Meet Shari Clark: Tech founder who’s rewriting waste management rules

Dynamic Business sat down with Shari Clark, CEO of BinManager, to learn how she’s transforming the waste management industry with innovative technology and a customer-focused approach.

It all started with a simple request between neighbours—a skip bin business owner asking his software developer neighbour to tidy up the chaos of scheduling and logistics. Fast forward to today, and that casual favour has blossomed into BinManager, a Perth-based start-up that’s shaking up the waste industry with cutting-edge tech. Led by CEO Shari Clark, BinManager has grown into a game-changing platform, helping businesses across Australia, New Zealand, and the UK track, manage, and streamline their waste operations.

After witnessing the mess of paper-based systems first-hand, Shari knew there had to be a smarter way. So, she dove into the tech world, created a solution, and made life easier for businesses everywhere. With no ads, just organic word-of-mouth, BinManager has become the trusted go-to for waste management—and the journey’s just beginning.

“Skip bins are very expensive assets to own and we had hundreds of people requesting bins, keeping them on site and calling for them to be delivered all via phone, paper or email, which was challenging. There was no clear system to track bins on location in real time, or requests, and this was for up to 300 jobs a day,” said Shari Clark, CEO, BinManager.

The beginning

Shari’s entrepreneurial journey didn’t start with tech—it began with importing body jewellery while she was at home with her first baby. Looking for a new challenge after selling her business, Shari was asked to help a skip bin company streamline their operations. “I started working there, learned the software they were using, and quickly realized there was potential for something bigger,” Shari explains.  

“After working there a few months and learning the software they were using I knew there must be more to it, so I started to talk to the developer who created it. Before long I was in a position where I wanted to offer this to other skip companies in WA. After a very short time I discovered the current owner of the software was dissolving his business partnership. I saw this opportunity to not allow it to fail and I offered to purchase it.”

From there, Shari’s journey took off. She began with just a desk, a Yellow Pages phone book, a pen, and a whole lot of determination. She spent her early days calling businesses one by one, trying to get in touch with the right people. “In the beginning it was challenging to get to the right person. What did happen as word of mouth became my lead generation and they were coming to me. It was not instant; every day was often a rejection, but I worked out it was timing.  One of her first big decisions? Switching to a monthly SaaS model. 

“Some of those clients called me 2 years later and said I am ready to start now. One of the biggest changes I made early on was to charge as a SaaS monthly, per user and per driver. Before the previous owner charged a onetime fee and I saw no growth in that strategy, and it was a charge process that people were starting to expect,” Shari recalls.

Building trust, one client at a time

From day one, Shari worked hard to build strong relationships with her clients.  She makes an effort to stay in touch whenever she can, listening closely to what’s being said – and even what’s not. “I speak to them when I get the chance. I listen to what’s not being said and ask how we can help and do better. That feedback Is crucial, it allows me to adapt and grow the areas of the software that the industry needs.

I look for the problems they are facing and how can I solve them, save time. But beyond just building relationships, Shari knows that BinManager’s software has to be rock-solid. 

“ I also know we have a robust software that is incredibly reliable. It is vitally important clients have a platform they can trust when they use it to run their business.”

Facing challenges head-on

Shari admits there were a few bumps along the way, especially when it came to communication. She admits she was overly cautious about emailing clients too much and feels she could have done a better job of keeping them informed. 

“In the early days, I was overly cautious about emailing clients too much. I probably could have communicated better,” she confesses. “But we grew without traditional marketing—just relying on referrals, word-of-mouth, and a lot of cold calling and emailing on my part. Being in this market for 10+ years (the software itself a few more years before me) we have proudly grown without marketing. 

“It is important now to implement a marketing strategy now to advise clients better about all of the existing software solutions we offer. Their business needs have grown as they have grown.

“We offer a solution called TipManager for waste transfer stations, to manage the scrap business called Scrap Manager and Commercial Waste Manager assisting clients with logistics of servicing business to business with their onsite bins.”

Lessons learned: Keep evolving

Shari’s advice for anyone growing a business? Reassess and adapt constantly.  She believes that as a business grows, it’s important to constantly reassess roles and responsibilities. “Who do you need in those roles next to help you progress. When you come across an issue and realise you could have done it better, keep moving, what you do next matters most, if you do nothing or stop so does progress.

“Know you will make mistakes but there is so much learning in that and be thankful for those experiences, they are abilities to readjust your journey. The biggest one is back yourself, learn from others, surround yourself with good people who care about you and the business outcomes. When you have a supportive team around you there is so much you can achieve together. Oh, and celebrate the wins, a little gesture even, but acknowledge them!”

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.