We are a public welfare company – with a record-breaking score!

The accounting for the common good company was just the beginning! Now it is here: our first soulbottles Impact Report!

You probably thought that the topic had been ticked off with this blog article? Far from it! The GWÖ balance sheet was the perfect opportunity to take a closer look at our work over the last eight years. What exactly is our positive contribution to people and the environment? What was the decisive factor for soulbottles' record-breaking score in the GWÖ balance sheet? And, also very important: What do we want to do even better in the future? In order to prepare the answers to all of these questions in a beautiful way, we have put a lot of time and heart and soul into the Impact Report project (as it is called in German) over the past few months. And we are very proud of the result:

Here is our first comprehensive soulbottles Impact Report !

Please give us your feedback! And this nice little company history is just the beginning, more reports will follow.

Here in the blog below you can of course read the facts in brief about the GWÖ accounting, as usual:

Soulbottles is now the official company of the Common Good Economy (CGE) Common Good Economy (CGE) Through our membership and financial statements, we demonstrate once again that the well-being of people and the environment should be the primary goal of business – and we have consistently implemented this philosophy in a wide variety of areas since our foundation.

872 out of 1000 points for soulbottles – one of the best scores ever achieved!

On February 19, 2020, the result of our peer review was finally announced at the regional conference of the Common Good Economy in Berlin: With 872 out of 1000 possible points, one of the best results achieved worldwide. Soulbottles thus shows that ethical, sustainable and meaningful business is not "just" good for people and the environment, but also works as a successful business model in practice.

Let us first take a step back: What does common good economy actually mean, what is accounting and How does the common good economy fit with soulbottles ? 

We are aware as social, sustainable and purpose-oriented company social, sustainable and purpose-oriented company This includes, for example, examining every step of our supply chain under criteria of social justice and ecological sustainability, reinvesting our profits for positive impact and creating access to clean drinking water through the sale of our products – in just a few weeks we will exceed the Donation amount of one million euros to Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli eV . Our form of ownership as Purpose Company , which enables us, the employees, to own the company and our use of profits to be legally bound to our purpose for all eternity, reflects our vision: The vision of an economy in which values ​​and the well-being of people and the environment The vision of an economy in which values ​​and the well-being of people and the environment are the highest goal of every organization. A world in which real added value and solving social or ecological problems are more important than profit-making, in which stakeholders are more important than shareholders and companies act within the ecological limits of our planet and with secure social and ecological foundations for all people.

We have been putting our vision into practice since the beginning and are demonstrating that profitable business is also social and sustainable profitable business is also social and sustainable But we don’t just want to base our internal decisions on this, we also want to social, political and economic system change social, political and economic system change contribute.

That is why, through our membership, participation and certification, we support other initiatives and movements that are committed to a fairer world, more sustainability and a meaningful economy. Since 2016, we have been a B Corp companies, and also  Social Entrepreneurship Network Germany Social Entrepreneurship Network Germany (SEND eV) we have been committed to improving the political framework for social enterprises for years. In 2019, we We co-founded the Stiftung Verantwortungseigentum and support the climate demands and strikes of Entrepreneurs for Future Entrepreneurs for Future and from now on we are also an official member of the common good economy and a balanced public benefit company!

GWÖ: a movement and certification for common good-oriented economic activity

The Common Good Economy (CGE) was launched in 2010 and has since then stood for a different form of economic activity. At the political, social and economic level, common good at the center of economic activity common good at the center of economic activity and replace profit as the primary goal. Corporate profits serve to increase the common good – that is, people and the planet – and not the other way around. A successful company is therefore not only measured by financial success, but by contribution to the common good contribution to the common good and the fulfillment of basic needs and values.

values ​​and contact groups form the matrix of the GWÖ accounting

In order to classify companies and make their contribution to the common good measurable, the GWÖ has developed a The GWÖ is guided by the values Human Dignity, Solidarity & Justice, Ecological Sustainability, Transparency & Co-Decision Human Dignity, Solidarity & Justice, Ecological Sustainability, Transparency & Co-Decision and uses the GWÖ matrix to evaluate the extent to which these values ​​correspond to the contact groups Suppliers, Owners & Financial Partners, Employees, Customers & Co-Companies, Society Suppliers, Owners & Financial Partners, Employees, Customers & Partners, Society of every company.

More than 2,000 companies – including sports manufacturer Vaude , energy supplier Polarstern , daily newspaper taz , Sparda Bank Munich and health insurance company BKK ProVita – 200 clubs, 20 municipalities and more than 7,000 private individuals have joined the movement so far.

our reasons for membership in the common good economy and the accounting

Membership and accounting with the GWÖ is not cheap for a company of our size; the process meant six months of intensive work in the peer evaluation process, and that despite the fact that, as mentioned above, we are already a certified B Corp company.

