Geography is one thing you can’t get around in the portable restroom business — literally. Some contractors battle icy roads, some steep mountain climbs. For Big Valley Sanitation in Redding, Calif., it’s trees. Lots of trees. Nestled deep within a patchwork of national forests, the 13-year-old business owned by Bill and Sylvia Schmitt has embraced the events, opportunities and markets created by its picturesque setting in the northernmost reaches of California.
EVENTFUL BUSINESS
The Schmitts are lifelong entrepreneurs, having dabbled in a dozen industries since they were married at 16 (they’ve been married 57 years). It was while the company was operating an RV resort that the opportunity to buy a septic service vacuum truck came along. Along with that truck came a handful of old, beat-up portable restrooms.
Word of the Schmitts’ new business venture spread quickly, and, embarrassed by the shabby restrooms they’d acquired, the couple started buying new ones. So, essentially, two branches of the business launched simultaneously.
From there, great service and creative ideas have fueled Big Valley’s growth, allowing it to add restrooms to its inventory every year since 1997. The company has 10 employees and an inventory of about 1,000 units. Approximately 40 percent of the business is pumping septic tanks and grease traps and 60 percent is portable restroom rentals. Pumping jobs are 60 percent residential, 20 percent commercial septic, and 20 percent is grease trap service.
Special events are the ticket for Big Valley, says Sylvia Schmitt. From rodeos to weddings, the company supplies portable restrooms for about 140 events a year.
“We always make sure we deliver (restrooms) ahead of time, because who wants to worry about them at the last minute?” Usually, restrooms are delivered two or three days ahead of time. “It’s out of the way then and one less thing they have to worry about,” she adds.
Big Valley has also discovered a unique way for its units to stand out from competitors, and has seen demand increase as a result. The company can provide units customized for the specific event, with a variety of photo and graphic images adhered to the doors.
DECALS TOOK OFF
Finding a decorating method that worked — the decals — was an exercise in trial and error. “Dressing up” portable restrooms this way was not Schmitt’s first idea. Having always wanted to offer a product that was decorative and inviting, she started out trying to paint the portable restroom units, which was generally unsuccessful. Next came wallpaper. Schmitt wallpapered the inside of restrooms, only to have the wallpaper shrivel up and peel, creating a time-consuming cleanup.
Then Schmitt found Wonderland Signs in Redding, which was able to use material for vehicle wraps to adhere graphics to the restroom door. Schmitt chooses the photos and Wonderland screens and installs the graphics on the doors. The customization costs about $125 for each restroom.
So far the graphics have held up. Since Big Valley has only been doing this a couple of years, they have yet to see one of these special units reach the end of its useful life. Schmitt believes the designs will fade before they peel off. But, they also handle these units with care. They keep the graphics faced inward toward each other when being stored outside. They take special care not to rub or scrape the graphics when strapping units on the trailers.
The idea was a hit. “We started out with just a few to see how it would look and make sure the decals would stay on and the drivers could take care of them,” Schmitt explains. “Now we have 80 to 100 (decaled units) after two years of doing them.”
One unique design features a pathway surrounded by a forest. “When you look at it, it looks like you can look right through to a field,” Schmitt says. There are also balloons, flowers and rodeo scenes, to name a few.
Big Valley works with customers to find out if they’re interested in a unit featuring the special decals, and what, exactly, they’d like. Then they deliver. “We’ll go overboard,” Schmitt says. “But it’s really paid off and helped our business.” Having only offered them for a few years, proof of this is more anecdotal than quantitative. Schmitt uses an example where a new event client was given the option of decorated units. “We didn’t charge them extra, but they had more comments from the public, and the public liked them. There’s a group that’s never rented from us before, and I think we’re going to get their (repeat) business now.”
CAREFUL SCHEDULING
Women, especially, are hesitant to use portable restrooms, thinking they’ll be dirty and smelly, Schmitt says. “We were trying to make something inviting, something that looks nice on the outside, and they’ll use it,” she adds. “If you had a big event and you had 20 potties there, and two had decals, they would use those and walk by the other ones. It’s crazy, but that’s the way it is,” she adds.
So far, Big Valley doesn’t charge a premium to rent the special units, but they like to think delighting customers pays off in other ways.
