It was almost 20 years ago when — after a year of struggling to get their business off the ground — Wes and Lori Dooley were down to their last $10 with no food and no fuel.
They bought $5 worth of day-old donuts and put the other $5 in the gas tank, and off they went, knocking on doors until they landed a $100 landscaping job. From those meager beginnings, they have been able to build a nearly $1 million landscaping and excavating business, and the success of those divisions provided them the necessary seed money to invest $300,000 into septic and portable sanitation service trucks, adding another category to the company’s service menu.
BREAKING NEW GROUND
What prompts a contractor to make a substantial investment in new equipment and undertake the risk of a new venture? One reason, says Wes Dooley, owner of TLC Septic Services in Belgrade, Mont., was the decline in new-home starts, a big source of excavation and septic system installation business — and the company’s bread and butter. With less business to keep his staff of eight busy, Dooley began considering new opportunities to complement the existing services. Pumping the septic systems the company had already installed seemed like a natural fit, and Dooley began to research the prospects.
“We looked at other options, too, but this is the best fit because we’re already doing installations with our excavation business.”
After six months mulling options, Dooley headed to the Pumper & Cleaner Environ-mental Expo International in February 2009, and began asking questions of his peers and checking out equipment. He spoke extensively with other attendees about their preferences when it came to trucks and tanks.
“One thing I found out from attending the show is there are people in the same business but they’re from other towns who are using this equipment every day and are willing to give you advice,” Dooley explains. These recommendations helped steer his buying decisions.
Two days and $300,000 later, Dooley became the proud owner of a brand new 2008 Sterling Acterra septic service truck with a 3,800-gallon tank built by Imperial Industries Inc., and a 2008 Sterling Bullet portable sanitation service truck built by Satellite Industries Inc. The Dooleys also bought 97 PolyPortables Inc. restrooms to supply a steady source of pumping business.
“We wanted to hit the ground running and look super professional,” Dooley says.
The septic service division launched in March 2009, and the Dooleys are already pleased with the return on their investment.
“It works out to be a good venture,” he explains. “Our first two months, we never had a time where we’d gone backwards. I expected it to be slower than it has been. I expect to exceed our targets and grow.”
The Dooleys financed only a third of the investment, so the estimated monthly return is already in the black.
ALL OR NOTHING
Dooley is an all-or-nothing kind of guy, so when he decided to build a pumping division, he knew he’d be making a hefty commitment up front.
“The most difficult part was deciding to go in 100 percent and make the financial commitment to do it all the way,” he explains. “We just dove in.”
Along with the trucks and portable restrooms, he bought all the cleaning tools, jetters and camera systems he needed. The jetter is a MyTana M30; the camera is a MyTana with color, self-leveling and a DVD recorder.
As for his choice in service rigs, the incentives and heavy-duty specs of Sterling trucks sealed the deal. The greatest reliability also was top of mind in his decision to go with new over used.
“We don’t want any breakdowns. I’d rather spend a little more now and not worry about breakdowns later.”
Size was also a consideration. “I wanted to go as big as I could (with the tanks), because bigger is better in the pumping business. The more capacity you have, the more you can make.”
Dooley injected a shot of patriotism into his choice of graphics for the trucks. After seeing a flag motif on a Satellite model at the show, he knew it was perfect for his own trucks. He loves how the graphics look, and plans to carry over the flag theme into further TLC branding.
The end result? Truck love at first sight: “The first thing I thought — and I’ve bought a lot of equipment in my life — when I saw the big truck was like, wow, I finally got exactly what I hoped for when I ordered it.”
UNDER ONE ROOF
The trucks and equipment are the icing on the cake. Dooley says the most important thing — and a key reason for launching the division — is that TLC now has the ability to offer customers a seamless experience.
“I’m doing business because I want to keep my customers under one roof; I consider them friends and I want to expand on those relationships.
“The advantage that our customer has in hiring us is that we understand the fundamentals of the systems,” says Dooley, referring to workers’ background in onsite system installations and excavation work. “We don’t just pop the cover and act like we’re experts.”
Customers see benefits in the cost of service, as well as the efficiency of dealing with just one company for various needs. Dooley believes the company charges mid-range prices, but provides quality 24-hour service using excellent equipment.
“There are many septic pumping companies where all they do is pump. So when they refer an excavator, or an installer, they have a marked-up price. Now that we’re all under one roof we end up saving the customer a lot of money because they don’t have to go to several companies to fix one problem.”
TLC does installation, repairs and drainfield replacements. “Then with the landscaping, we can make it look like we were never there,” Dooley says.
That division, TLC Landscape & Excavation Inc., does high-end landscaping as well as subdivisions, common park areas, lakes and playgrounds. Services include hauling topsoil, rough and finish grade, sprinkler installation, landscape plants and seeding.
“We service sprinkler systems, including troubleshooting, winterization and spring startups,” he says. “One crew is currently working in the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky Montana doing Hydro seeding for an entire neighborhood consisting of 23 very high-end houses.”
With so many services under one roof, someone has to ensure that all customer calls are handled appropriately. Lori Dooley fills that role. She gets the call at the office, then decides which division should respond to diagnose the problem.
“All of our employees are cross-trained and generally they can do a proper diagnosis right away and give the customer an estimate on what it will take to fix it,” Dooley says.
TAILGATE MEETINGS
Attention to detail has been a key to TLC’s success. “We expect every job to be done right the first time. If we get called back, we do it for free. Our equipment looks perfect every day.” Employees care for and wash equipment every day. They’re required to be clean-cut and know their stuff.
All employees go through an installers’ course offered through four counties in the company’s service territory. They are tested to make sure they know the fundamentals of the systems. There’s also essential on-the-job learning. “Every day is an adventure,” says Dooley. “We have tailgate meetings where we discuss things we’ve seen and enlighten other employees.”
The tailgate meetings occur every couple weeks. Agenda items might include working with equipment, service calls or sharing ways to improve productivity.
Experience also helps. “We’ve all been working together so many years, it seems like we don’t have to wonder if person X or Y knows what they’re doing.”
Currently, Dooley is in the driver’s seat, single-handedly running the pumping division. Within a year, he hopes to establish a full-time septic-pumping route, and add another 50 portable restrooms to his inventory, at which time he says he’ll hire another full-time employee. Dooley plans to expand and promote that side of the business with current customers, and through radio, print and Yellow Pages ads.
The company’s facility has expanded to accommodate its growth. Recently, the Dooleys moved from a 3,000-square-foot shop into a newly built 6,500-square-foot shop, which sits on the family’s 9 1/2 acres, along with their house/office.
DIVERSIFICATION COMPLETE
As Dooley settles in to this new endeavor, he says he is as busy as he wants to be and has no current plans to diversify further. He’ll continue to grow the pumping division, and also continue to make time to give back via the various charities the Dooleys support.
“Everything we have we have earned all on our own together. We have been very fortunate and we know we are blessed,” Dooley says.
