Waste Management [Notes on Startup]

The Waste Management Business has seen Success and created Job Opportunities in the Mega City of Lagos States and its Environ proving yet another strong Business Niche that other States should consider emulating for the betterment of the Environment thereby keeping the Environment Clean and Free from Pollution and unhealthy Garbage slums in every corner of the Street.

According to Vanguargngr, it is said that Lagos State generates 12,000 tons of garbage daily through the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, and charges N500 per Flat and N200 per Shop respectively per Month through an Ad-hoc of Agents known as PSP Operators. This is a Government Occupied Business Niche in Lagos State but not in other States like Edo State which I recently visited.

The Current Nature of the Business

Before the Emergence of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, there was still a way of disposing our Waste which was the well known Cart Pushers who moves from door to door every week to collect Waste from residents in each location. After LAWMA was successfully implemented, these guys were declared illegal but notwithstanding this didn’t stop them from doing Business but rather it only affected their Businesses in some areas where LAWMA could penetrate.

I met an Energetic young man in Edo State who happens to be a Truck Pusher, I saw him moving from one door to the other in each Block of Flats, knocking for them to come out with their Garbage, each one came out with their Garbage and Fees, I was curious and went to him to inquire into his exploits, he was excited I did and responded delightfully, I told him I will be delighted to work with him in his Business, he jestingly laughed out loud because he felt I was only trying to pull his legs, after I convinced he that I was dead serious, he then gave me a listening ears and through my Imaginations, a new Business Model was given birth to.

The Imaginative Nature of the Business

We are going to apply the Lean Startup process here or some sought of agile process in other to Prove the Business Concept first so in essence we are not going to start anything serious yet, we are going to first get a Name for our New Business, so fictionally we will call it (Garbageit), then get all our Clients to Register with their Names, Address and Garbage Capacity, get a Simple Contact Number that can be remembered easily, get a Logo designed (Can be gotten here), then get a Branded Polo with our Logo and Phone Number boldly crested on it printed (Can be gotten here), get some Safety Equipments like Hand Gloves, Nose Dusk Mask and a Safety Boot.

From here we need to build a Small piece of Software which will help our Small Business Automate certain task and keep good track records of Income, Expenses, Garbage Collected, Products Derived, Number of Clients, Profits Generated  and vetting the overall Business Model if it’s Sustainable and Proven. (Software can be built here). The Software can be accessed comfortably on phone, the Admin/ Garbage Collector can login, Add Clients with their Addresses and Phone Numbers, add Income, Add Expenses, Add Garbage Collected and lastly Add Recyclable items derived [The Product] , which can fall into any of this Categories of 7 Recyclable Items:

1.       Aluminums, Example Soda and Juice Cans

2.       Plastic Bottles, Example Lacasera Drink, Coke, Viju Milk etc…

3.       Newspaper, Example Old Newspapers from Sports Newspapers down to General Newspapers

4.       Corrugated Cardboard, Example TV Set Cartons, Fridge Cartons, Parcel Delivery Cartons etc…

5.       Steel cans, Example Auto Parts, Home Appliances that are Steel

6.       HDPE plastic bottles, HDPE plastics are identified by the logo on the bottom of the container. (Three arrows in the shape of a triangle.) Check the number inside that logo: numbers 1 and 2 are recyclable almost everywhere, but 3 through 7 are only recyclable in limited areas. HDPE stands for high-density polyethylene, a common and denser plastic, which is used for detergents, bleach, shampoo, milk jugs.)

7.       Glass containers, Example Coke Bottle, Can Food Bottles, Jar Bottles etc…

Function of our Small Software: Our Software will serve as a management System for our Waste Management Business, it will automatically alert Postpaid Subscribers when they Topup, when they are Charged and when their Credit is Exhausted. It will be used to input Fees charged from Clients (Income) on the Go while the Garbage Collectors are on field picking up Garbage. From the Interface at the end of each Business we can easily tell how many Products where derived, How Much Revenue Generated, How Much Expenses Incured, ultimately how much profit the business has been able to generate that day, and lots more… NOTE: We will need a Hosting Plan to host our small Software and we can get a Cheap and efficient Hosting Plan from Whogohost.

                We are going to start the Registration Exercise the next week putting on our Brand with a New Business Model, The Prepaid and Postpaid Subscription Model.

Garbageit POSTPAID Users: Will have to pay a certain amount in Advanced like a thousand Naira and their Garbageit Account will be Credited and they will be alerted while the Company handles their Garbage anytime, any day and once a Garbage is picked up, their Credit will be charged and they will be alerted.

Garbageit PREPAID Users: Will have to exchange Money in hand with the Garbage Collectors and will pay more compared to the Postpaid Users, in other to encourage users to go POSTPAID, If POSTPAID are being charged N150 per Garbage from their Credit, PREPAID Users will be charged N200 making the difference clear as to why everyone should consider going POSTPAID.

In our Exercise, we are going to try to Register 1,000 Users with at least 200 POSTPAID Users paying N500 and the remaining 800 PREPAID, so with that we could have raised N100,000 from the POSTPAID Subscribers knowing that the funds will be used to facilitate their Garbage Maintenance and Management. If we were able to signup 800 PREPAID Users, then it means that the following coming week, we should be expecting to pick up about 300 Garbage’s in estimate at N200 per Garbage giving us N60,000, if we could get this figures and metrics right with a lower Expense cost, then I guess we have a Business here and could further Expand in Invest, then probably after iterating the same processes and still get same or higher results, we could then go for Investors outside our Cost in other to Expand the Business to other Prospected areas.

There is more to this if this Business Succeeds from here, like Innovative Custom-Made Branded Garbage Can/Box sold to Clients and used as a Medium to weigh and Pickup anytime any day and lots more.

Summary

Imaginations without Actions will only be a an Illusion of Dreams, for this to work, there must be a willing entity that is willing to pay the Sacrifice and Build a Business that will not only Benefit him alone but others, the Community, the State, the Country and Mother Nature at large. Thanks for reading, all Suggestions, Thoughts, Comments, Considerations and Questions are always welcomed.

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