Small But Mighty

Nature’s Call restroom service prospers against larger companies by providing excellent services and doing things the competitors won’t
Small But Mighty
Darrin Coats, co-owner of Nature’s Call, secures a load of restrooms for shipment.

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Take a look at this Nature’s Call/Coats & Coatscompany article featured 10 years ago in the March 2004 issue of Pumper magazine. We spotlight the company again in a follow-up story to see how the business has evolved over the last decade: “Pumper Rewind: Coats & Coats Business Expansion Pays Off.”'


It seemed the natural thing to do. Darin and Sheryl Coats added portable restrooms to go with the sewer and drain cleaning business they started in March 1990 in a rural area of Idaho, just 12 miles north of the Utah border. 

Coats Rooter Service, in Preston, was keeping pretty busy, and Sheryl instigated the new line of business by purchasing 12 new portable restrooms. Things took off from there. Her husband Darin watched with eagerness as Sheryl carefully grew the restroom business by adding a few units each year. 

Then, in 1996 a company named Nature’s Call, based in Logan, Utah, came on the market. This company, with 47 toilets, had been operated by college students. The couple made the purchase and transferred the equipment to the Coats operation in Preston. Now, Sheryl was in the portable restroom business big-time, and she and Darin created a separate division, using the name Nature’s Call. 

In 2003, with 130 toilets in inventory, Nature’s Call grossed $101,000, while Coats Rooter Service topped out at $379,000. Four people operate Coats Rooter Service and Nature’s Call: Darin and Sheryl, Arial Nash, and part-time dispatcher Andrea Anderson. Arial splits his time between the two companies. 

Beating the competition

As the business grew, reality set in. “We didn’t really know what the competition was going to be until about 1996 with our new acquisition,” says Sheryl. “Our goal had been to take care of the little things in our area. We saw that with all the fishing and water skiing in the area we could provide a service. 

“But there was even more opportunity with special events – drag races, snowmobile hill climbs, Utah State football games, and the Festival of the American West in the summertime. Related events go on through July and even to Halloween. We’ll have from two to eight toilets on various sites. So there was lots of opportunity, but lots of competition as well.” 

The competition included some big companies. “We had to sit down and say, What do we need to do to stay in this business, when there are these bigger guys out there?” says Sheryl. “We decided to be extra efficient, to offer same-day service. We said we’d go to places those other companies would not. 

“For example, we are willing to take care of the outfitters who provide hunting guides. We take toilets up into the mountains for two weeks, for a month. And we service them. Sometimes we get snowed in and have other difficult conditions, such as access.” 

Sheryl says that while she is conservative, Darin is more of a thinker. “Bottom line, this was scary,” she says. “But Darin would like to have 500 toilets. That may happen, but not right away.” What really opened their eyes was when the 2002 Winter Olympics came to Salt Lake City and they saw how big a company had to be to take care of such an event. 

Aiming for excellence

“We decided that we could be smaller, but offer more excellence,” says Sheryl. “Whatever we do, it’s going to be done well.” She promoted the company with a lot of direct mail and letters to contractors and to existing businesses to let them know about Nature’s Call. When the company had to raise prices because of high fuel prices, a letter went out to explain, and not a single customer complained. 

“We have established very personable relationships with all of the contractors,” says Sheryl. “We know people by their first names. Arial will leave a magnet, or I’ll sometimes take a cooler full of water or pop when we service a toilet on a construction site. Little personable touches. Smaller, but excellent.” 

During the summer months, local nurseries contract to have portable toilets on site. When winter rolls around, Nature’s Call units are on sites for snowmobile events. For special events, it works best if there is a need for 20 or fewer toilets. 

“Then we can do a good job,” Sheryl says. “We’ll have toilets in the Boy Scout camps and other camps for girls and boys, especially those in the mountains. Other companies would not want to bother. We like to say that we are more than just a toilet rental company.” 

Sales and service

Over the years, Darin and Sheryl have had a goal to turn over older units. The perfect solution presented itself when a contact in the business suggested they sell units to people who have campsites or cabins in the mountains. So now, while adding up to 22 new toilets every year, Nature’s Calls sells older units to locals, then services them on a regular basis. This line of business has been active for about five years.              

“Those canyon people with those toilets up there need the toilets pumped, and for us it’s great. It’s extra cash flow,” Sheryl says. Nature’s Call sticks with Synergy World and Satellite toilets. The company has two flushing toilets, two units with sinks included, and five ADA units. “We don’t need more of that type at this time,” Sheryl says. 

In picking a manufacturer, Sheryl has specific needs. “I want a sturdy toilet that my employee can handle and not get hurt,” she says. “We like to buy toilets that are put together and ready to go.”           

Any damaged units are picked up and repaired. “Arial’s responsibility is to see that units are not damaged,” she says. “If something needs to be attended to, we make sure it is done promptly.” 

Special care

While she expects a toilet to last for ten years, her goal is to get more mileage than that. To that end, the toilets receive special care. Nature’s Call enjoys the major advantage of having plenty of storage area so that all units can be kept inside when not on a job site. There are two large sheds on the property, and everything goes inside – toilets, and the service truck as well. 

The truck used to service the toilets is a 1999 Dodge with a 70 cfm Conde pump and Best Enterprises stainless steel tank with a 300-gallon waste tank and 150-gallon water tank. 

Nature’s Calls has weathered the competitive storm and has seen substantial growth in six years. “We’ve grown because of the special attention – personal attention,” says Sheryl. “I answer the phone. I can have a toilet delivered that day if need be. We work on a quick time frame because we are smaller. 

“With the larger company, it might be harder to fit in a fast delivery, and the charge might be higher. We can be more competitive. While we don’t want to be seen as a mom-and-pop shop, we still want to be able to take care of our customers personally. And we’re going to grow. We expect to grow about 10 percent every year.” 

Nature’s Call operates with two trailers – one hauls six units and the other 12. Darin has added an extension to the drain cleaning truck that allows him to carry and deliver two toilets while he is on a sewer and drain cleaning route. 

It’s just one more small example of the efficiencies that help Nature’s Call stay ahead of the “big boys” and build a profitable enterprise.

SIDEBAR: IDEAL LOCATION

Darin and Sheryl Coats are based in Franklin County, Utah, within the Cash Valley and near the town of Preston (12,000 population). On their 235-acre ranch they are in an ideal spot for handling the waste from their portable restroom business. 

“We have a holding tank of 10,000 gallons, and we’re able to apply that material to the ground and improve the soil in 135 of those acres,” says Sheryl. “We farm 100 acres of irrigated ground.” The company is permitted by the state Department of Environmental Quality and follows all procedures carefully.           

As 2004 got underway, Sheryl and Darin were considering whether the time had come to add an employee and more equipment and grow the Nature’s Call division of the company. They were looking forward to the 2004 Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo and being able to check out new equipment there. 

“Our son, Dirk Coats, who is 16, will be an excellent tech, and we hope to keep the business in the family,” says Sheryl. As for the sewer and drain cleaning division, a major change is in the process with the creation of a Rooter-Man franchise.



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