Sustainable entrepreneurship: firm growth and the balance between saving the planet, people, and profits

The sustainable entrepreneur - that is, the founder and owner of Steruper Strohschweine, is motivated to develop his business to achieve financial sustainability. The business is a small-scale pig farm with 20 pigs, and its mission is the production of premium quality pork based on ecological, social, and environmental considerations and values. The tensions and dilemmas the founder is facing while considering growth possibilities can be summarized as follows: How to establish the balance between social, environmental, and financial sustainability? To answer this question, the case presents, from both a theoretical and practical perspective, different growth barriers (or dilemmas) a sustainable entrepreneur might face and gives an overview of possible growth strategies.