Terracycle: Case Study - Worm Boy
Assignment # 1
Case Study – Worm Boy
The Future of Business – Page 196
February 15, 2011
Collin Nair
TerraCycle was founded in 2001 and is the brainchild of both Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer. At the time both were freshman students at Princeton University. The two envisioned a company that was financially profitable yet ecologically and socially responsible.
TerraCycle does business in Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal (NAICS)
Their primary business function is manufacturing and selling organic plant food or fertilizer. Incorporated into their main business is an overall corporate strategy of managing waste effectively and meeting financial, social and environmental goals, namely a triple bottom line. TerraCycles’s business model is eco-capitalism i.e. using pre-selected waste to create new environmentally friendly, high margin, marketable products such as organic fertilizer.
According to Szaky this type of business model will have a more positive impact than the usual non-profit organization
To keep the company afloat during the early start-up years, Szaky and Beyer contributed their own savings, $4000 and $1000 respectively, maxed out 2 credit cards to raise another $6000, borrowed $5000 from a friend, and $4000 from Szaky’s parents. They continued to keep the company alive by entering and winning business plan competitions, earning between $2000 and $10000 a contest. Despite being on the brink of bankruptcy Szaky did not deviate from his environmental agenda and his vision to “outsmart waste”. Funded by prize money and angel investors TerraCycle survived those turbulent years before their first breakthrough sale.
Current trends indicate that the public at large are shifting toward more environmentally sustainable products. Given the change in consumer attitude with respect to sustainability and the environment, retailers will need to rethink their product, marketing and selling strategy in order to maximum profit and stay in business.
Case Study – Worm Boy
The Future of Business – Page 196
February 15, 2011
Collin Nair
TerraCycle was founded in 2001 and is the brainchild of both Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer. At the time both were freshman students at Princeton University. The two envisioned a company that was financially profitable yet ecologically and socially responsible.
TerraCycle does business in Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal (NAICS)
Their primary business function is manufacturing and selling organic plant food or fertilizer. Incorporated into their main business is an overall corporate strategy of managing waste effectively and meeting financial, social and environmental goals, namely a triple bottom line. TerraCycles’s business model is eco-capitalism i.e. using pre-selected waste to create new environmentally friendly, high margin, marketable products such as organic fertilizer.
According to Szaky this type of business model will have a more positive impact than the usual non-profit organization
To keep the company afloat during the early start-up years, Szaky and Beyer contributed their own savings, $4000 and $1000 respectively, maxed out 2 credit cards to raise another $6000, borrowed $5000 from a friend, and $4000 from Szaky’s parents. They continued to keep the company alive by entering and winning business plan competitions, earning between $2000 and $10000 a contest. Despite being on the brink of bankruptcy Szaky did not deviate from his environmental agenda and his vision to “outsmart waste”. Funded by prize money and angel investors TerraCycle survived those turbulent years before their first breakthrough sale.
Current trends indicate that the public at large are shifting toward more environmentally sustainable products. Given the change in consumer attitude with respect to sustainability and the environment, retailers will need to rethink their product, marketing and selling strategy in order to maximum profit and stay in business.