Trash Recycling Business in Azerbaijan - Case Study Example

Trash Recycling Business in Azerbaijan Eurasian recycling LLC will seek to collect, compost and recycle, and market trash from town plants for processing of waste, while turning them into consumer products. This product will meet the needs of residents in and around the City of Ganja in two ways. First, it will offer town councils a cost effective and feasible alternative to disposing of the trash in landfills, as well as to aid in meeting an increasing organic soil fertilizer and enhancer demand (Stevens et al 16). In this case, the trash to be recycled is organic waste from household use. This business will go towards alleviating the problem of full landfills, as well as the rising costs of disposing of organic trash (Stevens et al 16). Eurasian Recycling LLC will seek to resolve this issue by taking in waste from towns at nominal fees and making recycled products from it. If the company is able to address this problem, the independent waste collectors will pay the premium price, as they will have to negotiate with the company. The company has two value propositions for end user consumers of compost or recycled trash and municipalities. For the municipalities, the company will offer budget-saving and cost-effective services that will help in addressing problems of waste disposal in Ganja City and its environs. In addition, for the end users, it will provide a valuable revitalization of the soil in terms of tillage, water retention, structural stability, and porosity (Stevens et al 17). Therefore, by acquiring trash from the municipalities around Ganja, the company will recycle and compost it for the customers to buy at a profit. The market niche for the product is the organic soil enrichment market with most farmers still using inorganic fertilizers. These include farmers and nursery owners, as well as resident landscapers. There is room for growth in the organic soil enhancement market as more farmers move away from chemical fertilizers (Stevens et al 17). Eurasia Recycling LLC’s major product is recycled household organic waste to be used in farms, while the major service involves offering municipalities around Ganja City alternative ways to dispose of organic household waste that is collected around the city. The waste collection service is not perishable because there will always be waste, while the eventual product is not perishable either because agriculture is the economic backbone of Azerbaijan (Stevens et al 17). In addition, the product is responding to trends in the market, which is organic farming, and will hold for the foreseeable future with no fear of the product or service becoming obsolete. However, there are alternatives for organic soil enhancers, including chemical fertilizers. These are still the most highly used soil enhancers in Azerbaijan, although there is an emerging trend towards organic enhancers (Stevens et al 18). It is expected that the product will be completely developed in six months and ready for promotion. Development Task Dollars Required Time to Complete Complete business plan $0 Two weeks Receive all funding $0 Three months Site preparation $0 Two Weeks Form LLC $500 One Month Composter set up $0 Two Weeks Order composters $480,000 One and a half months Hire staff $16,680 Three months Begin production $0 Two Weeks Totals $497,180 There are a few difficulties expected when recycling materials from municipalities, including the sorting of the waste the company needs, which will require a more specialized machine to do perfectly. This problem is critical because it will affect the level of inorganic waste in the final product (Hajiyeva 56). To resolve this, a new machine to separate the waste will be acquired for $50,000. The primary customer groups for the company’s products are farmers, landscapers, nurseries, public agencies involved in park restoration, and home gardeners. These groups will all use the product to enhance their soils and will be receptive of a product that does not harm the environment. The entry strategy will involve agricultural shows and fairs, as well as agricultural magazines and shows. Finally, the sales staff will be trained to insist on the product’s alleviation of landfill shortages and the need for organic fertilizer. Main competitors, especially Ganja Greek, are in the soil enhancement industry and have price and performance as their selling points (Hajiyeva 57). However, they mostly sell inorganic chemical fertilizers that harm the environment. By providing a product that is environmentally friendly, Eurasia will have little competition and will offer products for lower prices as the purchasing costs are nominal. To identify good customer prospects, the company will have to seek knowledge on what the market needs are, whether farmers know of the benefits of organic farming, whether they know of the benefits of recycling, what competitors there are around Ganja City and what they offer, and market trends in the agricultural sector around Azerbaijan. The customers will access the products through direct sales from the company, although, with time, the company will use wholesalers to sell the product. The company will also make a brochure that will provide information as to how the customers can get to the company’s depots. Each potential customer will be visited with maps to the facility and pricing. Market Potential Assessment The company can thrive in the future if it expands its recycling facilities to other cities and towns in Azerbaijan, as well as across the region. The opportunity that could arrive has to do with the forthcoming campaign by the Ministry of Agriculture to popularize the use of organic soil enhancers as a result of increasingly polluted rivers (Hajiyeva 87). The company intends to become ultimately the best choice for disposing of organic municipal waste. With regards to odds of success in the business venture, these are very high, especially with the increasing population of Azerbaijan’s cities with steady immigration from Iran. This forecast is based on the company’s plans to expand its facilities and anticipation that there will be two facilities in five years and two more in eight years. Therefore, the sales forecast will double for these five years and quadruple in eight. There are several things that can be done to enhance Eurasia Recycling LLC’s opportunity in the market. One of them is to start an educational campaign that seeks to teach farmers about the benefits of using organic soil enhancers, instead of chemical enhancers (Hajiyeva 99). The sales team could also focus on the manufacturers of fertilizers to come up with partnerships, which will allow the company to take advantage of their supply chain and distribution network. However, this can only be done when the company is established in the market. To become the most knowledgeable competitor in the market, Eurasia Recycling LLC will use the internet to collect information about customer needs by making the company’s website more interactive. In addition, the company will also form alliances that will be of mutual and complementary benefit for the collection of information and data on market trends. Works Cited Hajiyeva, Sevil. Municipal Solid Waste Management in Azerbaijan: Present Practices and Future Challenge. Saarbrücken: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2013. Print. Stevens, Lucy; Ali, Mansoor; & Hunt, Steven. "Improving waste management in small towns of Azerbaijan." Waterlines 25.4 (2011): 16-18. Print. Read More