When Crisis Becomes Catalyst: How BIYU Transformed In-House Software Into a Circular Economy Platform

In a recent episode of HappyPorch Radio, hosts Barry O'Kane and Jo Weston sat down with Frans Biegstraaten, co-founder of BIYU, to explore a journey that many software teams will recognise: the challenging transition from building internal tools to creating commercial products. His story offers valuable lessons about embracing uncertainty, learning from users, and the surprising ways business pivots can unlock new opportunities.

From Rental Stores to SaaS Platform

Frans's story begins with BIYU as a direct-to-consumer rental business in Amsterdam, operating three physical locations and offering everything from power drills to Tesla vehicles. The vision was straightforward and ambitious: create an Amazon-like experience for renting products you only occasionally need. Same-day delivery via electric cargo bikes. Three clicks to checkout. No faxing required (yes, that was still happening in 2020).

But in early 2024, funding challenges forced a dramatic pivot. Rather than close down entirely, the team saw potential in something they'd built almost by accident: robust back-end software designed to manage the complex logistics of rental operations.

"We couldn't find anything that was fit for purpose," Frans explained during the conversation. "Everything was based on linear models, but then you had to hack around it to make it work for your circular business model."

That homegrown software, built through four years of trial, error, and what Frans candidly described as "millions of mistakes," became their new product.

Building While Selling: Embracing the Messy Middle

The transition from internal tool to commercial SaaS platform presented a challenge that resonated deeply with HappyPorch’s approach to software development. How do you transform software built for a single use case into something multiple businesses can understand and adopt?

Frans described BIYU's pragmatic approach: instead of disappearing for months to engineer an ideal solution, they chose to build alongside customers. Barry noted during the conversation that this embraces what he often calls "the messy middle": That uncomfortable but necessary space between the old system and the ideal future state.

Their initial solution involved creating separate instances for each customer. Not technically elegant, and certainly creating some technical debt, but it offered crucial advantages: speed to market, the ability to learn from real usage, and protection from one customer accidentally accessing another's data.

"We wanted to build, sell and use at the same time," Frans told the hosts. "Rather than spending tonnes of money building something and then testing it in the market, we really wanted to build with customers."

Barry emphasised that this is exactly the kind of approach HappyPorch advocates. Yes, it means living with hybrid solutions and managing technical debt. But it also means validating functionality and learning actual business needs, rather than just guessing at them on a whiteboard.

Frans acknowledged they're now migrating to true multi-tenancy, consolidating those learnings into a more sustainable architecture. It's a pattern that emerges again and again: prioritising learning and agility early on, then cleaning up the technical debt once you understand what you're actually building. The messy middle, leveraged right, can prove quite valuable to the long term success of software: Deep understanding of client’s needs, and a solid technical foundation. From this place, like a garden, it needs ongoing tending, as software and requirements shift. 

Understanding the Full Reality of Operations

What makes BIYU's software particularly noteworthy is how deeply it reflects real operational challenges. The platform includes two core modules: asset management for setting up products and inventory, and warehouse management for the entire lifecycle: from serialisation when products arrive, through picking and packing for shipment, to processing returns and refurbishment.

A smart nuance of the system is its ability to track products at both the individual instance and overall SKU level.  not just as generic SKUs. It knows which specific Maxi-Cosi car seat went to which customer, when it's due back, and what condition checks are needed on its tenth return. This granular tracking is essential for rental operations but largely irrelevant in traditional linear commerce.

Frans shared a story that perfectly illustrates why this matters. Seemingly small details can make a huge difference to a customer's experience. Frans shared an example from their early days: They shipped a pressure washer in its original cardboard packaging. It returned soaking wet, box disintegrating, because residual water always remains in the hoses. The customer had also bought a separate hose that didn't fit, unsure which adapter to use.

"Renting out or Product-as-a-Service is very different from selling products," Frans reflected. "The only commonality is that the product is the same. The rest is different."

This led to standardised plastic boxes, visual instruction guides, and including all necessary adapters and accessories. When people rent something, they expect to use it immediately, not make additional trips to the store. These are the kinds of insights you can only gain by actually running the operations, which is why BIYU's four years operating rental stores gives them such valuable perspective.

