By Dmitri T, Sustainability & Purpose Director, Zooss Consulting
Why Zooss chose the B Corp™ journey – and how we got there
When four long-standing friends and colleagues founded Zooss Consulting in 2022, we had one clear intention: to build a business that does more than enable better business planning and reporting.
Our purpose has always been to protect our natural world for the next generation.
We believe that by embedding environmental and social sustainability into traditional business planning, we can empower more sustainable businesses — and contribute to a more inclusive, equitable and regenerative future.
Becoming a Certified B Corporation™ was about ensuring we practice what we advocate. It was about embedding our planet-passionate purpose into our own governance and operations.
The process has been long, rigorous and rightly challenging. It has also reinforced that our commitment to transparency, accountability and positive impact is not aspirational — it is operational.
What is B Corp Certification?
B Corp is a global movement of more than 10,000 businesses working to build an economy that is inclusive, equitable and regenerative.
Certified B Corporations are independently assessed by B Lab™ against high standards of social and environmental performance, governance, transparency and accountability — placing People and Planet alongside profit.
Zooss met B Lab’s requirements across five impact areas:
- Environment – prioritising care for our planet
- Workers – supporting the wellbeing of our people
- Customers – delivering positive impact through our services
- Community – contributing meaningfully beyond our business
- Governance – embedding stakeholder accountability into decision-making
Zooss now joins more than 740 Certified B Corps in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand – and we are extremely proud of this endorsement of measured performance.
Why B Corp resonated with us
B Corp resonated because it formalises what we value.
It reflects our belief that everything is connected — that governance, impact, people and performance cannot be treated separately. It reinforces our commitment to honest and authentic leadership, where transparency and accountability extend beyond shareholders to all stakeholders.
It strengthens our ambition to be a partner for good, embedding long-term governance, measurable impact and disciplined decision-making into the way we operate — not just the way we speak.
Most importantly, it aligns with our planet-passionate purpose: to ensure that how we grow as a business contributes positively to people, community and the natural world.
That alignment mattered. So, early in our journey, we began the B Corp assessment process.
The reality: it really is a team effort
B Corp assessment is detailed and evidence-based. It requires far more than good intentions.
We reviewed policies, supplier choices, governance structures, environmental commitments and community engagement. Every claim required documentation and every commitment required proof.
It was a huge collective effort and, while many people contributed, special mentions must go to these key players:
- Sophie, Sustainability Advisor, for strengthening our sustainability frameworks and environmental commitments.
- Michelle, People & Operations Manager, for embedding people-first operational practices and overseeing governance changes.
- Reece, for supporting core operational alignment.
- Miyako, for formalising policies and documentation across the business.
Alongside Greg, Zooss’s Services Director, our roles were to ensure our commitments were coherent, measurable and durable. Certified B Corp status requires recertification every three years, necessitating ongoing accountability, not just a one-off achievement.
“What impressed me most about the B Corp process was the depth and rigor of the assessment. It’s not a badge you can earn through good intentions or marketing language alone. B Lab asks tough questions, requires evidence, and examines how consistently you operate across governance, people, community and the environment. That level of scrutiny is what gives the certification real credibility.”
Greg Leonhart, Services Director, Zooss
The purposeful pause: recalibrating the path
The Zooss team is dedicated to delivering sustainable business planning that empowers our clients to achieve their sustainability goals.
Beyond the impact we can make through our B Corp certified consulting business, our ambition is bold: to establish a foundation that receives 50% of Zooss profits to support biodiversity and regeneration projects. Moreover, we plan for this foundation — the Onyx Foundation — to hold a 50% shareholding in Zooss, ensuring it receives dividends directly rather than relying on discretionary donations. The intention is to enable long-term environmental projects to be supported with the same consistency and discipline that we apply to business planning.
This remains our ultimate intent. We want to create meaningful impact, not symbolic gestures.
However, as we progressed through the legal, structural and governance design required to support such a model, it became clear that this ambition required a level of organisational maturity that takes time to develop. Zooss is just a few years into its journey, and while the vision is clear, the structure needs to be introduced at the right stage of our company’s evolution.
So, we made the decision to stick with the more traditional ‘donate 50% of profits’ approach for now, rather than changing our shareholding structure. The ambition itself is unchanged — if anything, the process clarified why it matters — but we recognise that meaningful change often requires patience as well as conviction.
For now, our focus is on continuing to grow Zooss in a way that builds the foundations necessary to support that future vision. The flame of ambition still burns strongly; we are simply pacing the journey, so that when the time comes, the structure will be robust, sustainable and capable of delivering the long-term impact we originally envisaged.
Lessons learned
For organisations considering the B Corp path, several lessons stand out:
- Purpose requires governance
If it is not embedded in governance, it can be overridden under pressure. - Documentation builds accountability
Policies and evidence are not bureaucracy. They create clarity and continuity. - Commercial viability and sustainability must coexist
A responsible business model must be financially resilient while always considering People and Planet. - Leadership commitment is essential
This cannot be delegated. The process requires sustained executive support and a motivated team of contributors. - The process reshapes thinking
B Corp challenges assumptions about value, risk and long-term success
Certification is meaningful. The discipline it instils is even more so.
What our B Corp Certification means for Zooss clients
For our clients, B Corp certification does not change what we do – it strengthens how we do it. This is because the conviction that underpins our B Corp certification journey is the same conviction that underpins our approach to planning.
At Zooss, we believe planning shapes outcomes — influencing how capital is allocated, resources are managed and risk is addressed. That conviction underpins our Sustainable Business Planning approach, connecting financial, operational, environmental and social data to support better decisions.
We design planning environments that are scalable, well-governed and built for long-term value. More importantly, we help organisations connect finance, operations and sustainability to deliver better decisions — and better outcomes.
Our B Corp certification demonstrates that we hold ourselves to the same standard. It ensures we remain accountable not only for project outcomes, but for the broader impact of our business. Simply put, it reinforces our fundamental belief – Better Planning. Better Planet.
A final reflection
Becoming a B Corp is not an endpoint. It is a commitment to continuous improvement.
We are proud of the journey, not least because it required discipline, honesty and a deep consideration of our values as an organisation.
As we continue to grow across Australia, New Zealand, Spain and South America, we remain committed to building a business that balances performance with responsibility.
About the author – Dmitri Tverdomed
Dmitri is a Data Architect and Sustainability & Purpose Director at Zooss Consulting. With deep expertise in data integration and enterprise planning delivery, Dmitri is passionate about enabling organisations to maximise value from data, advocating sustainable operations and positive social impact.
Find out more
- Sustainable Business Planning – Our Solutions
- About Zooss – Our values and leadership team
- Ready to start planning sustainably? Contact us.
Better Planning. Better Planet.