WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:01.430 My name is Tim Bennett. 2 00:00:01.430 --> 00:00:04.260 I am the founder and owner of Bennett Compost. 3 00:00:04.260 --> 00:00:06.168 We collect food scraps 4 00:00:06.168 --> 00:00:07.820 from over 2,000 households and businesses 5 00:00:07.820 --> 00:00:09.060 in Philadelphia and we make it 6 00:00:09.060 --> 00:00:12.040 into compost and other soil products. 7 00:00:12.040 --> 00:00:15.810 line:15% So, compost is kind of like a natural soil amendment, 8 00:00:15.810 --> 00:00:18.630 line:15% so we sell it to people who are growing gardens 9 00:00:18.630 --> 00:00:20.140 line:15% or flowers, that kind of stuff. 10 00:00:20.140 --> 00:00:22.560 line:15% We also make, use it to make soil products, 11 00:00:22.560 --> 00:00:24.610 line:15% like a potting soil that you might buy 12 00:00:24.610 --> 00:00:26.760 line:15% if you were planting a flower box 13 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:29.328 or, you know, a potted plant in your backyard. 14 00:00:29.328 --> 00:00:31.660 line:15% Right, so what we do is that everyday 15 00:00:31.660 --> 00:00:35.240 line:15% we have two or three trucks and a bicycle 16 00:00:36.110 --> 00:00:37.580 line:15% with a trailer that go out throughout the city 17 00:00:37.580 --> 00:00:39.735 line:15% and collect all of this material, 18 00:00:39.735 --> 00:00:41.120 some of it from businesses, 19 00:00:41.120 --> 00:00:44.300 a lot of it from different households throughout the city. 20 00:00:44.300 --> 00:00:46.344 They have set routes where they might be picking up, 21 00:00:46.344 --> 00:00:51.180 you know, each route might be 150 to 200 stops per day, 22 00:00:51.180 --> 00:00:52.290 if they're a residential route. 23 00:00:52.290 --> 00:00:54.300 If it's a commercial route, it might be 24 00:00:54.300 --> 00:00:55.330 more like 15 or 20 stops per day. 25 00:00:55.330 --> 00:00:56.163 They're going out. 26 00:00:56.163 --> 00:00:57.220 They're collecting all this material. 27 00:00:57.220 --> 00:00:59.426 They're bringing it back to our yard. 28 00:00:59.426 --> 00:01:04.060 At that site, we are are then unloading all that material. 29 00:01:04.060 --> 00:01:06.896 We're blending it with wood chips and leaves. 30 00:01:06.896 --> 00:01:10.502 line:15% We're using what's called an aerated static pile system 31 00:01:10.502 --> 00:01:14.420 line:15% to make the compost, 32 00:01:14.420 --> 00:01:16.427 line:15% so we get it into these piles 33 00:01:16.427 --> 00:01:17.360 line:15% and then we're working it through the process 34 00:01:17.360 --> 00:01:19.200 line:15% that we have set up there. 35 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:21.060 When I started, it was just me. 36 00:01:21.060 --> 00:01:22.430 I was doing it part-time while I had 37 00:01:22.430 --> 00:01:24.200 a full-time job, so I did everything. 38 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:25.033 I did the pickups. 39 00:01:25.033 --> 00:01:25.866 I did the collections. 40 00:01:25.866 --> 00:01:26.699 I answered the emails. 41 00:01:26.699 --> 00:01:28.030 I answered the phone. 42 00:01:28.030 --> 00:01:29.430 I sent the bills. 43 00:01:30.860 --> 00:01:33.980 I went out and tried to get business. 44 00:01:33.980 --> 00:01:35.839 I kind of did it all. 45 00:01:35.839 --> 00:01:37.360 I still get my hands dirty 46 00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:38.390 and do a decent amount of work 47 00:01:38.390 --> 00:01:40.300 working with the material on site, 48 00:01:40.300 --> 00:01:44.140 so managing the process in terms of making the product, 49 00:01:44.140 --> 00:01:48.090 but I don't do really any of the collections, 50 00:01:48.090 --> 00:01:50.380 except for sometimes I'll fill in for someone like that, 51 00:01:50.380 --> 00:01:51.800 so a lot of my other time is spent 52 00:01:51.800 --> 00:01:52.970 dealing with our employees 53 00:01:52.970 --> 00:01:55.060 line:15% and making sure they have what they need 54 00:01:55.060 --> 00:01:56.590 line:15% and that they understand what we're doing 55 00:01:56.590 --> 00:01:58.810 line:15% to kind of getting everyone going in the same direction. 56 00:01:58.810 --> 00:02:00.230 line:15% It's figuring out, kind of, 57 00:02:00.230 --> 00:02:02.550 line:15% how do we continue to move the business forward. 58 00:02:02.550 --> 00:02:04.870 It's learning how to, kind of like, 59 00:02:04.870 --> 00:02:07.710 delegate and trust other people to do certain things. 60 00:02:08.580 --> 00:02:11.490 You know, it can be a little disconcerting at first 61 00:02:11.490 --> 00:02:13.820 when you're the person who, you know, 62 00:02:13.820 --> 00:02:16.040 if there's a phone call, answer the phones, 63 00:02:16.040 --> 00:02:17.660 so you know that like you're not missing 64 00:02:17.660 --> 00:02:18.800 anything important information. 65 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:20.350 You're the one responding to an email, 66 00:02:20.350 --> 00:02:24.000 so you know that like, what the issues are, 67 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:26.046 we can take care of it right away 68 00:02:26.046 --> 00:02:26.900 and you're the one who's doing the pickups, 69 00:02:26.900 --> 00:02:30.430 so you kind of just have this like very intuitive, 70 00:02:30.430 --> 00:02:33.247 not intuitive, but like really hands on sense of everything. 71 00:02:33.247 --> 00:02:35.078 line:15% Put systems in place and trust people 72 00:02:35.078 --> 00:02:38.100 line:15% to do their job is both rewarding, 73 00:02:38.100 --> 00:02:39.496 line:15% a little scary at first, 74 00:02:39.496 --> 00:02:42.010 line:15% probably the whole gambit of anyone 75 00:02:42.010 --> 00:02:44.206 who's gone from being like 76 00:02:44.206 --> 00:02:46.670 a solo entrepreneur to having a place.