The success of Price’s Septic Tank Service in Danielsville, Ga., belies its humble beginnings in 1955. Grandfather-in-law Alfrod “Fats” Gary cleaned septic tanks using a shovel and 5-gallon bucket. His “pumper” was a dump truck with sealed sides and open top.
When son-in-law Harold Price purchased the business in 1975, he built a pump truck by mounting a large propane tank on the vehicle’s bed. He tapped into the intake manifold for suction, but without moisture traps, sewage in an overfull tank flowed into the engine. The pull-start trash pump required cleaning after every job. Price used a length of rebar and a hammer to locate septic tanks.
Price installed septic systems and pumped tanks until the construction business dried up in 1977. To feed his wife and son, Shane, he took a full-time job, working four 12-hour days and pumping on his days off. The youngster often accompanied him on his routes and became a pumper, too. Shane Price’s wife, Misty, helped her husband pump when Harold Price was at work.
In 1992, the younger Price bought a 1984 GMC truck with 2,000-gallon steel tank and a pump that worked off a PTO. “Man, we thought we were uptown,” says Misty Price. “Harold said, ‘We’ll never find a truck that pumps any better than this.’”
Shane and Misty Price were about to show him a thing or two.
What have we done?
The couple purchased Price’s Septic Tank Service in July 2002 when they were both 29. A 1995 International 4900 with 2,000-gallon steel tank and 190-cfm Bationi pump built by Indiana Vacuum Tank Trucks Inc. in Indianapolis came with it. Realizing that developing a full-time business would take all their effort, they quit their jobs.
They continued the ad the company had always run in the Yellow Pages. Misty Price visited contractors, plumbers, and real estate companies asking for their business. The first month was stressful; the phone was silent for days.
When a call came, they used outdated equipment, including an old metal snake to clean laterals or a small, pressurized blower that screwed onto the end of the hose pipe. Many tanks had three-piece concrete slab lids that had to stand vertical before the sewage could be pumped. To save wear and tear on his body, Shane Price bought a log roller and used it to help stand up the lids.
“We didn’t know we were making do, and that jetters, probers, or other bells and whistles existed,” says Misty Price. “Today, we have so many tools on our trucks that make life a little easier.”
Their goal was to pump three or four tanks a week. Three or four turned into five or six, then eight or nine a week. One year later, they were filling the 5,000-gallon and 10,000-gallon septic storage tanks and 8,000-gallon grease storage tank faster than Misty Price could haul the waste to the Athens-Clarke County Wastewater Treatment Plant, a two-hour round-trip.
Utterly amazed at their success, the couple ordered a 1999 International with 2,000-gallon steel tank and 190-cfm Bationi pump from Indiana Vacuum Tank. They also bought a 2,500-psi O’Brien Manufacturing jetter.
Price’s Septic has pumped tanks longer than its four competitors have, but everyone is far enough apart that there is plenty of work and territory to go around. New companies that pop up because pumping tanks looks like an easy way to make a living don’t last long. “They don’t realize how demanding — physically and time-wise — this job is,” says Misty Price.
Keeping customers satisfied made their business grow to where they hired their first employee in 2004. “We never turn down a job because it may not be there tomorrow,” she says. “We don’t go on vacation. We are married to the business because we want it to prosper. However, we don’t work Sundays unless it’s an emergency.”
Steady, scheduled work
The memory of the company’s tough times and the slowing of residential work in winter convinced the couple to branch into commercial accounts. “Get enough accounts requesting pumping every three months and you’ll always have something to do next week,” she says. However, not many companies in the area require pumping, making commercial clients hard to get.
Word-of-mouth customer recommendations or referrals from plumbers or installers account for 95 percent of their commercial customer base. Once in the door, Shane Price recommends customers try routine maintenance pumping. Clients often find something else that should be cleaned, but aren’t positive how to do it. Misty Price tells them, “If it will pump up into a truck and you have a checkbook, we’ll be there.”
Quality work, dependability, being knowledgeable, and responding immediately when summoned are reasons why Price’s Septic continues to expand its customer base. “Commercial companies like service people who jump when they are called and do whatever it takes to accomplish the task,” she says. The company’s 75-mile service radius includes poultry plants, restaurants, and dog kennels.
“Another way to keep commercial clients is to be relaxed and have fun with them,” she says. “You can be good-natured and maintain your professionalism.”
At first, Price encountered male chauvinism on the job. Customers wanted to talk to her husband, but gradually learned that she operates a vacuum truck, too, knows the business, and is intelligent. Now, when plumbers hear that she is arriving to pump a tank, they dig it up for her, and no one hesitates to talk to “the wife” when she answers the phone.
Initially, most homeowners were uncomfortable when a woman arrived to pump their tanks, but Price’s attitude and personality changed their minds. By the time she left, they’d say, “I can’t believe what I’ve just seen. I’m so glad you came.”
After winning a bid to pump 20,000 gallons of sewage in January 2006, the Prices faced the challenge of where to go with it. Working day and night, they achieved their objective and gained another commercial client that appreciated their can-do attitudes. Their customer base is 60 percent residential and 40 percent commercial.
Over the top
The company’s milestone came on Memorial Day 2006. The Prices had holiday plans until a manufacturer of food products called with an overfull sludge tank. “The manager had called his pumper, then the others in the phonebook until he reached us. We were the only ones who jumped in our trucks and raced over,” she says. “This got our foot in the door, and our commercial accounts picked up from there.”
Beginning in August 2006, Shane Price and his full-time employee did something for the new client every week, sometimes twice a week. Often, even Misty Price and her truck were required. The company added so much income and work that a month later the Prices considered buying a third service truck.
In Georgia, some Fanny Mae or FHA loans require everything on the home to be inspected before approving the loan. Price’s Septic does the onsite inspections for real estate agents. The state’s mandatory five-year effluent filter inspection rule created even more work, as 2006 marked the end of one cycle for many systems. “We’re pumping those tanks and replacing their filters now,” she says.
Many area subdivisions were built at the same time. If Price’s Septic pumps the tank at one house, neighbors realize that their tanks probably need pumping, too. “It’s like an epidemic,” she says. “We wind up pumping most of the tanks in a subdivision.”
Last October, the couple purchased a 2007 International 4400 with 2,500-gallon steel dump tank, 300-gallon freshwater, and a built-in 3,000-psi jetter from Abernethy Welding. “We were jetting a lot of corroded lines for restaurants, which often led to pumping their grease traps,” Price says. “Using the customer’s water to run the O’Brien jetter worked OK on residential laterals, but not for restaurants. This new truck enhances our professional appearance and does the job more efficiently.”
Price’s Septic has never lost money. “We average about the same income every month,” Price says. “We don’t have a slow time or a busy time; we have a steady time due to the commercial accounts.”
Breaking point
The biggest challenge facing the Prices is whether to hire additional employees and buy more trucks. Every time they pick up a commercial account, they wonder how much thinner they can spread themselves. Their fear, however, is that too much growth will remove the personal touch. “We like knowing that when customers call, they talk to the owners, not an answering service,” Price says.
Shane Price, a high school dropout, believes his late grandfather would be proud of his accomplishments. His father, upon seeing the new International, was amazed by the size and equipment found on the rig. Hard work and sacrifice have enabled the Prices to achieve more than they ever dreamed possible.
