It is popular these days in business courses (like mine) to teach about the Triple Bottom Line, which represents People, Planet and Profit that is, according to Harvard Business, a “sustainable business strategy” which benefits the environment, people and shareholders. This strategy is getting a lot of attention from businesses and consumers these days.
Our business strategy changes that up a little bit. Our strategy is Planet, People, Product. Wait- where’s the Profit? Don’t we want and need profit? Of course. The difference is that we firmly believe that we need to focus on the important stuff and profit will come. Why? Because people who love our product and our philosophy will buy—thus the profit will come, but our first mission is to place our product with people who love it and respect our brand.
All of our commitments are summarized in our Dozen Commitments below, but first let’s get a general understanding of our 3P’s:
Planet- All the critters, creatures and plants that live on our planet. From the little ladybug to the fierce tiger, from the modest crocus to the extravagant peony. Also included in Planet is our responsibility to protect it and not do anything to harm its present or future. In fact, we can add to its future by doing things like eliminating plastic from our product and packaging, and making garments that will last longer and not become garment waste.
People- All of us are residents of the same planet. Some have different roles than others, but that doesn’t change what we are and who we are-people. We believe and act to respect all people and their absolute right to feed their families and build their communities. This includes everything from how we treat people to how we pay them.
With this philosophy, the physical, racial, financial differences between us become irrelevant.
Product- Once again, the product itself and its packaging should ALL be made of sustainable materials. Packaging should be minimized and therefore transport should minimize use of fuel.
But here there is more: We know that clothing has the ability to make us feel good and happy, or bad and embarrassed, with all shades of grey in between. We go for the extreme happiness side. We want to see big smiles when people put on our garments, as well as those who observe them, because our product has delighted them by exceeding their expectations.
Our product celebrates nature and is not afraid of showing that through its embroidery and quality fabric. We sell (and wear) the representatives of the world we believe in.
Quality is of the highest importance to us; without quality, all of our other efforts are wasted. Our garments are made with the harshest critic in mind—us.
This is our sworn commitment and the principles of how we live, so the natural result is our product. We live, create and produce by this philosophy. Our Dozen Commitments are the specifics:
Our Dozen Commitments:
1. Original Designs-All the designs showing on our products are created, owned and copyrighted by LotusandMichael,LLC.
2. Artisanal craftmanship-We pay meticulous attention to every detail, our products are crafted by the most skilled artisans with supreme fabrics to meet our high-quality standard. We would and do wear anything we sell to you.
3. Dependable Pricing-We guarantee that each product’s price on our website will be reliable and consistent, so as to be fair to every one of you when making a purchase. You will have the security of knowing your price won’t be discounted after you buy the item.
4. Payment Security-The payment methods offered on our website are secure by Shopify and Paypal. You can shop freely without any concern.
5. Pre-shipment Inspection-Though our manufacturers have conducted multiple inspections at our workshop, we inspect every piece of our products as a double guarantee before we ship it to you.
6. Customer Service-Offering you great products and services are our goal. Whenever you have questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact us (lotus@lotusandmichael.com).
7. Social Compliance-Our factories must adhere to our Code of Conduct, which looks out for the Health, Safety and Welfare of our workers; we guarantee to adhere to the SA 8000 standards, which include ensuring:
• No Underage labor
• Right to Collective bargaining
• No Discrimination
• No Environmental harm
• Freedom of association
• No Harassment and abuse
• Compliance with Health & Safety Standards that protect workers
• No Prison or forced labor
• Wages that are fairly applied according to local and international standards and properly compensate workers for normal and extra work hours, days or task
• No Excessive work hours- Workers must have at least one day of rest per week and overtime should be limited to 12 hours/week
• No Unauthorized Subcontracting at Non-Compliant workshops
8. Fair Trade-We guarantee that we have ensured that the factories and workers in our supply chain comply with local and global Fair Trade standards. Our Suppliers will not pay less than the local and global standard, even if they can.
9. Paying Our Suppliers on Time-Once we buy something, we own it and will pay the suppliers for it in full and on time as agreed.
10. Worker Community Welfare-We take responsibility for the communities of workers in our factories and aim to build viable communities for them and their families. We pay a fair price that builds communities and sustains workers and their families.
11: Sustainability and Minimal Environmental Impact-As home gardeners, we appreciate nature and our planet. Here we proudly announce that:
• All the materials used in our products are natural and sustainable.
• We build our products with great attention to be timeless and durable, so with a little tender loving care, they can be with you for years.
• We are extremely selective on merchandising in order to produce less, thus less textile waste and more benefit for our planet.
• We minimize our packaging to avoid wastage and avoid non-recyclable materials.
• In our small way, we are willing to contribute as much as possible to the earth’s future.
12. Privacy Policy- Your time on our site is totally voluntary. We will never sell your information to third parties or follow you with tracking cookies. Our site is open to all and the information therein will never be gated content.
This we swear; this we live every day. Because we want to and should.
Join us.
