THE BUSINESS OF COMPOSTING

Marketing tips
from Carolinas compost pros 

Excerpts from the Business of Composting seminars at the February 2001 Compost Operator's Training School, Rock Hill, SC

FROM KEITH WARREN, MOUNTAIN ORGANIC MATERIALS:

"Get a book ... it's a very cheap consultant."

"Just because you make it doesn't mean people will buy it."

"You can't be everything for everybody."

"It's not how much you sell.  It's how much you have at the end of the day that makes you profitable." 

"Inventories cost you money." 

"Make an honest evaluation of your marketing ability." 

"Colleagues from  other businesses can be an important resource." 

"You will always need more cash than you ever thought."

"Even a blind pig will find a nut once in awhile."

Click for a Virtual Tour of M.O.M.'s composting operation

FROM BILL PONITZ, ECO PRODUCTS:

"You need a quality product (for bagging) ... consistent year-round." 

Having a clear bag created a greenhouse effect in the bag.  There was algae formation.  Trash.  Customers saw it.  "It was an obstacle to overcome."

"The only way to use compost is to blend it ... it's a concentrate."

Click for more insights about bagging compost from Bill Ponitz

FROM RODNEY FULTON, PROGRESSIVE SOIL FARMS:

"'Waiting for customers' is a marketing tool that doesn't work too good!"

"Giving product away is not necessarily a good marketing tool.  What do you do when you need to sell it?"

"Don't think of yourself as a waste management facility."

"Cash flow makes your business go-round." 

"Quality control is something no manufacturer can live without." 

"Site upkeep and beautification ... if you don't think that's important, you're wrong." 

"Presentation to the community is an important marketing tool.  The neighborhood ... is tied to running and marketing." 

"At the end of the day, nothing takes the place of a handshake with that customer."

FROM DOMINICK GIORDANO, SUSTAINABLE SOIL SOLUTIONS:

"Sell for less during the off-season to wholesale accounts."

"Do a cash flow analysis every week."

"Compost is a tool that's used by land managers ... so soil can function in such a way as to meet their goals."

"Go out and meet the specifiers on those kinds of projects (large soil projects). That kind of market is good from the standpoint that they don't care where it (compost) comes from."

Compost manufacturers should remember that they are "selling a specialty product, not a commodity." 

"Put the different uses on the back (of the bag)."