Great Expectations

Emerging from a tough economic period, new pumpers offer the optimism to inspire all of us to loftier goals in 2010

January is a time of renewal, as we make plans and set goals for the New Year. Running a small business, your resolutions might turn toward recovering from the economic recession that hampered service and contracting companies throughout 2009. Your hopes for 2010 might include adding a new employee, a service, or a piece of equipment in an effort to strengthen your balance sheet.

With the liquid waste industry facing tough challenges — the economy, disposal issues and runaway insurance costs, to name a few — it can be easy to lose sight of the optimism that drove you to start your own business in the first place. If you look back to when you bought your first vacuum rig, you might be amazed at the can-do attitude that served as the foundation for your business.

Both of this month’s contractor profiles — where we meet companies new to septic pumping — will help you recapture the excitement and feeling of unlimited potential you had for your business when you started. And provide food for thought as you ponder goal setting for the coming year.

On occasion in recent years, we’ve interviewed a brand new business for our profile stories, sprinkled in among many features about successful pumping operations. The contrast between how young and well-established companies run their operations has been interesting, and I hope it sparks water cooler discussions about new ways to build profits and increase efficiency.

And I think it works both ways. From the experienced company owners, the new entrepreneur learns how to avoid the pitfalls faced by every pumping contractor. At the same time, an enthusiastic upstart owner might approach an age-old challenge in a new solution to help the seasoned pumper.

WELCOME ABOARD

With this spirit of renewal and expectation in mind, we decided to focus on two companies that put their first vacuum trucks on the road in

2009, a serious show of optimism given the economic conditions at the time.

Ronnie Daniels, of Ronnie’s Septic Tank Service Inc., Brewster, N.Y., laid it all on the line when he and wife Iris started their own company. As he tells writer Paul Holley (“Living the Dream”), he went from financially secure as a pumper employee to leveraging everything he had to start the business … and he’s never been happier. “It was easy to shut off the truck every night and just go home,” he says of working for another contractor. “But I wanted to do more.”

Wes and Lori Dooley, of TLC Septic Services, Belgrade, Mont., come at their new business specialty from a different perspective. After living through the ups and downs of running an excavation and septic system installing company, the couple saw pumping as a natural diversification. They spent $300,000 on trucks and equipment after attending the 2009 Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International, then never looked back. As Wes told writer Seiche Sanders (“Hit the Ground Running”) during the height of the recession, “I expected it to be slower than it has been. I expect to exceed our targets and grow.”

I enjoyed meeting these upbeat new operators and I hope you do, too.



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