Sustainable success: zero-waste manufacturer grows business with Windows 10

When Megan and Marshall Dostal started making glycerin-based soap from recycled cooking oil, they thought they might have a niche business. By believing in their product and playing to each other’s strengths, they built a successful and sustainable company called Further Products. Now, Further Products uses Windows 10 and Surface Pro 4 devices to help it stay connected, impress customers, grow the business—and make the world a little healthier.

Megan and Marshall Dostal want to live their lives more or less like everybody else. They just want to use fewer natural resources and generate less waste. An earnest and dynamic couple from South Pasadena, California, the Dostals have turned that perfectly healthy impulse into a successful, innovative business they call Further Products. The company recycles used cooking oil to make sustainable glycerin-based personal care and cleaning products.

In 2008, to run their used Mercedes-Benz, Marshall Dostal started making biofuel in the couple’s garage from waste cooking oil. The process produces glycerin as a byproduct, so Marshall learned how to make it into soap. When they sold some at a trade show, the Dostals thought they might have a promising niche product. “Like something you might sell in the parking lot at a Grateful Dead show,” Marshall jokes.

But the Dostals believed in their idea and worked hard to create a great product that’s time may have come. Today, Further Products recycles waste oil from restaurants all over southern California to make biodiesel and glycerin. It uses the fuel in the company vehicles and purifies the glycerin to manufacture a full line of hand soap, lotion, fragrance oil, candles, and cleaning products that it sells to some of the best retailers, top restaurants, nicest hotels, and biggest property management firms in the country.

The Dostals use Windows 10 and Microsoft Surface Pro 4 devices to stay connected, impress customers, and grow their business. “When I show up for a sales call at a new restaurant, I’m that woman who makes soap from grease,” says Megan Dostal. “Then I bring out my Surface Pro to show them how Further Products will work for them, answer their questions on the spot, and prove to them that we are for real.”

Two people and a lot of moving parts

The Dostals did not know much about starting a business, so they just split the work according to each other’s strengths. Marshall manages production, supply chain, vendors, inventory, distribution, and billing. Megan works on product development, marketing, social media, and communication with customers.

“I'm either working at home or on the go, and Marshall is at the warehouse,” says Megan. “We need high-level technology that is simple to use and helps us stay connected with each other all day.”

In 2015, the Dostals began working with two Surface Pro 4 devices running Windows 10 and two subscriptions for Microsoft Office 365. They both use the tools in Windows 10 and Office 365 to schedule meetings and tasks, create presentations, keep notes, manage business processes, and touch base with each other from anywhere on almost any device. They both like the versatility of the Surface Pro device with detachable keyboard, touchscreen, and Surface Pen.

The best world

Marshall had always used Macs, but he made a seamless transition to Surface Pro 4 and Windows 10. “In laptop mode, Surface Pro has the power and the programs I need, and in tablet mode, I can take it into the warehouse and start counting inventory,” says Marshall. “It’s the best of both worlds, and I’m not tied to my desk.”

If Megan is giving a presentation and doesn’t have a ready answer, she will often send Marshall a quick email or instant message. “He usually responds with a PowerPoint slide or an Excel spreadsheet that I can add quickly to the presentation,” she says. “I love it.”

Megan and Marshall use the Microsoft Edge web browser to research online, download information, or access social media. With just a touch, Megan sets Sticky Note reminders to stay on top of calls and meetings, and the Cortana digital assistant talks her through her busy day. She can use the Surface Pen to write on the tablet screen or actually mark webpages with the inking feature. She also likes Windows Hello facial recognition because it makes signing in to her device fast and easy, and it impresses customers.

“Windows 10 saves me time all day,” she says. “I can toggle between the four different things that I'm constantly doing at the same time, and I like to know that only I can open it.”

How to fuel success and support growth

When Megan and Marshall chose Windows 10 and Surface devices, they introduced portability, mobility, and easy remote collaboration to their already effective working relationship,

“Windows 10 helps us combine our different skill sets and streamline everything we do,” says Marshall.

With the mobility and versatility of their Surface devices, Megan and Marshall can work with and build relationships with a network of vendors, restaurants, and other local businesses. That helps Further Products maintain quality and consistency and helps the Dostals keep up with their growing business.

“I just grab my Surface and I’m on my way with everything I need for that next meeting,” says Megan.

The Dostals like to say that biodiesel fuels their vehicles, glycerin fuels their product line, and Windows 10 fuels their business. “Further Products offers a beautiful personal care experience that people can feel good about,” says Megan. “With Windows 10, we can be authentic, and still responsive enough that our customers know we don’t cut corners to run our business.”

As Further Products has grown from small eco stores to fashionable boutiques, famous restaurants, hotels, and major office buildings, the Dostals have noticed that sustainability is no longer on the fringe. “People almost expect sustainability now, and the more awareness grows, the bigger Further Products gets,” says Megan. “And when a restaurant, hotel, or other business puts a Further Products sign in its bathrooms, our zero-waste story becomes their story.”

“We are proof that you can turn any idea into a big idea,” adds Marshall, “if you don’t compromise on your product—or your technology. As Further Products continues to grow, Windows 10 will be with us every step of the way.”

Read the full case study here.