In today’s blog we speak with Aodhán MacCathmhaoil, co-founder of Waster, a disruptive waste management business that doesn’t own any trucks!
MacCathmhaoil founded Waster in 2016 after a stint with waste management behemoth SUEZ and a career in corporate finance. His observations of the Australian waste management industry is that it is quite old hat and, as he told the Sydney Morning Herald, “things are done the way they are done because that's the way they have always been done”.
Waster is disruptive in the way it secures clients, which is entirely through their website—waster.com.au—the fact that it allows businesses to sign up on a 30 day contract, rather than the multi-year contracts which are apparently the norm in the industry; its strong focus on customer service; and, of course, the fact that it doesn’t run any trucks. Waster has agreements with a number of trucking companies (similar to Sendle who have agreements with several courier companies) who ultimately collect the waste. Waster, in essence, is a customer-focused booking engine, which is why their website is such a critical asset.
“Our clients can book directly online” says MacCathmhaoil. “They select the type of waste they need collected, the type of bin, where they are located and how frequently they need collection, and price is given immediately. They then book it through a relatively conventional e-commerce process.” The service is straight-forward and is popular with new businesses who would find the traditional process for booking waste collection daunting.
Waster allows you to book waste management through a simple e-commerce process.
Central to the criticalness of Waster’s website from a branding point of view is their .com.au domain name. “The domain name is vital to us. It needed to be easy to remember, write down, and be clear and understandable. It makes us look professional. It’s short and memorable.”
MacCathmhaoil tells us that initially he was just going to register the .com domain name but it wasn’t available. But he soon realised the benefits of a .au domain name. “I feel the .com.au is the most prestigious and trustworthy for an Australian business” he added, comfortable in his decision to go a .com.au.
Asked what his #1 tip is for small business owners starting out: “It’s tempting to outsource your marketing. But you really need to get involved. The founder/owner really needs to drive this aspect of the business as it’s so important. And it helps create consistency.”
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If you haven’t already, read our first installment of this blog series with Dean Salakas from The Party People. Stay tuned for the next interview in a few weeks.
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