Group of people walking in hard hats and overalls at work

How Storytelling Can Paint a Full Picture of Impact for Businesses 

By Susann Tischendorf, Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN)

Across the globe, inclusive businesses are making differences in the lives of the world’s most vulnerable – from empowering rural women to improving access to education. However, plain numbers struggle to capture the breadth of important work they are doing to investors, potential partners, and the people they aim to help the most. To bring their work to life, inclusive businesses can use authentic storytelling – stories of successes but also challenges and realities on the ground.

Across the globe, inclusive businesses are making differences in the lives of the world’s most vulnerable – from empowering rural women to improving access to education. However, plain numbers struggle to capture the breadth of important work they are doing to investors, potential partners, and the people they aim to help the most. To bring their work to life, inclusive businesses can use authentic storytelling – stories of successes but also challenges and realities on the ground.

The value of storytelling in business is well documented. Studies show that people are more likely to remember facts that are shared via stories, for instance, while storytelling can also add rich details that add the ‘human element’ that data alone often lacks. Furthermore, by detailing the authentic experiences of businesses and communities, stories of the positive outcomes become even more powerful.

For inclusive businesses, in particular, storytelling is even more important as it provides an effective vehicle to communicate the complex and often connected impacts that they are having through their work. In a recent documentary film, Zambian inclusive businesses were able to share their stories and those of the communities they support in a more colorful and engaging format than traditional reporting forms for potential investors, partners, and customers.

This type of storytelling helps to elevate the important role of agro-businesses in the country, and their key work in empowering rural women and helping farmers adapt to climate change. Alliance Ginneries and Good Nature Agro, some of the companies featured in the documentary, are supporting climate justice by equipping small-scale farmers to adapt to extreme weather.

The film illustrates how they are collaborating with smallholder farmers – many of whom are rural women – working in increasingly difficult conditions due to climate change. The companies encourage resilient practices like crop diversification, providing business training to help them preserve and scale their operations, and connecting them with markets. The film brings to life the stories, struggles, and empowerment of the women farmers in the community.

Storytelling can also help illustrate short- and long-term impacts. The same documentary featured Mwabu, a Zambian ed-tech company that provides rural schools with access to several technologies to support local education through apps and interactive lessons. Storytelling allows the company to share their impact on current students but also how they aim to equip young people with the skills to build careers as adults.

For inclusive recycling businesses in Zambia, storytelling can illustrate their impacts on local sustainability and economies. Alpha Polyplast Limited recycles plastic bottles into polyester strapping for packaging. The company employs members of low-income communities and provides them with training while reducing plastic pollution in the country. Through innovative storytelling such as the documentary film, the perspectives of the founder paired with the lived experience of the employees creates a more vivid understanding of their work.

Across all these stories, the intertwined and complex impacts they have on their communities are better captured with dynamic and authentic storytelling. In turn, innovative methods of storytelling like these can help inclusive businesses grow, connect with potential partners and customers, and demonstrate the important work they are doing.

Among the stories of doom and gloom that are ever-present in the news, we often miss the moments of local resilience, growth, and empowerment. In an increasingly connected yet complex world, sharing stories of local success can help create solutions for the long term.

Watch the documentary film here.

Read more articles on Inclusive Business 

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