicly, but when people have asked, we have shared. And we're sharing a series of things as part of this impact report.
  • Maintain current ownership and governance
🟢
  • Harvey is 100% owned by the Smallchua Family Trust and Rebecca Smallchua is our sole Director.
  • Re-use, recycle and manage dangerous waste
🟢
  • We continue to implement our hazardous waste policy and are on a continuous learning and improvement journey.
  • We repair damaged hardware and minimise purchasing of new equipment.
  • Personally we're all Facebook Marketplace fans.
  • Donate 5% to the environment
🔴
  • We fell short here, we didn't make the donation. More details here.
  • Advocate for climate change / inspire sustainable living
🟢
  • Be climate positive at work and at home
🟠
  • We don't track our CO2 emissions, rather we take a much more general and high emissions view. However, this year, we didn't donate to the environment (see above) so we can't say we countered our CO2.
  • Protest and boycott important issues (Australia Day, Melbourne Cup)
🟢
  • Have a RAP, engaged stakeholders and implemented more change
🔴
  • Due to competing priorities and limited time (no lack in desire) we de-prioritised our Reconciliation Action Plan as we want to do it meaningfully and have the capacity to follow through. However, we took a few first steps outlined here.
  • Buy with intention from local and discriminated groups
🟢
  • We continue to be intentional about our suppliers as outlined in our policy and report the details in the Community chapter of our report. We took it one step further this year with a public call to pledge to audit suppliers in this campaign www.supplier-impact.com
  • Invest $20k in impact businesses plus $20k of 100% pro bono time
🟠
  • We delivered some pro bono time but dropped the ball and had no official measurements in place. We also did not invest $20k in impact businesses because of the reduced revenue with Becky on maternity leave.
  • Sarah personally donated her photography equipment valued at around $7,500 to empower a content and brand producer in the Solomon Islands.
  • 9 day fortnights, with option for 4 day weeks
🟠
  • 40% work 9 day fortnights, 40% part-time hours, 20% standard working hours.
  • Improve and increase capability across team
🟢
  • Elevated our tool nerd level. See here.
  • Expanding output skills: Market research, Web design, strategy & development, video editing, and automation strategy.
  • Targeted and clear personal growth, if we are better our clients will be
🟢
  • Lots of on-the-tools growth, structured learning through weekly Lunch 'n Learns and Intro to Programming at RMIT.

No destructive clients. Revenue breakdown: 15% Good, 60% Great, 25% Amazing (Here's what the classifications mean)

🟢
  • No destructive clients.
  • Revenue breakdown: 10% Good, 66% Great, 25% Amazing
  • All staff spend 70%+ of their time on clients
🟢
  • Spent 71% of our time on clients (over by only 76 hours).

Client survey metrics

  • 3 /5 value for money
  • 8 / 10 likely to recommend
🟢
  • 3.4 / 5 value for money
  • 8.8 / 10 likely to recommend

Maintain current revenue

🟠
  • Revenue down 16% YoY
  • Regular, honest check-ins about how we feel
🟢
  • Stand ups, development sessions, watercooler chats, impact updates and more.

New

Returning

22 Bricks
ABCH
ATEC
Abundant Water
Anantaya Jewellery
B Lab ANZ
BZE
Bank Australia
CPSN
Certification O
Chaulk
Client Fabric
Clockwork Films
Common Ground
Compass Studio
Cyclion
Dog & Bone
Envirotecture
Evee
Farm My School
Fellten
Gewürzhaus
Global Leadership Foundation
Goodtel
Green Collar
Hagens Organics
Hey Doodle
Jasper Coffee
Jaunt
KOSI
KingPump
LVLY
Lee Christison
Lumen
MIIROKO
MK Local Foods
Marnie Hawson
Merry People
Nexa Advisory
No Lights No Lycra
North West Guadalcanal Association (NWGA)
OBG
One Small Step
Parliament of Victoria
Peninsula Hot Springs
Pixii
Portable
Possible
Prisma Legal
ReCo
Shadowboxer
Strongim Bisnis
Studio Schools Australia
Thankyou
The Next Economy
The Salvage Yard
The Sociable Weaver
Time
WIRE
Whole Kids
iDE

B Corp

Not-for-profit

Diverse ownership

22 Bricks
ABCH
ATEC
Abundant Water
Anantaya Jewellery
B Lab ANZ
BZE
Bank Australia
CPSN
Certification O
Chaulk
Client Fabric
Clockwork Films
Common Ground
Compass Studio
Cyclion
Dog & Bone
Envirotecture
Evee
Farm My School
Fellten
Gewürzhaus
Global Leadership Foundation
Goodtel
Green Collar
Hagens Organics
Hey Doodle
Jasper Coffee
Jaunt
KOSI
KingPump
LVLY
Lee Christison
Lumen
MIIROKO
MK Local Foods
Marnie Hawson
Merry People
Nexa Advisory
No Lights No Lycra
North West Guadalcanal Association (NWGA)
OBG
One Small Step
Parliament of Victoria
Peninsula Hot Springs
Pixii
Portable
Possible
Prisma Legal
ReCo
Shadowboxer
Strongim Bisnis
Studio Schools Australia
Thankyou
The Next Economy
The Salvage Yard
The Sociable Weaver
Time
WIRE
Whole Kids
iDE

No items found.

Research

Brand

Website

Marketing

Technology

Impact Strategy

22 Bricks
ABCH
ATEC
Abundant Water
Anantaya Jewellery
B Lab ANZ
BZE
Bank Australia
CPSN
Certification O
Chaulk
Client Fabric
Clockwork Films
Common Ground
Compass Studio
Cyclion
Dog & Bone
Envirotecture
Evee
Farm My School
Fellten
Gewürzhaus
Global Leadership Foundation
Goodtel
Green Collar
Hagens Organics
Hey Doodle
Jasper Coffee
Jaunt
KOSI
KingPump
LVLY
Lee Christison
Lumen
MIIROKO
MK Local Foods
Marnie Hawson
Merry People
Nexa Advisory
No Lights No Lycra
North West Guadalcanal Association (NWGA)
OBG
One Small Step
Parliament of Victoria
Peninsula Hot Springs
Pixii
Portable
Possible
Prisma Legal
ReCo
Shadowboxer
Strongim Bisnis
Studio Schools Australia
Thankyou
The Next Economy
The Salvage Yard
The Sociable Weaver
Time
WIRE
Whole Kids
iDE
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