The biggest brands in the U.S. are, by the large, extremely supportive of LGBT rights and the LGBT community. Costco, Panera, Netflix, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter (among many others) have all made moves to being more inclusive of all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, and so on.

There are several reasons for this:

Modern companies, especially tech companies, are constantly afraid of homogeneity. As they see it (and this view has strong support from Social Psychological studies), homogeneous companies lead to groupthink, which kills innovation. As the saying goes, “Innovation is built on people,” so the more diverse your staff is, the more innovative your company is likely to be.

“Any press is good press” is a bit of an outdated concept at this point and time. With the internet, the bad press doesn’t go away, at least not permanently. In the past, a company could ride out bad press; today, that bad press is constantly lurking around the corner, just waiting for you to forget about it. Companies like Uber, Ace Hardware, and the Olive Garden are interested in a sustainable business model that makes money today, tomorrow, and ten years from now.

Exposure is necessary for a business to succeed. Companies that do not support LGBT rights alienate not only the LGBT community but Straight Allies, most liberals and a good number of conservatives. Nowhere is this truer than in the tech biz, where many of the employees, owners, and customers of tech startups are members of the LGBT community themselves. Why deliberately cut out nearly half your market when the success of your business is contingent upon a growing client base.

The business world is about growth – you find a product or a service that people want and you offer it to them. To the true entrepreneur or CEO, the only personal preference they care about is whether or not a potential customer wants to spend money with their company.

Heck, there’s even money to be made that targets small niches like the LGBT community. Social media sites that focus specifically on like-minded groups are not only extremely popular, they’re extremely profitable. Speak to an expert today how to build an LGBT community website.

SM sites that go after niche groups are successful for a few reasons:

Marketing is easier. In the world where the customized ad is everything, having a ready-made client base that you know is interested in your product is a huge step up on the competition. Even better, if people like your product enough, they will do the marketing for you.

Increase brand awareness. SM sites are social sharing groups; brands that have their own SM features or, at the very least, a “share button” will see exponential growth in web traffic. Which leads to more web traffic, higher conversions, and a better ROI.

More opportunities to sell your product. As mentioned in the first point, having a ready-made database of interested clients is a huge advantage in any industry, from food service to television streaming. When you know that a target group is already interested in your product, all you have to do is offer it to them in the right way. With focused SM groups, the opportunities to sell are constant; all you have to do is strike while the iron is hot.

Of course, an SM site isn’t the only way to grow your business and show support for disenfranchised groups. Other types of websites – and apps – can expand any business, tech or non-tech. Mobile apps are an excellent way to drive engagement and encourage loyalty, while simultaneously offering a unique and custom experience for each user.

With the advent of modern programming, as we see with PHP and .Net, it has become increasingly easy to install “plug’n’play” widgets. This is essentially a small block of code that is prepackaged and intended to perform a limited range of tasks. This is especially important to the modern entrepreneur, as it opens up a wide avenue of cooperative business ventures. If you require a tailor-made custom software website ,SDI can develop it from scratch.

Incorporation of third-party widgets and APIs is a great way to easily and inexpensively growth hack a business – no matter the industry. For instance, Facebook recently worked in conjunction with Fox News to host a Second Screen Experience for the Republican Presidential Primary Debate. For FB, this was an opportunity to be exposed to a relatively older audience, while for Fox News it was the opportunity to reach a much wider audience.

Mobile apps and websites are, in general, the best way to expand your business. Not only does it reach a wider audience, but it helps to better serve the client base you already have. When the expansion is everything, you need to use the best tools at your disposal. Sometimes the tool needed is a mobile app – other times it’s not turning away business because of sexual preference.

SDI always has been and always will be an equal opportunity employer. More so, we believe that everyone has the right to be their own person and we will never judge someone based on sexual preference or gender identity. We pride ourselves on working with people from all backgrounds because it is only through diversity that we can build the excellent products that we do.

If you have a great idea to show your support for the LGBT community, or if you just want to create an app or hire a web developer to help out your business, please feel free to give us a call at 408.805.0495, or email us at team@sdi.la. If you’re local to Silicon Valley (or one of our other global offices) stop on by to check us out in action!