Getting Down to Business

For our compost producers, which make up more than 50% of our membership: How many of you started your business with an MBA or even a basic finance background?

Having worked with compost producers since 2013, I have seen most of our composters come into the business from a perspective of mission—soil health, addressing climate concerns, or observing a need in their community—for soil regeneration, landfill diversion, or even demand from citizens. Some have a business background when coming from the landscape contractor side.

All in all, my observation is that many composters feel most vulnerable when it comes to setting prices and salaries, recruiting staff, and determining markets. Indeed, our every-other-year membership surveys always put “education“ as a top ask for USCC, and my theory is that business education in the context of running a compost business is a big part of that ask. For sure, you can’t (substitute any high-level goal: regenerate our soils, reverse climate change, provide livable wages, build up communities, increase food nutrition) unless you have a financially sustainable business model.

So you are going to see more and more USCC projects that are aimed at that goal, and a few are already there for your participation:

SALARY STUDY:

Right now we are offering an industry benchmarking study that, once we have enough participants (we are only about 15% of the way there—it opened last month), will provide members with free data about what your fellow organizations are paying nationally and in your region and the kinds of benefits our members are offering (the job titles for which we are collecting data include equipment operators, sales, office/clerical, business development, drivers, safety and compliance, scale operators, and numerous others).

If you haven’t signed up to take the study yet, it is free, and you can forward the study to the right person in your organization or start it and go back to it if you need to gather information. Learn more and participate here!

CAPITAL AND LONG-TERM Business Goals Webinar:

Many of our members since just prior to Covid-19 have been getting a proverbial “knock at the door” about selling your operation, either to large investors or other composters. Have you thought about that and what it means for your operation, your employees, and your own goals? How do you know what is a good deal? Whether you’re in this position or not, you should think it through and know your strategy. Register here!

HIRING AND KEEPING PEOPLE:

You think it has been rough now? Fortune, the US Chamber of Commerce, and the National Association of Manufacturers have been making predictions that there are rough seas ahead in the next five years for competition for good front-line manufacturing employees. This is something we need to put on the radar and face as businesses and organizations needing to hire and keep good employees. Our COMPOST2026 Keynote Speaker, Chris Dyer, is going to give us the rundown on this trend and help you use culture and change management to get the best talent and prepare the people you have. Our Program will be fully announced this fall, and we are planning several sessions to help everyone in our industry grow your business. Be sure you don’t miss our conference—registration early bird pricing is open at compostconference.com!

I feel very lucky to be in an industry that has both mission and business at its core. You, our members, are what we like to call a “big tent”—small and large, with varying degrees of experience and emphasis on mission and business models. But ultimately, we all need to survive and flourish to achieve our goals.