Having a significant stock of specifically themed restrooms hasn’t caused supply and inventory pressures for Big Valley, mostly because the company’s inventory consists of more restrooms than it generally needs. Many of the designs, adds Schmitt, are also general enough that they are easily used at various types of events.
For big events, Schmitt says it’s simple to calculate what’s needed based on projected attendance and careful notes about last year’s attendance and equipment and service order, when possible.
“We just did an air show awhile back that required 60 restrooms. We took them an extra 20 just because we wanted to make sure they had plenty. Then they’re so thankful because they use them all.”
Big Valley emphasizes responsiveness based on careful scheduling.
“We make sure to get drivers out early in the morning, before the events open,” Schmitt explains. “There’s nothing worse than pumping portable restrooms with (attendees) standing around. We finally have convinced most of our customers that we won’t service restrooms when the people are there. So you have to have enough (units) so that you don’t need a truck to come in when people are there.’’
EQUIPPED FOR SUCCESS
Big Valley’s portable restroom inventory is all from Satellite Industries; half the units are Tufways, half are Maxim 3000s. The Maxim units offer an expansive flat-front panel that well suits the company’s decal placements.
The company’s service fleet includes a 2007 Kenworth T300 with a 3,600-gallon Progress tank; a 2008 Ford F-550 with a 700-gallon waste/350-gallon freshwater unit from WorkMate (FMI Truck Sales & Service); a 2008 Ford F-550 with a 700-gallon waste/300-gallon freshwater Progress tank; a 2008 Sterling Bullet built by Satellite Industries with a 700-gallon waste/300-gallon freshwater Progress tank; a 2003 Kenworth T300 with a 1,500-gallon waste/250-gallon freshwater tank built by Satellite Industries; a 2004 Kenworth T300 with an 1,850-gallon waste/350-gallon freshwater Progress tank; a 2005 Kenworth T300 with a 2,500-gallon waste/300-gallon freshwater Progress tank. All but one truck utilize Masport pumps; that one has a Conde pump from Westmoor Ltd.
The company also has two 18-unit custom-built portable restroom carrier trailers, an eight-unit trailer, a Caterpillar 430D backhoe to move restrooms and load trailers, and a Super Mongo Mover made by Deal Associates Inc., to position units efficiently at bigger special event venues.
KNOWING THE TERRITORY
Rustling up new business is a welcome challenge for the enterprising team. And while word-of-mouth has been a boon, there are always more customers to reach and more ways to attract them.
“We’re going to a wedding show,” Schmitt explains. “We’ll take reservations then, and then we call them a couple weeks ahead of time so they don’t have to worry about a no-show, and we also work with a lot of wedding planners.”
Big Valley supplies some special event or party venues so often that a few units stay put all the time — Schmitt says there are almost 10 frequent venues where drivers simply have to swing by to set up the units prior to an event.
April to November is the busiest time for events, but when not in full swing supplying rentals, Big Valley is gearing up for the next season.
“We prepare all year long,” Schmitt says. “Every restroom in the yard is ready to go on a job or a special event or a fire, or an emergency situation. It would take an hour or less to load the trailer. We’re prepared all the time to do whatever we have to do.”
Familiarity with all the back roads and the changeable weather is key to efficient dispatching. For instance, if a driver is delivering portable restrooms to a remote location, he’ll be scheduled so that he can perform pump-outs for customers on that particular route. A driver might also get a call at any point because a customer needs service and that driver happens to be traveling nearby.
Drivers are flexible and willing to act on a moment’s notice. “That’s the way we give good service,” Schmitt explains. “We have really nice looking equipment and our drivers are happy because of this, too,” she adds.
The company’s drivers tend to remain long-term and help bring in repeat business. “They’ll go out of their way to make sure everything is clean so customers recommend us to their friends,” Schmitt adds.
GOOD HONEST SERVICE
Having lived and worked in Redding most of their lives, the Schmitts have a solid knowledge of the people, the geography and business dynamics. They’ve run a large home design store for 20 years, and a concrete plant in the area — businesses that offered cross pollination opportunities with customers building and designing homes.
Word-of-mouth helps, too — the company has never advertised beyond the Yellow Pages.
“We’ve lived here for 50 years, so there’s lots of word-of-mouth. We know the types of businesses (we service). (Customers) know they’re going to get good and honest service and we’ll take care of any problems they might have.”
