Full Cycle Logistics finds opportunity as service to existing company
COVID quarantine became a turning point for many people. Some started new hobbies like baking or needlepoint. Others used the time to start new businesses. It was during this period that Mike Dombrowski began a neighborhood food scraps collection service called Eastside Compost, dedicated to keeping food waste out of the landfill.
What Mike didn’t expect was that the service would grow to the point where collecting food scraps from dozens of residences would require more than just a printout of addresses. It just became too logistically daunting to manage. And, if Mike were unavailable to make the pickups himself, he would have to delegate that task to others who didn’t have the route memorized.
When do company pain points become opportunities?
Thus, Mike found himself the owner of a small business that had reached a pain point too great to ignore. It helped that Mike was a software developer by day and so he began the process of creating a software tool that would store customer locations and build routes for drivers who were tasked with picking up the food scraps in handy plastic bins.
This software became more and more sophisticated as Mike tacked on additional abilities, solving for issues he and his team encountered as they grew Eastside Compost. Issues like onboarding new customers, assigning them to “communities,” and pairing customers with routes. Eventually vehicle capacity, number of visits to specific locations, and even bin status would be added to the tool.
And that was how Full Cycle Logistics was born. Mike realized that what he’d created could be used by any type of collection service. Not only that, but it could be used well. The tool was robust and yet light enough to not get bogged down when more and more customers were added and routes became bigger. Full Cycle Logistics has an impressive value proposition. Existing tools are expensive which means many people end up using manually updated spreadsheets. Not only does Full Cycle Logistics’ solution cost less than the competition but the automations and sophisticated route plotting system offers a powerful set of features at an affordable cost to smaller businesses. With four platform customers now, Full Cycle Logistics has made the leap from an in-house tool to a business of its own.
How does a company grow from an idea to reality?
Through a series of local resources, Mike was able to learn what it would take to be a more successful entrepreneur. A software developer by trade, he didn’t necessarily know how to make the transition to business owner. That is where the Lansing region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem stepped in to make sure folks just like Mike can get the support to turn their idea into a business.
LEAP paired Mike with local ecosystem resource The Fledge for further business advising. Full Cycle Logistics was also the recipient of two awards through LEAP totaling over $10,000. The funding has allowed them to make marketing purchases and perform outreach. This winter, Full Cycle Logistics will attend the largest composting conference in North America where Mike will demonstrate their platform and hopefully come back with their next client.
About LEAP
The Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) is a coalition of area leaders partnering to build a stronger community for all — working every day to grow, retain and attract business to the Lansing, Michigan, region.
About the Lansing Regional SmartZone
The Lansing Regional SmartZone (LRSZ) drives growth in the Greater Lansing region’s high-tech sector by funding local partners to deliver exceptional entrepreneurial support services. The LRSZ is a partnership between City of East Lansing, City of Lansing, East Lansing Public Schools, Ingham County, Lansing Community College, Lansing School District, Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP), the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), Michigan State University Innovation Center, and Michigan State University Research Foundation. A dynamic organization of leaders from all backgrounds and business sectors, the LRSZ has locations in downtown East Lansing at the Technology Innovation Center (TIC) and in Lansing at the MSU Health Park. LRSZ is funded by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).