Are today's business models sustainable? What do models that balance profit and the common good look like? The pursuit of such a model requires commitment, focus, and balance, suggests Phil Holmes, a consultant who has worked in Europe and North America. For Holmes, an examined business can be measured against 12 critical elements:

Philosophy: To balance profit and the common good. A business must consistently live its philosophy and continually challenge and define its own triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit.

Purpose: To invest in the realization of a purpose on a consistent basis. How does an organization create linkages and change to benefit its broader community in a sustainable way?

Products and services: To develop only cutting-edge products and services for consumption within the region and, increasingly, outside the region.

People: To have more people further up the "authenticity curve."

Clients: To see revenue growth as a vote of confidence from customers. Dollars spent not only secure the best possible products but also contribute to a broader social agenda.

Owners: To be purpose built in the region, for the region, by design, without an exit strategy.

Partners/suppliers: To select partners and suppliers from those with an aligned ethos and shared values for creating a sustainable business model.

Values: To develop the notion of operating an examined business in constant communication with teams, suppliers, investors, and stakeholders.

Environment: To consider the full environmental lifecycle of products and services and how these are delivered. From there, develop policies.

Family: To recognize that families are a critical extension of an organization.

Community: To engage with social issues further upstream in one's community.

Future generations: To build a sustainable business of which our children, our children's children, and society will be proud. A holistic business model will continue to present life and business lessons.

Phil Holmes is the vice-president of business solutions at Ambir Solutions. On its own journey, Ambir wants to share its lessons learned, methodologies, and models in an "open source" forum.