With all the Wall Street-bashing going on at the moment and so many people convinced that capitalism is Evil personified, it might surprise you to learn about a concept that is sweeping the modern business world—conscious capitalism.

Business doesn’t have to be all about the bottom line. In fact, highly successful businesses from Wal-Mart to eBay have embraced the notion that business shouldn’t just be all about getting rich. Says Steven Quinn, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Wal-Mart: “In the emerging world of extreme transparency, customers and employees will trust companies that are truly making a difference in their lives. Being good will trump looking good.”

With so many consumers becoming aware of their impact on the environment and on society itself, a business that continues to blunder ahead in blind pursuit of monetary riches risks becoming like the pariahs of Wall Street—seen as greedy, soulless, willing to trample the planet and everyone on it into oblivion so long as the insider few “get theirs.”

Entrepreneurs can do so much better than that! They can become conscious capitalists.

The idea of a triple bottom line that focuses on people and planet as well as profit has gained enormous traction ever since Anita Roddick first built her cosmetic company, around the idea of conscious business—using her company to advance social values such as green consumerism. Anita fought lifelong to stop the use of animal testing commonly used by every cosmetic company except hers. She built The Body Shop into a successful global company without ever once compromising her principles.

What a great way to use your business—to not only enrich your own life, but to improve the world around us. You can marry your social consciousness to your entrepreneurship—in fact, you’ll be in excellent company.

Patagonia not only makes gear for exploring the great outdoors, it does it in the most socially conscious way. The whole company is dedicated not only to helping people access and appreciate this beautiful world of ours, but to preserving it.

Likewise, Zappos, a billion-dollar shoe and apparel retailer, built its whole corporate culture on the notion that people really can be happy at work. How can you not love a company with a motto like “Create Fun and a Little Weirdness”, that actually prefers to connect with customers by telephone instead of leaving them to flounder in the wilderness of voicemail?

These companies understand the notion that you can consciously use your business to strengthen, not weaken, the bonds between people, while serving your planet, your employees, your fellow travelers on this great journey we call life—and your bottom line.

BrandU, too, embraces the idea of conscious business; in fact, the entire product line is built around helping others achieve their dream businesses. Our effort to create a $50 million micro-business subsidy to support business owners today is just one way we are using our passion to support entrepreneurs in making sure our world is a better and more prosperous place.

Conscious capitalism. What a great concept for the 21st century…and beyond!

© 2010 Castle Montone Limited.