Why did we still choose the GWÖ membership decided GWÖ membership decided ?

• GWÖ stands for social, political and economic transformation and works on all three levels for systemic changes.
• The GWÖ does not exclude profit as a means to an end, as long as the positive contribution to people and the environment (= common good) remains the primary goal. This fits very well with our model as a social enterprise.
• In addition, we want to use our membership to strengthen the GWÖ movement and contribute to its growth and success.

And which Benefits of accounting and the GWÖ points system?

• The holistic and in-depth approach to accounting considers all internal and external areas of the company. That is exactly what we aim for!
• Accounting gives us an external view and evaluation of our activities as a company and helps us to reflect on our work and identify potential for improvement.
• Stronger networking and support in the region and among public interest-oriented companies.
• In addition, the GWÖ label helps us to better communicate our impact to the outside world and to give customers security and trust in our work.

How Common Good Accounting Works

The GWÖ balance sheet is the heart of the movement and serves as an instrument for organizational development and evaluation of corporate activities according to common good values. At the end of the process is the publication of the certificate and the common good report ; together these make up the common good balance sheet. The common good report describes in detail how the 20 common good topics are implemented by the company and serves as the basis for evaluating a company according to common good standards.

The concrete contribution of a company to the common good is determined by the common good score common good score rated. The Dot spectrum ranges from -3,600 to +1,000 Dot spectrum ranges from -3,600 to +1,000 Points. The GWÖ assumes the legal minimum requirements as a baseline with 0 points. This means that everything above this represents voluntary activities for the common good dar voluntary activities for the common good - the GWÖ is therefore starting at a fairly high level. The more common good-oriented activities a company implements, the more common good points it receives - for example by promoting moderate consumption, by dealing transparently and participatively with the groups it is affected by, or by having an employee-oriented corporate culture. Companies receive negative points if, for example, they exploit their market power, cause inappropriate environmental pollution, or accept or even promote inhumane working conditions.

our peer evaluation process

In July 2019, we started the accounting process together with four other companies (SODI eV, Kiezbett GbR, Organiced Kitchen, bittar. Worte & zeichen Setzen) and accompanied by the two GWÖ consultants Urte Töpfer and Thomas Uloth. This type of accounting is called peer evaluation, as your own entrepreneurial activities are evaluated by the others. peer companies and the GWÖ consultants are evaluated according to common good standards.

We have chosen the compact balance sheet compact balance sheet decided. In comparison to the full balance sheet, the compact balance sheet presents the common good topics in a condensed form. Companies with up to fifty full-time employees (including us) can use the compact version twice.

The final step in the accounting process is the publication of the certificate and the common good report certificate and the common good report We will shorten this report and prepare it graphically in the next few weeks to share it with you.

The accounting process was very valuable for us because we were able to look at ourselves very intensively and gain an external perspective on our work. In many areas, it became clear that we shared the core values ​​and ideas of GWÖ even before the accounting: our decision to be a purpose-driven company, to offer all employees free vegetarian-vegan lunches and to implement holacracy throughout the company.

At the same time, we have also found that there are areas where the objectives of the GWÖ may not fully correspond to our ideal scenario, or raise questions that we have not yet asked ourselves. Should we involve external contact groups more in our decision-making processes (and thus get more points in this area)? Or is it better if we further develop our model of employee self-determination and co-determination?

The accounting also showed us potential for improvement and encouraged us to implement further measures in the future that will further strengthen our contribution to the common good: Even though we are already one of the best companies in the world to have ever been included in the accounts, our development continues!

overjoyed, proud – and motivated for the future

We celebrated our results at the Berlin GWÖ Conference Berlin GWÖ Conference and as I type these words I still carry a wonderful feeling of pride, excitement and gratitude within me. Finding out in the inspiring community of GWÖ companies that we have achieved one of the best scores currently known and sharing this moment with five colleagues was exciting and unforgettable for me. It is a great feeling to be able to make such a contribution to the common good through our work and to be able to inspire and support other companies. And at the same time, we know that the future is full of potential for us to make an impact.

A huge thank you goes to Kathi and Patrick, who play the role of Impact at soulbottles and who have spent the last six months working very intensively on each of the 20 areas of impact and taking over the peer process for us. You are great!

Personally, the conference made me realize one thing in particular: what an extraordinary privilege it is to work in our team and to play an active role in shaping this contribution to positive change as a pioneering company! I am very grateful for this and look forward to passing on our vision, working methods and chain of effects to many more people. We are a really special bunch - and I have enormous appreciation for everyone on our team. It's great to be a part of it!