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Talking Business with Brenda Lotito of Upstate Worm Farms, 23 July, 2008

Brenda is known for her enthusiasm for worms and composting; seeing her business growth has been an interesting evolution. From a small start, hauling worm boxes around, to working with a large-scale composting machines and speaking at international waste management conferences, Brenda's passion for worm farming has moved from a hobby to a growing business enterprise. Her company now provides innovative on-site services to utilize food waste to create a marketable compost fertilizer product.

Q: Why worms? And when did you get started?

A: Brenda's son is currently 13; when he was three, he really liked worms. Brenda has four sons and was a stay-at-home mom, which required some lifestyle adjustments for her family: she learned to sew and garden to help make it feasible. When she was gardening, one of her sons would play with worms all day, at first driving them around in his Tonka trucks, then setting up a swimming pool for them (which didn't work out so well), and progressively bringing them nearer to the house. He asked many questions, and one day they brought some worms inside in a peanut butter jar with some soil so he could see how they live. Unfortunately, Brenda forgot to put holes in the top, and of course, worms need air. She realized that they really didn't know much about worms, and went to the library to learn about them. She found that these red worms could live on food scraps and create garden compost. Brenda asked her husband to build a worm box from her specifications, and bought a pound of worms from an organic source in California. As the family engaged in this hobby, she found herself talking about worms and composting all of the time. Brenda had tried a number of other independent business ventures, such as selling candles and makeup. At a WISE conference, she realized that worm farming was a good business opportunity for her to pursue; that was about 6 years ago.

LotitoQ: This started with an idea about worm farming; what was the first step to monetizing it?

A: It began with a lot of research on worms. There are many thick books about worms out there, and a lot more material than an average person would read. Brenda decided to create an easily understood 40-page guidebook to keeping worms. She wrote and self-published the book, entitled "The Dirt on Worm Farming" and then started talking to garden clubs about worm farming. Her first presentation was to the Syracuse Rose Society, which maintains the Thornden Park Rose Gardens. She took her book and compost to these meetings, and after her talk, people would ask where they could get worm boxes so they could try keeping worms in their basements. Brenda asked her husband to make a smaller scale version of the worm box they had initially developed, and now they produce a home kit for keeping worms in the basement.

Q: Jill had seen Brenda at many local events with her worm box; this year, Brenda's presenting at an international conference on waste management. How did that happen?

A: Brenda started by making phone calls. At first, she was a joke - "Worms? That's a funny business." She started out by talking to Onondaga County Resource Recovery (OCRRA) and positioned her business as a complement to their services, giving them a book and introducing herself. Jeff Cooper then visited her business, in her home, to see her worm farming setup. He referred her to someone else, and she continued following up on the contacts, which lead her to Mark Naef of the Go Green Initiative (GGI) in Syracuse. She was invited to an exclusive meeting at Solvay Paperboard, where she met Linda Oaks, who likes to compost and is in charge of a major New York state conference that was an appropriate venue for Brenda to gain entry to the larger business community. She also made other contacts from the GGI and OCRRA. Many of the people at the meetings she has attended are from big conglomerates, so she has to take her business seriously and believe in herself, presenting herself as a serious entrepreneur.

Q: What's Solvay Paperboard?

: They are a local company that uses recycled paper and makes other paper products. This is a helpful contact for her because she can use some of their waste as a resource for her business. She is still doing business with those same people that she met early on, and has gained their trust and learned from the larger business context that they have helped her enter.

Q: How did you get to the point where you felt you could contribute at this kind of meeting?

A: Brenda practiced in a mirror. Initially, she said of herself, "I'm a worm farmer," but this image doesn't make the grade in a corporate setting, so she began to present herself as the President of Upstate Worm Farms, helping people do basement composting. Jill laughs - she also rehearsed her presentation before arriving at business meeting, repeating her introduction over and over until it was easy to make a smooth reply when asked. Brenda also practiced introducing herself, specifically for going to events. She learned this as part of her experiences with the Women Business Owners Connection (WBOC), which provided her with a practice ground for getting connected in the business community. When she started going there, she introduced herself as a worm farmer. As she saw others evolving their self-presentation, she also developed her image progressively, adjusting her business practices appropriately as she went along. It was a slow and gradual process as she decided how to portray her business.

Q: Before we talk more about business, what about the family that helped start this? How does your son feel about it?

