Ensuring sustainable development as a way to reduce enterprise expenses

Abstract

This article explores the possibilities of using sustainable development to improve the enterprise's financial results, namely, the reduction of operating expenses. The authors highlight that many Ukrainian companies have not yet adopted such practices, citing concerns over financial burdens and time constraints. Nonetheless, sustainable development initiatives can confer powerful competitive advantages, especially during the current crisis in Ukraine. Therefore, the authors recommend that young enterprises and those striving to maintain profitability during wartime conditions consider implementing sustainable development measures as a means of cost reduction. To this end, the article proposes a specific sequence of actions. The first stage involves identifying areas within the value chain where costs can be reduced. The second stage is creating a list of measures deemed practical and timely by management. Finally, the authors have developed a matrix to prioritize measures that ensure sustainable development and cost savings. This matrix helps place measures according to three criteria (labor intensity, volume of financial costs, significance of impact on sustainable development) into four quadrants: immediate implementation, short-term planning, expansion of work duties, and operating debt. Also, the authors emphasize that thanks to the implementation of measures to ensure sustainable development, entrepreneurs can receive additional benefits in the form of SDI or ESG investments, providing timely reporting on the metrics of the components of sustainable development.