Consulting Case Study
Indelible Bouquet is a Black woman-owned small business in the South of England. They handcraft silk flowers and floral arrangements for some of London’s biggest offices, event venues and hotels.
The challenge
Bigger clients bring bigger supplier requirements. To keep key accounts and win new ones, Indelible Bouquet needed to complete sustainability training and answer increasingly detailed onboarding questionnaires.
The good news was that they were already doing a lot right. The problem was that every customer asked in a different way, often in jargon that only makes sense if sustainability is your full-time job. For a small team running a busy creative business, translating each questionnaire took time they didn’t have. It also meant they risked underselling everything they were already doing well.
What we did: a Sustainability Health Check
Every Health Check is tailored. For Indelible Bouquet, the priority was customer requirements, so that’s where we focused.
I worked alongside Indelible Bouquet’s Founder and CEO to:
Map what customers actually want. I pulled every current and target customer’s sustainability requirements into one matrix, covering environment, social, health and safety, responsible business, supply chain, product and reporting. This showed where requests overlapped and which were the real deal-breakers.
Capture what was already happening. Through team interviews and a review of existing documents and processes, I built a central data repository: one secure home for all their sustainability information.
Compare the two. A gap assessment showed where they were already performing strongly, where there were potential gaps, and where action was needed.
Build a clear way forward. Once we’d agreed the findings together, I created a prioritised action plan and roadmap. I then walked the team through it so they felt confident about their next steps.
Handle the urgent stuff, and hand over the know-how. I drafted the documentation they needed for immediate customer requests, plus guidance so the team can complete future requests themselves.
Tell their story. Finally, I created a sustainability brochure showcasing their practices, compliance information and social value, including their commitment to creating opportunities for local women facing disadvantage. They now use it in pitches to show their credentials up front.
The results
One searchable home for everything. All their sustainability activities and data now sit in one place, organised around what customers ask for. Finding the right evidence takes minutes, not days.
Questionnaires decoded. The team can now translate customer jargon into the language of their own day-to-day work and answer with confidence.
Evidence ready to go. Robust documentation backs up their practices on everything from child labour safeguards to supply chain and health and safety questions.
A sales tool, not just a compliance exercise. Sustainability, and the social impact behind their business, is now something they lead with when pitching.
What this taught me (and why it matters for your business)
Most small businesses are doing more than they realise. Like many SMEs, Indelible Bouquet had strong practices in place that simply weren’t written down. That gap between doing the work and showing it meant a stressful scramble every time a request landed. It also risked making them look like they fell short when they didn’t.
The language barrier is real. Ask for a “child labour prevention protocol” and many brilliant small businesses will answer, “We don’t have one.” Ask instead, “How do you make sure everyone working for you is of legal age, safe, properly paid and treated in line with the law?” and you’ll often get a confident, detailed answer. Same practice, very different impression.
This is only going to grow. Sustainability carries more and more weight in supplier selection, in both the public and private sectors. As legislation tightens, buyers need detailed data from suppliers for their own compliance and risk management. Expect more questions, and expect some of them to become deal-breakers.
Could your business be underselling itself?
If customer questionnaires feel like a foreign language, or you suspect you’re doing more than your paperwork shows, a Sustainability Health Check will show you where you stand and what to do next. Alongside your customers’ requirements, I’ll also look at the legal side: which sustainability and human rights laws apply to your business now, and which are coming down the line, so you’re prepared rather than caught off guard. Book a call to talk it through.
“Bex is a global sustainability expert who works with organisations to make smarter, greener decisions. She may be a small business herself, but she brings big expertise, helping companies like ours elevate our sustainability strategy. Thank you Bex for your guidance and partnership!”
Maria Del Mar Jones, CEO, Indelible Bouquet
Indelible Bouquet CEO, Maria Del Mar Jones