Good morning, Quality Septic, this is Angelo. How can I help you?”

That greeting, given in an always-cheerful tone, is what you hear if you dial up Quality Septic in Plant City, Florida. Owner Kevin Johnson, who started the business in 1994, rates friendliness as the first of his three pillars of success. The other two are cleanliness and professionalism. 

Johnson says the company thrives on friendliness to customers, to team members and to vendors. He developed his business philosophy largely while working for a nationwide rental company, where he ultimately was responsible for one of their 376 locations.

“There is nothing better, if you call a company to come to your house, than to have two guys show up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, with good manners, dressed well, in clean trucks, and just do a beautiful job,” Johnson says. “That’s what we strive for in everything we do. It’s hard to be that way, honestly, but it’s worth it.” 

Today, Quality Septic has 17 team members and a thriving business in septic tank pumping (16-22 tanks per weekday), system installations and replacements, inspections and maintenance. Three vacuum trucks and five service vehicles serve a three-county area in central Florida, east of Tampa-St. Petersburg.

Humble origins

Johnson was born in Florida’s Hillsborough County. At age 15, he rode away from an abusive home on a bicycle and lived for a couple of years with a friend and the friend’s aunt Nita. “She taught me a lot about work ethic. I don’t know if I would have made it without her.”

In high school, he was on the wrestling team. To earn money, he worked part-time for a homebuilder cleaning up work sites. Sometimes the wealthy owner stopped by and talked to him. “I wanted to be him one day,” Johnson recalls. “I wanted to own a business.”

After graduating from high school, Johnson married and went to work for Rental Service Corporation. He started as a small-equipment driver and worked his way up to low-boy tractor-trailer driver, outside salesperson, assistant manager of the company’s store in Tampa and ultimately general manager.

“When I was 26, I helped get a new store up and going, and we had over 30 employees,” he recalls. “I fell in love with running a business.” After a few years, he started a portable restroom business on the side, built up to an inventory of several hundred units and sold out to a nationwide company. 

Having seen septic pumper trucks while making restroom service rounds, he decided to give that a try. He built a vacuum truck with a 3,300-gallon tank and Jurop pump and went to work, still moonlighting.

He got off to a rough start. The first tank he pumped was in a wooded area. He had to cut down trees to access and dig up the tank. “I was there for four hours pumping the tank. Then I pumped another tank and my truck ran out of fuel. It was a nightmare. I wanted to quit. I had a great job at RSC. I had the big check from selling the toilet business. I said, ‘Why am I doing this?’ But for some reason, I never gave up. Now I believe we are the No. 1 septic business in Polk, Pasco and Hillsborough counties.”

At the outset, Johnson didn’t know he needed a license for septic tank pumping. For a few years, he worked under the license of a plumber his father-in-law knew, until he could sit for and pass his state licensing exam: “I have been full-bore since then.” 

Ramping up

By that point, dedicated to the business full-time, he expanded slowly but steadily, adding system installation and repair to his offerings and acquiring equipment and hiring people as demand for his services grew.

Friendliness — to customers, to team members, to suppliers — has been a key to growth. “We’re old-school friendliness,” Johnson says. “We’re ‘yes ma’am, yes sir.’ It’s about listening to customers having an open ear. I would say seven out of 10 times, that wins people over. They’re comfortable with you and they know you care about them. 

“I could have a lot bigger business if I weren’t as picky as I am with people. We’re all drug-free. We do criminal background checks. When I hire somebody, I make sure they’re going to fit into our program well and work well with our customers. I care about my people, and I care about them caring about my customers.”

Team members are treated in friendly ways. They are seldom asked to work weekends. They received highly competitive pay, health insurance, vision and dental insurance, life insurance and a 401(k) retirement program. I run this company like I ran my stores at RSC,” says Johnson. “We have the same benefits they had or better.” Johnson keeps an open-door policy: “They can come and talk to me about anything.