A: Brenda's son watches the business carefully. He's maybe not as interested in worms these days, but he is interested in composting and environmental concerns. He has a standing offer for the Vice President position of the company when he turns 18, and depending on who answers the phone, he may introduce himself as the Vice President or the Treasurer - that's her 10-year old, who is good with numbers. But on a more serious note, when Brenda was awarded a Junior Achievement Entrepreneurship Award and couldn't be present to accept it, her son accepted the award on her behalf, so the family is invested in the business as well.

Q: Jill will post a list of resources about worms, but what other resources like events and classes have helped propel your business?

Lotito and Hurst-Wahl

A: Brenda attended many seminars like this one; the WISE conferences were also big influences and have offered her a lot as her business grows. She learned at first how to be a sole proprietor, and then later learned about incorporating. These events also gave her exposure to other similar resources; she learned about the South Side Innovation Center, where she has taken classes, and also the WBOC seminars. Listening to other talk about their businesses and how they achieved business growth helped her work toward her own business goals, and almost all of these resources for entrepreneurs are free or come at a minimum charge. She recently went through the process for becoming a certified woman-owned NY business, and is waiting to hear on the decision. She used a lot of local resources to gain the knowledge that prepared her for participation in the national business community, and learned how to scale up her business and her aspirations. She uses the same networking skills that she learned in Syracuse when she goes to national conferences.

Jill had jokingly asked if Brenda had a passport, and at the time, she did - she had ensured that she was ready for international participation as well. As a side note, there is a September 5 event to help make some of these kinds of business connections; it's an opportunity that's available only through selection to a limited number of participants. The next WISE conference will be held on Tuesday, April 7, and early registration starts in January; it usually sells out and early registration is advised, since the conference now attracts over 700 participants.

Brenda also attended the Syracuse University Entrepreneur's Bootcamp, which has a cost attached, but you can apply for a scholarship. It was a great experience and taught her that she had to become a businessperson to succeed as an entrepreneur; ideas alone are not enough. She also learned not to give it away - initially she gave out many free copies of her book, but eventually realized that if she gave her products away, no one would buy them. The boot camp helped her find direction to make the next step in growing her business.

Q: If someone has a hobby, how can they make a business out of it?

A: It must be a passion. For example, Brenda loves to crochet and likes to do it just for herself, but that's not enough to be entrepreneurial. You must have a passion that you want to share with others.

Q: It has to be something that you can do today and do tomorrow and still love it. Any other advice?

A: People constantly say to Brenda that she must have no competition, but that's not true. Everyone is her competition because they are involved in competing practices, and they can see what she has innovated and try to copy it.

Q: How do you protect your investments and intellectual property?

A: Brenda's book is copyrighted and deposited in the Library of Congress, so that is protected. She has tried to get a design patent but it turns out to be very hard and she hasn't heard back on the decision yet. At this point, the cost of IP protection is too high for her to pursue it aggressively. At the start, she got herself a good lawyer, which she learned from WISE. It's important for her to have representation and insurance that understand her business; a good accountant is also very important. She tries to know her competitors in the compost business by talking to them at trade shows, asking questions, taking the free trade magazines and reading them, and learning the details of the larger waste management industry. This doesn't mean she should be focusing on those who do similar work, though. She has to learn the operations and lingo of food services, understanding how a kitchen works, in order to know what's relevant to that audience when she pitches her business services to them. If she's talking to grocers, she needs to know what percentage of their budget goes to waste management and how much of an issue it is to them to deal with damaged produce. You have to know how to position yourself for your target audience, which means constant research. There are a lot of places along the food production chain where her services can tie in, and still many opportunities such as working with local organic farmers and CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture).

Q: What marketing techniques are your biggest competitors using? Is anyone doing direct mail or Internet advertising?

A: As a new business, she was deluged with marketing opportunities; due diligence is required and she researches every decision. She has a web site that she's slowly evolving, but doesn't do direct mail or sell online. Her nearest local competitor is the OCRRA, which sends out email messages and refers people to her. Brenda realizes, however, that at any time, OCRRA could go from referring people to her to doing what she's doing, and competing more directly. For her business, the nearest competitors are not necessarily direct competitors, either. Other ways of composting than her method using worms are also forms of competition.

Q: Any final words of wisdom?

A: Business plan, business plan, business plan. When she started out, Brenda's goals seemed big at the time; your business plan needs to grow with you and you need to look at it daily to help stay focused on your goals, even if they are changing daily as well. Luckily for Brenda, her family is also invested in the business, and will hold her to her business plan.

Brenda's Reading List

Event photography courtesy of Kelvin P. Ringold, Custom Photogenics
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