Jeremy Lang Many startup and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners in South Africa believe that sustainability strategies are only relevant to large corporates, but there are many advantages to making sustainability the foundation of any new business.  This is according to Jeremy Lang, Regional General Manager at Business Partners Limited (BUSINESS/PARTNERS) , who says that it is often difficult to sell local SME owners on the idea of sustainability, largely because of the perceived costs and time involved. “However, the benefits of implementing a sustainability strategy early on in the life cycle of a business far outweigh any cost implications. Small businesses built on sound sustainability principles could even see themselves gaining a competitive advantage in their respective sectors,” says Lang. He points to a recent study by McKinsey that revealed a strong correlation between resource efficiency and financial performance among businesses surveyed. “The com...