The Path to Becoming a B Corporation:

A Note for New Businesses

If you're a new business considering B Corp Certification, you're ahead of the game.  We hope this is a helpful guide on your path to becoming a B Corporation!

 

FAQs:

 

Q:  When is the right time to certify as a B Corporation?

 

A:  Because the B Impact Assessment asks about what your company has done in the past, it is difficult to answer the certification questions before your company has begun operating.   Therefore, it will make most sense to become a B Corp after the first 6 months of full operations/revenue generation.

Q:  The questions on the survey seem to apply mainly to large organizations.  Can I become a B Corporation?

 

A:  Yes!  Many existing B Corporations are small to medium size businesses.  The questions will change depending on the size of company (number of employees) and type (manufacturing, retail, service).

 

What should I do first?

 

1. Become familiar with the B Impact Assessment (the set of standards we use to certify B Corporations):  Create an account on website:  www.bcorporation.net/survey.    You can use this platform to forecast what your business will look like in 1 year or get a current day snapshot. 

2. Incorporate your business.  The best option is to incorporate as a Benefit Corporation in one of the states where it is currently available (CA, HI, MD, VT, NJ, NY, and VA); specific instructions on how to incorporate as such can be found on our policy page.  If your main operations are in a state where Benefit Corp legislation is pending, you can also incorporate as a C or S Corp there and then adopt Benefit Corp status upon passage (check our public policy page to find out where Benefit Corp legislation is moving forward).

 

Another option is to incorporate your business to include the B Corp Legal Framework, which puts your commitment to your stakeholders into the legal DNA of the business.  As the B Corp Legal Framework is not recognized by the states, we recommend incorporating as a Benefit Corp preferentially. For more on the B Corp Legal Framework, visit our legal FAQ & specific language for your state.  If you have already incorporated, you can use the same language as an amendment to your existing articles. 

3. Once the company has completed the first 6 full months of operations and revenue generation, revisit the assessment, make any necessary updates to your answers, and hit Submit for Certification. From there, we'll get in touch with you to work with a B Lab staff member and complete the rest of the process:

 

1. Review the Assessment with B Lab staff member (usually takes about 45 minutes)

 

2. Complete Supporting Attachments within 90 days

 

3. Sign and send in a Term Sheet 

 

-- At this point, you are a Certified B Corporation ---

 

4. Complete the Legal Requirement for your state within 1 year

 

5. If selected at random, complete an on-site B Corp Audit

 

Congratulations on starting your business, and we look forward to working with you!

The B Lab Team
thelab@bcorporation.net
610-296-8283