Ask any entrepreneur, innovator or creator, and they’ll tell you all about the burden of getting a new product or service to market. Frustratingly, this seems to be even more of a challenge in the impact space. Even the most ambitious organisations are struggling to translate their 'purpose' statements into products and services that actually do good.
That’s why, in our humble opinion, the launch of the Better Business Hub by Beazley, a leading specialist insurer earlier this month, is an impact story worth telling.
So let's start at the beginning. While insurance can sometimes be considered a dull necessity, in reality it’s a sector that’s uniquely positioned to support and help to tackle some of the biggest environmental and social challenges of our time.
Beazley recognises this opportunity for clients, staff, communities, the environment and all stakeholders and has the vision to be the highest performing sustainable specialist insurer.
While many organisations would struggle to move beyond clear ambition, the team at Beazley bucked the trend by translating their vision into a clear plan, alongside a commitment to making it happen.The first step on that plan involved identifying an opportunity to build better relationships (and therefore data!) with their portfolio of thousands of SMEs. The Beazley Digital team set the following objective:
To develop a value-adding bolt-on to their existing insurance products, with a goal to support small businesses, to better understand and action sustainability and responsible business practices.
Working with Good Innovation, over a 12 month, end-to-end strategic partnership, Beazley followed our unique IMPACT Innovation framework to create the Hub.
Our collaborative approach involved co-creating with internal Beazley stakeholders, external experts (including our unique charity networks) and most importantly SMEs, to uncover powerful insight, build impactful ideas and develop and test a series of prototypes and MVPs. The Better Business Hub was born.
Given the current macroeconomic climate, The Hub is built on a simple premise. SMEs need to understand the commercial benefits behind running a more responsible business, before taking action. The platform offers a tailored experience through the provision of helpful guides, resources and information to help demystify ESG for small to medium sized businesses.
That’s just the beginning and the Better Business Hub will continue to evolve. For now, while it may be one single step on a ladder to achieving a longer term ambition for Beazley, its impact today is as real and tangible as it is needed (let’s not forget that the UK government has just signed up to a landmark agreement to transition away from fossil fuels, all while small businesses account for around half of the UK companies greenhouse emissions!).
Here at GI, we’re not just excited about the launch of a new impactful product. We believe Beazley’s approach to creating the Better Business Hub should inspire others committed to being a powerful force for good.
To be more specific, Beazley developed the Hub by…
…focusing on what is relevant and authentic for maximum impact - This isn’t just following the latest regulation or a smart piece of calculated risk management. Beazley identified where it is uniquely placed to have a positive impact, before leveraging its extensive network of SMEs to drive positive change.
…aligning its purpose with broader organisational ambitions - This isn’t just a new initiative from a siloed CSR team. Beazley developed the Hub to both deliver positive impact and meet clear organisational objectives (for example, deepening relationships with its brokers and driving retention with small businesses).
…activating purpose through its customers - This isn’t just a PR exercise or exaggerated comms campaign. Beazley is empowering customers to amplify its own impact, all while using purpose as a differentiator in a heavily commoditised market.
These principles all form elements of the Good Innovation ‘Force For Good Framework’, outlining the best practice adopted by pioneering organisations acting as a force for good.
Beazley is well on its way.
Only last week we had the privilege of working with the Beazley global leadership team as they look to apply these same principles to the delivery of their new Social Impact Strategy.
With commitment from the highest level, Beazley will no doubt continue to take the lead in a sector where others tend to follow. We continue to be immensely proud of the increasing impact of our ongoing partnership.
If you’d like to find out more about the ‘Force For Good Framework’, please get in touch with ryan@goodinnovation.co.uk.
" The research we undertook with SMEs around their attitude to implementing ESG strategies revealed that many find ESG jargon hard to understand, and believe that becoming more sustainable is complex and expensive. This is why we have worked with Good Innovation to create the Better Business Hub, to help demystify the world of responsible business practices and demonstrate the benefits that being a sustainable business can bring. This initiative is part of Beazley Digital’s commitment to understanding the needs of SMEs and doing the right thing by helping them to be better businesses."
Ian Fantozzi
CEO - Beazley Digital