“All our guys are vacuum truck certified, tractor certified, CPR certified. I want our customers to have the best. If you train your people right, they’re always going to be safe and safety-conscious.”

Meanwhile, suppliers get VIP treatment: “I pay my bills every day, not every month. My suppliers love it. The guy we buy our tanks and materials from comes every week and gets paid in full. As a business owner, the first thing you need to learn is that the money is not yours. It belongs to the folks who bust their hump on your team, and to your suppliers.” 

Being clean

Cleanliness starts with immaculate uniforms in the company’s patriotic red, white and blue color scheme. It extends to the equipment and the appearance of job sites. “Our people are super clean,” says Johnson. “Our facility is spotless. Our trucks are spotless. You would never think this is a poop business. 

“We have what we call Wednesday Wash Day. Every Wednesday morning we wash everything. And on the weekends, we wash our equipment so that it’s clean on Monday.” 

Drainfield installation and replacement sites get meticulous attention. Johnson believes he was the first in his area to leave clean drainfields behind: “I level them with the tractor. I get off the tractor and rake the entire job until it’s perfectly level and beautiful and the customer is satisfied.” Customers receive referrals to contractors who can finish the site landscaping.

As for professionalism, that starts with simple respect for and gratitude toward others: “There’s no cursing. We make eye contact when we talk to people.” It extends to business cards, printed materials and the website — all professionally designed — and to dealings with the technical side of the business.

Customers calling for a septic pumping job receive an explanation of what to expect. They’re counseled to make sure their tank is pumped every three years to protect their investment in the drainfield. “We educate them that the drainfield is the motor in the system; that’s what costs so much money.”

On the site, the vacuum truck operator removes both lids from two-compartment tanks and pump out both sides. Customers are encouraged to look inside the tank and see how clean it is. They receive pictures and are informed of any issues that need attention. “We keep it real simple,” says Johnson. “We’re laid back. We’re gentle with our customers. We explain the process to them in detail.” 

On installation jobs, field team members take account of all site features: driveways, walkways, trees and shrubs, retaining walls, underground and overhead power lines, waterlines, the wells on the site and on the neighbors properties. “If they want a written estimate, I have to go out and meet them,” Johnson says. “If they meet me, they’ll hire me. I pull up, I’m clean, I’m friendly and I’m professional. That’s why people hire Quality Septic.”

Simple to complex

The company’s onsite system installations and replacements range from conventional systems, to aerobic treatment units with or without nitrogen reduction, to small and large commercial systems. “We might do a job for $500 or $500,000,” says Johnson. “We recently worked for a fiberglass company that has three large metal buildings and multiple employees. They needed a large septic system. We did an engineered commercial repair. We replaced all the tanks and brought everything up into service.” 

The company does numerous pump, riser and alarm installations. For ATUs, Johnson prefers FujiClean units. “They’re super simple with just one tank and an aeration pump that sits on top and blows air into the water. They have only a few mechanical parts. They’re super easy to service and maintain. And their people are super professional. They are one call away if we have a problem. I call and they walk me right through it.” 

For drainfield media, Quality Septic uses basic crushed stone as well as bundled multipipe rockless systems (Plastic Tubing Industries, or PTI). Precast concrete tanks from Florida Septic go into most jobs. Plastic tanks (Infiltrator Water Technologies) are used on sites where access for the crane truck used for setting tanks is difficult. 

At home base

Around the office, Johnson likes to keep things simple; he has not adopted advanced routing or accounting software. “I don’t have a lot of bells and whistles,” he says. “We keep everything simple, and that’s a big part of our success. 

In keeping with the company’s patriotic theme, a large U.S. flag flies in front of the office, amd beneath it a flag supporting the local police. To give back, Quality Septic donates to organizations such as the Wounded Warriors Project and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  

Reflecting on decades in business, Johnson cites his Christian faith and a simple life philosophy: “I don’t think wealth is in material things. Wealth is in your mind, your heart and your soul.”