Compost-It

Compost It is an award-winning food waste collection startup based in West Yorkshire, founded by Husain whilst at university. What started as a university project has evolved into a real business addressing the growing demand for food waste management services.

The company collects food waste from homes and businesses across the region, helping them comply with new UK regulations introduced in April 2025 that require food-based companies to separate food waste from general waste. Husain started by walking between businesses with a backpack, collecting food waste himself.

Husain was experiencing classic growing pains. His one-person operation had evolved into managing a team, but he was struggling with the transition from doing everything himself to actually running a business.

He was feeling overwhelmed by new responsibilities he’d never had to handle before – managing staff, coordinating logistics, finding new clients, and onboarding them. The demand was growing in line with the new regulations, but he didn’t know where to start with creating proper systems.

The frustrating bit was that he had loads of data from his operations, but no tools to actually use it. He needed ways to track staff time, ensure accurate data collection for billing, and have proper processes for contracts as more clients wanted to work with him.

Husain’s goals were straightforward but crucial for his business survival:

• Get control of his growing team – proper time tracking and coordination systems
• Turn data into insights – use all that information he was collecting to actually improve the business
• Build foundations for growth – create systems that could handle the increasing demand without breaking

He also wanted to stay visible in the market and maintain relationships with prospects, but didn’t have time for proper follow-up or marketing.

“We talked about simple solutions rather than expensive tech I couldn’t afford. It felt practical and actually doable.”

Husain was looking for someone who understood the reality of running a startup – limited budget, limited time, but unlimited ambition. He needed practical advice that he could implement immediately, not a six-month transformation project he couldn’t afford.

We kept it simple – one focused operations session where we tackled his immediate pain points with practical solutions.

Staff Time Tracking & Data Systems
Set up straightforward processes for tracking staff time and ensuring data collection was accurate enough for billing. No complicated software – just systems that work.

Basic CRM Setup
Started with a spreadsheet to track contacts and pipeline progress, but most importantly, keeping this data safe and secure too. We also discussed how to stay in touch with prospects through regular emails, newsletters, or even a blog to keep Compost It visible in the industry.

Simple Reporting
Helped him pull together data from different places into basic reports so he could track progress against funding he’d received to date in the business.

The approach: Build on what was already working well (like his pricing structure) and focus on the gaps that were actually stopping growth.

The session gave Husain the practical systems he needed to manage his growing operation:

• Proper team coordination with clear time tracking and data collection processes
• Organised client pipeline using a simple CRM that actually gets used
• Clear business tracking so he knows how things are really going

Since our session, Compost It has continued growing and Husain has secured a contract with a large arena – exactly the kind of opportunity these systems were designed to support.

Ready to get your growing pains under control?

If you’re facing similar challenges – growing fast but your systems can’t keep up – let’s chat about practical solutions that actually work.