When Sheila and Denny Nessler bought Columbia Sanitation — a septic pumping operation — 12 years ago, they knew proactive planning was what would pave their road to success. This thorough business planning, along with tight cost control and focused diversification, has set the company on a profitable path.
As they celebrated the firm’s 50th anniversary last year, the Nesslers nurtured an operation that has branched out into two other related services — portable restrooms and land application of treated waste — and nearly tripled its revenues since their acquisition. All diversification has been deliberately considered and executed in response to perceived market needs.
Harvey Seipp started the business in 1959. Around 1985, he sold the firm to his son, Jeff Seipp. Denny Nessler was a diesel truck mechanic who worked on Jeff’s trucks. In early 1998, he sensed the founder’s son was ready to get out of the business and inquired about the possibility of buying it.
Sheila Nessler had been an aviation mechanic and, during five layoffs, had taken entrepreneurial courses and gotten a background in accounting. She arranged a collection of funds to make the purchase. The couple bought the business in August that year.
GROWTH SPURT
By then, Columbia was an established company, with one truck and 3,000 accounts. Through a strong marketing campaign of phone book ads, postcard mailings and referrals, the Nesslers managed to more than double the business’ size in their first five years. With 7,000 accounts for septic pumping, inspection and repair, they were now confident in their management abilities. It was time to expand in 2003, so they added portable restrooms under the Columbia Potties name.
They became certified as a minority/woman-owned business, a designation they knew would give them an edge in winning government and public contracts. And it has: They’ve been awarded contracts to provide restrooms for huge construction projects such as the Justice Center in downtown Denver. Some of the special events Columbia handles each year include the Slacker Half Marathon in Georgetown, Boulder Creek Festival, a music celebration with vendors and a carnival midway; and the Irish Festival in Littleton’s Clement Park.
In 2006, they added a third business division, bringing land application in-house under the Gator Gro brand. It was the next logical channel in their vertical expansion. “We are diversified, but in a focused industry,” Sheila Nessler explains of the decision. “You have to think separately about each business segment, unless you plan on just doing it as a sideline.
“The recession really brought home that no expense can go unscrutinized. We realized land application was our second largest expense, so we knew if we could turn it into a revenue stream, that would be huge,’’ she continues. “We haul 2-3 million gallons of septage per year, so it makes sense. We’re doing a business plan right now to figure out what percentage of growth this would represent.”
Making the commitment to develop a full third business segment around land application wasn’t a big leap, since the company already does what it needs to do to qualify for state and EPA field permitting, such as soil testing and lab samples. Denny Nessler believes Columbia is one of a few companies in the state providing land application services, making it a wide-open growth market. So the company will soon start hauling for other pumpers for a fee, and the farms where they apply pay for the service as fertilizer.
All three segments together now comprise 11,000 accounts. Annual billings have tripled from the original $250,000 to $750,000. Sheila Nessler’s summation of the experience is short and sweet: “It has been challenging and rewarding.”
SERVICE CHALLENGES
Columbia’s service area covers about 200 square miles of the greater Denver area. Their highest restroom placement is at 14,000 feet elevation. Weather can be strange and very changeable in the Rocky Mountains, Denny Nessler says.
“You never know what’s going to come next. I have been through all four seasons in one day, going from Golden to the mountains and back. Leave in the morning, it’s sunny. Run into rain and snow in the mountains. Then go through spring on the way back down.”
The nature of their territory makes scheduling and dispatching something of an art. For septic pumping, they try to book at least three visits per route. Portable routes in the flatlands can be as long as 160 miles with about 22 units per run. Mountain passes in the Denver-Golden area are physically challenging, with only one trip up and down the steep roads per route, to service 35-40 units. Weekly city routes are more concentrated, covering about 150 construction units.
Columbia’s office administrator has been with the firm long enough to be familiar with local addresses, so dispatching is still done manually on the septic-pumping side. “We’re also running a manual route sheet for portables,” Sheila Nessler says, “but we can’t do that much longer. We’ll be looking at software soon,” She already uses QuickBooks software to manage finances.
EQUIPMENT ROSTER
The Columbia fleet is as diverse as the local terrain. The newest truck is a 2006 Peterbilt 385 vacuum truck with a 3,200-gallon steel Imperial Industries tank hooked to a Challenger NVE water-cooled pump. A 2004 Ford F-550 service truck sports a 500-gallon waste/300-gallon freshwater Specialty B Sales steel tank, with a Jurop PN23 pump from Chandler Equipment Inc. A 2001 Sterling 9500 hauls a 3,200-gallon Imperial Industries steel tank with a NVE Challenger pump. Their 2001 Ford F-550 was built by Satellite Industries with a 550-gallon waste/300-gallon freshwater steel tank and a Conde pump from Westmoor Ltd.
Portables are hauled with six McKee Farm Technologies Inc. trailers. There are also two semi trucks and three tractor-trailers for land application.
Columbia’s standard restroom inventory consists of 200-300 Satellite Industries Tufway units and 12 red, white and blue PolyPortables Integra women’s restrooms with no urinals. ADA units include 30 Freedom 2 and six Liberty restrooms from Satellite Industries and four PolyPortables Enhanced Access Units, upgraded to family units with baby-changing stations. Other restrooms include three Satellite Industries Maxim 3000 flushables; two Global 4x4 units; two Global 1.5 units in mauve, which are paired with small sinks for wedding use; and 10 Hampel Corp. (Satellite Industries) Country Classics. These are joined by 17 T.S.F. Co. Inc. sinks, a 300-gallon freshwater tank and five 300-gallon blackwater holding tanks from Satellite.
AGGRESSIVE MARKETING
Sheila Nessler attributes growth to aggressive marketing and mining the existing customer list for referrals.
“Last year, 90 percent of our business was repeat from existing customers,” she says. “A lot of the new business was from referrals, not the advertising.” Customers who make referrals receive a thank-you card carrying a $10 Walmart gift certificate.
“Sometimes I’ll send those to people who haven’t actually referred us, encouraging them to do so. We also send out postcards,” she explains. In 2009 she’s sent out double the usual amount, with a 5 percent discount for early appointments.
Perhaps the most significant promotional effort now, though, is the recent launch of the company’s Web site. “A few years ago, I went to a (Pumper & Cleaner Expo) seminar about Web sites and stored that information away. I wasn’t ready yet.”
The site, which contains separate areas for each business segment, was developed and went live in 2009.
“We expect that to get huge,” she says. “I’ve asked and a lot of people already say they found us on the Web. It’s really changing how we’re allocating our ad dollars. Our ad budget is about 5 percent of total revenue.”
Overall, the Nesslers are clear about what makes a pumping company successful in their market. It’s about doing your homework, Denny Nessler says. Sheila Nessler agrees:
“Know how much competition you have, and what you do better. Try to sell your company on its positive and unique aspects, not how you can cut prices under everybody.” And most of all, it’s about planning and discipline. “We are constantly looking at proactively managing the business and not letting it control us. We have a business plan, we update it as needed, and we follow it.”
Sounds like the perfect platform for a successful launch into the next half-century.
