Connected technology is present throughout your small business, but what about in your waste?
By CGeoff Aardsma
Small businesses are inundated with new technology.
Businesses today use technology to accomplish nearly every aspect of their classic retail and office operations. With new ways to buy, build and design websites, smart buildings with Internet of Things (IoT) enabled facility management systems, even cash is considered a thing of the past with point-of-sale systems like Square.
IoT is integrated in nearly everything businesses do now, so why get the same old options when it comes to waste services?
Benefits of waste technology for small businesses
New businesses often want to include the latest and greatest technology to ensure their company is set up for success. New tech offers businesses transparency, insight, data, information and more ways to measure the health of their company, including important opportunities for improvement.
What most small businesses don’t know, is that they can also achieve this type of IoT understanding from their dumpster. Waste services providers can now analyze waste streams, explore influxes in trash, monitor dumpster levels and provide insights on the overall health of the business through connected sensors placed in their waste container.
Technology services that grow with your business
When first thinking about choosing your small business’ waste management needs, you might manually peek inside your dumpster, make a guess as to what kind of service levels you need and never think about it again. That is, until you’re dealing with an overflowing dumpster due to a missed collection, or your business gets busier due to high sales periods and your waste stream fluctuates.
On average, 9 percent of waste collections are missed and 21 percent of sites need their waste services adjusted to match actual needs. Waste services providers measure waste generation changes over time and can offer continuous, detailed data and insights to let you know what the effects are for your specific business. A services partner should always empower your business to grow and subsequently grow with you. While your waste services provider monitors your waste, you can focus on managing your business.
Hidden costs of dealing with waste service issues
Whether you’ve ever dealt with a waste issue for your business or not, chances are you likely never want to. An overflowing dumpster could mean health and safety risks combined with significant fines. Not to mention, dealing with haulers and waste issues can take away very valuable, already limited time that needs to be focused on managing your business. Say you want to avoid an overflowing dumpster entirely, so you schedule for more pickups than you might actually need. This might sound like the only other viable option, but more collections comes with a higher services price tag.
In addition to the time and money it takes to deal with an issue caused at the dumpster, not obtaining the critical insights that a waste services partner empowered by IoT technology offers is costing your business the ability to perform at its best. Though it might not seem obvious, the insights and data found inside your dumpster can help with your business’ future operational goals, and provide you details on the overall health of your company.
Relying on an informed industry partner
Starting your own small business is personal, and it can be difficult to know how you compare to your closest competitors. You might not know exactly which key performance indicators will mean the most for your business, and focusing on the wrong ones might not move the needle as much as you had hoped. A waste services provider collects cost-saving data across many industries and businesses, and can share best practices from businesses that are most similar to yours, measuring how you compare to your closest industry benchmark so that you can not only keep up with your competitors, but stay ahead of the curve.
Reduce, reuse, recycle and reduce again
Recycling programs and properly handling waste in an environmentally friendly way is no easy task. Relying on an industry partner who can educate you and your employees on the specific recycling programs in your city and how to best discard materials saves you time and keeps your small business a green, sustainability-focused community partner that customers seek out.
By constantly monitoring your dumpster, a waste services partner can offer best practices for reducing overall waste and recyclable materials through sensor data and the strategies of comparable businesses. Further, they can determine if your employees may need more education and training on sustainability initiatives based on what ends up in your dumpster.
When growing a small business, operational efficiency across all areas is critical to your company’s success. Relying on traditional waste collection services leaves room for error and potential problems down the road. IoT and connected technology is already a big part of your small business, so why not your trash, too?
Geoff Aardsma, VP of Client Services for Enevo Enevo @Enevo.
