Running on Alternatives: Meet ACCION USA Client Brian Duda
Brian Duda is an ACCION USA client from Alabama. Through his company DudaDiesel, he sells all the tools that “DIY-ers” need to make their own diesel vehicles run on biodiesel or vegetable oil. His mission is to make alternative fuel methods available to a wider market and to educate people about the use of biodiesel fuels. Elise had a chance to interview him last week about his effect on his local community.
Elise Tosun: Brian, you obviously provide a service whose need has not really been met yet in your community. How does your business support your local community in general?
Brian Duda with bio-fuel processing equipment
Brian Duda: Well, since my business has grown I’ve been able to provide jobs for some locals who do packaging, shipping, and cleaning in my warehouse. I also do a lot to educate my market about alternative fuels. When people want to learn about biodiesel, they know to go to the internet, but they often don’t know where to start. We’ve partnered with a website that provides very comprehensive and organized information to consumers about how to convert their vehicles to run on biodiesels. We direct our customers there so that they’re empowered to do it on their own, and then we sell them the materials to do so.
Another significant way we’re helping the local community is by providing restaurants with a market to sell their used vegetable oil waste. To do this, restaurants usually need to partner with a large company and must sign a multi-year contract. Our relationship is a much more flexible one.
ET: What were some of the challenges you’ve had getting your business to where it is today?
BD: The main challenge for me has been keeping up with demand! My business started straight out of my apartment, but now that I’ve begun selling on the internet there is so much more demand, not only for more of what I already am selling, but also for different products. It’s a tough balance because I want to expand to new products, but I also need to make sure I have the funding in place to keep up with new demand. My products sell out very quickly and keeping them in stock has been challenging.
ET: So has your ACCION USA loan helped out with that problem at all?
BD: Definitely – that’s exactly what I used my loan for. I was able to buy some inventory and now I’m about a month ahead of the curve keeping up with demand.
ET: What does the future hold for DudaDiesel?
BD: First, I really want to work on expanding to new product lines. One of those lines is solar energy; however I need to make sure there’s a market for it first because it’s an expensive investment. Once I have all of the product lines I want to carry, I’ll focus more on biodiesel production. My dream is to get to a point where I am producing fuel of a standard high enough to be sold to vehicles on the highway. Right now, there is one gas station in town that sells diesel at extremely high prices, so I’d like to put a station up right across the street to provide some competition. It would be great to get prices down to a more affordable level for consumers.
ET: Lastly, do you have any words of advice for small business owners who want to get involved in their community?
BD: My main piece of advice is to concentrate on serving your customer base and satisfying the demand that exists in your market, before getting too big too fast. Make sure you’re selling products that people want to buy and more importantly that they can afford. It also helps to team up with local businesses that can help you access different sections of your market.
August 11th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
i hope that we would be able to mass produce Biodiesel in the near future and i also hope that it would get cheaper-*~