Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between proactive environmental strategies (PES) and economic performance from a resource-based view. The authors determine the nature of this relationship and the processes and conditions that are involved. The mediating role of natural competences is a major focus, particularly the effect of their simultaneous development on economic performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors use structural equation modeling on a sample of 188 companies from the food-processing and household products industries in France. Findings The results confirm the positive impact of PES on economic performance. Unlike the natural competences individually, the simultaneous development of these competences mediates the relationship. The results also highlight the influence of conventional competences on economic performance and the impact of organizational and procedural competences on the level of simultaneously developed competences. Practical implications The study demonstrates the economic benefits of PES to practitioners. Moreover, it provides them the information on the key role of natural competences and how they can be developed to make PES profitable. Originality/value The findings support a “win-win” view of the PES-economic performance relationship, whereas prior studies showed contrasting evidence. The main contribution lies in the consideration of natural competences in this relationship and in their operationalization.