We recently connected with Spencer Doepel and have shared our conversation below.

Spencer, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

I do wish I started my business earlier. In the emerging black soldier fly larvae industry, some of the largest companies were founded between 2010-2020. Ecoflys was founded in 2020, so we’re not that far behind, but a 7-year head start is quite hard to catch up to. Sometimes this causes me anxiety that I started too late but then, I remember I can’t beat myself up about starting my business earlier. It also would have been pretty hard to run a business in 2010 considering I would be the age of 10 (I am 24 at the time of writing this).

When I started my business, I was halfway finished with college. I attended the University of Akron and was pursuing a Marketing and Sales degree.

Akron has some great programs for entrepreneurs. The first program I took part in was the Startline program. This program walked me through 5 steps to confirm the business idea had the right product market fit. At the end of this program, I got to interview potential customers, something I would be doing a lot of in the next program. I-Corps was the next program I took part in. During this program, I was given a mentor who I still talk to today. I also had to do 30 interviews with prospective customers. These interviews really helped me discover what people were willing to pay for my black soldier fly larvae products and some of their pain points that I could solve with the products. After taking part in these programs I was ready to compete in a real startup competition. I pitched and placed 3rd in the Stark Tank Pitch competition and 1st in the University of Akron pitch competition. The next semester after these pitches I graduated college with a bachelor’s in marketing and sales management and began working on my dream of being a full-time entrepreneur.

As I stated earlier it really wasn’t possible for me to start the business any earlier as I wouldn’t even be able to open a business account. I do think that starting later would have been detrimental to my business and I may have never started at all. If it wasn’t for the University of Akron, I may have never had the means to start a business. I am very grateful to them.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Of course! My name is Spence Doepel, and I am the founder of Ecoflys. Ecoflys goal is to divert as much food waste away from landfills as possible while upcycling the protein and fat from this food waste with an insect called the black soldier fly larvae. The black soldier fly larvae is a fast composter by nature and can get rid of food waste very fast.

After this process is complete we sell the black soldier fly as live black soldier fly larvae, dried black soldier fly larvae, black soldier fly larvae meal and finally, black soldier fly larvae fertilizer or frass (the leftover poop from the larvae).

The different products have different benefits for different industries.

For example, reptiles love the live black soldier fly larvae. Reptiles need an abundance of calcium which black soldier fly larvae are filled with. This makes them a perfect feeder insect for reptiles.

The dried black soldier fly larvae are great for chickens and poultry. I’ve been told that the calcium content of the BSFL helps strengthen egg shells and even leads to a tastier egg!

The black soldier fly larvae meal is an ingredient in both aquarium-size fish diets but also for large-scale fish farming.

Finally, the black soldier flies larvae frass is great for organic gardening and pest control.

Here at Ecoflys we are most proud of our mission. Our mission is to provide great products for our customers that they know are helping the earth.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients for me has been attendant reptile shows in Ohio and the surrounding states. There is no better way to get to know your target market/customer than talking to them. Getting to know their hopes and dreams and how they interact with our products has been crucial to our success. Not only have these reptile shows helped me acquire B2C customers but they have also helped me acquire wholesale customers. These wholesale customers are often reptile breeders or reptile pet stores that have many hungry reptiles to feed. I am planning on attending Bird and Poultry shows in 2024.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I have a small following on social media but have made some pretty big moves as well. My strategy has been influencer marketing driven in the early years. The more influencers you can get your product hands into the better. Most of the time they are happy to help. In my case, I sent them free black soldier fly larvae for a shout-out. It is a win-win, I get new followers and possible sales and they get to feed their beloved animals. This is a great strategy but it only works for so long. I am planning on pivoting to a more content-focused social media. Informing about my product while also highlighting people using the product. For anyone trying to start a social media presence I would strongly recommend reaching out to influencers, You never know who might respond!

Contact Info:

• Website: ecoflys.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eco_flys/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ecoflys/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/EcoFlys
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ecoflys896
• Other: https://ecoflys.business.site/ https://sites.google.com/view/ecoflys/home