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.”