Barry picked up on this point, noting how exciting it is from a conceptual perspective that circularity aligns the incentives of product providers with user needs. When it's your problem if the product doesn't work well, you start caring deeply about the customer's experience in ways that linear models don't require. The upside? When you see a product through multiple cycles, you accrue data and insights about it that linear businesses may never know. A point echoed by guests throughout this season of HappyPorch Radio.

An Interesting Model for Linear Brands

During the conversation, Frans described what they call their "circular operating system.” A complete outsourced solution for brands wanting to test rental models without disrupting their profitable linear operations. Through partnerships with companies like Wefurbish in the Netherlands, they can offer end-to-end services: warehousing, refurbishment, cleaning, and repairs all happen externally.

HPR host Jo Weston picked up on something important here. This addresses a real market need: Many brands are curious about circular models but cautious about operational complexity and financial viability. Being able to "bolt on" a rental offering without reorganising their entire business provides a practical path forward. It's also a question of timing, she noted. Perhaps now is the right moment for more brands to test these models, with technology already in place to support them.

"I have this super profitable linear business up and running," Frans imagined a typical brand thinking. "I don't really want to interfere with it. But I do want to see what circularity can mean for my business, for my brand reputation, and for profit."

It's a pragmatic approach that recognises where many companies actually are, rather than where we might wish them to be.

Technical Realities and Integration

For those evaluating platforms in this space, Frans outlined how BIYU fits into a broader technical ecosystem that typically includes:

• A shopfront (Shopify, Shopware, WooCommerce)
• Payment processing (for subscriptions examples include: Firmhouse; for short-term rentals: Adyen, Stripe, Mollie)
• Shipping logistics (DHL and other carriers)
• Optional: outsourced warehouse and refurbishment partners

BIYU's product information management system extends beyond typical e-commerce PIMs to capture rental-specific details: whether items are new or pre-loved, condition requirements, cleaning protocols, and refurbishment schedules.

Hard-Won Lessons

The conversation revealed several hard-won lessons from Frans's journey. The original BIYU rental business tried covering eight product categories, from DIY tools to DJ equipment, assuming broad selection would keep them top of mind with customers.

That strategy fragmented their marketing budget across completely different customer archetypes. The person renting a drill isn't the same person renting party equipment. They read different publications, participate in different communities, respond to different messages.

Now focusing the SaaS platform on specific verticals where rental makes obvious sense to customers, like baby products, furniture, white goods, and medical equipment, reflects that hard-won wisdom.

Frans was also refreshingly honest about ongoing challenges. Finding truly skilled developers with architecture capabilities, not just coding skills, remains difficult. Convincing established brands to take the leap requires persistence, sometimes months or years, and depends on finding the right champions inside those organisations.

"It takes also people with guts and with a belief that something needs to change in our consumer behaviour to actually move the needle," Frans noted. "We also need to find each other. That's another problem. How can you find those people in the companies that are actually looking for this?"

Barry referenced an earlier episode conversation about warehousing, where someone described how often there's just a corner doing returns that becomes a mess, leading decision makers to conclude that circular models don't work, when really it's because they haven't had the decades of optimisation that linear warehouses enjoy.

Reflections on the Journey

What makes Frans's story particularly relevant for circular economy professionals is how it illustrates several key principles. The willingness to embrace imperfect solutions that enable learning. The recognition that real-world operations teach you things no amount of planning can anticipate. The importance of building with customers rather than for them.

The conversation revealed a different reality from the clean, planned transitions often assumed in technology pivots. One where funding crises force decisions, where hybrid technical solutions buy time for learning, and where the mess of real operations shapes better products than theoretical planning ever could.

BIYU currently serves customers across Europe, with early adoption in the UK, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Frans noted that they're seeing encouraging signs in the market: companies moving towards profitability, handling hundreds rather than tens of returns weekly, recognising they need purpose-built infrastructure.

"The volumes are increasing," Frans observed. "Companies turn to profitability and they realise, shoot, I've hacked my entire back-end around the linear thing... Now I need to organise this because otherwise it's going to end up in a huge mess in the warehouse."

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You can listen to and read the full conversation with Frans Biegstraaten here. To learn more about BIYU, visit here.