Can you certify as a sole trader or a company with no employees?

Yes, you can. When you open a B Impact Assessment account, you can choose the "0" worker track. This is designed specifically for companies with no hired employees.

Under these circumstances, the worker section is removed as it isn't relevant. But the question values are reweighted towards the other questions. And it recognises that in addition to the operational points - which have a lower impact as a result than companies with employees - the Impact Business Models are worth 1.5x their regular points value, i.e. compared to what they would receive in a company with employees.

The 0 worker track does not apply to companies that are employee-owned or co-operatives. Whilst not technically "pure employees", they need to recognise the overall impact of the number of people involved, so are counted as FTE workers as per the usual approach.

It should be noted, however, that in practice it is often harder for a sole trader or 0 employee business to earn the necessary threshold points. If your company does not have any applicable Impact Business Models, it may struggle. But is certainly worth the attempt. And the BIA is not just about certifying but also about applying the framework as a resource for impact ideas and as a foundation for the future. So, it remains a great idea to use it, either way: as many do. We have 3,700 B Corps but there are 100,000 businesses now using the BIA as a tool just to think and change, regardless of certification ambitions or potential.