Just a toddler, Lilly Yinger has no idea how multi-talented her parents are. Young entrepreneurs Scott and Lindsay Yinger are growing their fledgling portable restroom business, Jet Set PTS, all while raising a family and running another unrelated business on the side.
“When asked, ‘How do you do that?,’ there’s not really a straightforward answer. I don’t really know how I do it; I just do,” says Lindsay Yinger, 27, co-owner of the Sunbury, Ohio, company with her husband, Scott, 28.
The duo, married four years, previously worked for Scott’s parents at their septic/portable restroom business, Bob’s Septic and Jet Set. While building up a portable sanitation business is challenging enough, Lindsay also runs an established equestrian training business nearby.
JUST STARTING OUT
Scott’s parents, who also run a custom home construction firm, had purchased the septic and portable restroom business in 2000. “I was just getting out of college and decided I’d like to try it,” says Yinger, who studied construction management. “They kind of came to me first to see if I was interested in managing it.”
Last year, Scott and Lindsay purchased the portable restroom portion of the business, retaining the Jet Set name and adding the PTS, short for Portable Toilet Service.
“That was kind of the plan from the beginning,” Yinger says. “I kind of wanted to be an entrepreneur of my own.”
Purchasing the restroom side of the business seemed the likely answer to provide the young couple with both financial security and business control, but it has required a lot of juggling.
“The way our lifestyle is run, we have to have flexibility and control,” says Lindsay. “It’s been a struggle figuring it out.”
The Yingers have 400 units (most from PolyJohn Enterprises, Satellite Industries and Hampel Corp.), which they use to service an eight-county region around the state capital, Columbus. They have three service trucks with Masport pumps (a 2002 Isuzu NQR has a 600-gallon waste/300-gallon freshwater steel tank from Keith Huber Inc.; a 2003 Chevy Z5500 has a 650-gallon waste/350-gallon freshwater steel tank from DynaVac, and a 2005 Ford F-550 has a 1,000-gallon waste/350-gallon freshwater aluminum tank from Progress Tank). A 2001 Ford F-450 with 16-foot stake body hauls their units. Scott does 90 percent of the maintenance on the trucks, farming out more challenging tasks.
CLEANLINESS COUNTS
Since they took over the restroom business in 2007, the Yingers worked hard to maintain their footing in a busy market with two larger competitors. They serve a slightly more rural area than some of their metropolitan competitors, but Scott notes that the city is quickly encroaching upon them.
Focusing on cleanliness and customer service has been their forte. “Mostly, we’ve prided ourselves on (keeping) our units very clean. Our service is very timely, reliable,” Lindsay says.
Jet Set also takes a definite approach to pricing — even in times of recession. They charge a flat rate for units. They don’t charge extra for delivery or pickup based on location.
“It’s easier to just flat rate everything … for bookkeeping, and it helps us be a bit more competitive,” she says.
Still, like other portable restroom businesses, Jet Set has felt the crunch of a flagging economy. “Construction is way down right now; we’re down about 25 percent,” Lindsay says. Construction makes up about 50 to 60 percent of Jet Set’s business, but in the potentially wicked Ohio winters, “It’s cut in half,” she says.
In addition, rising fuel costs have added to the burden. “The price of fuel is really killing us,” says Scott, who adds that fuel costs have almost doubled since they took over. Although it looks like fuel prices are backing off somewhat.
“We made an increase in price at the first of the year; we just added onto our regular costs. We don’t have any fuel surcharges,” Scott adds. To stay viable in a competitive market, Jet Set doesn’t plan on raising prices.
“No one can afford to lose customers,” Lindsay says.
One wrinkle Scott is investigating to quell rising fuel costs is production and use of biodiesel fuel. He plans on attending a workshop on how to turn waste vegetable oil into fuel — something he hopes might have future and long-term potential for his business.
GIDDYUP
While the Yingers have devoted much of their time to portable sanitation — he runs the routes and cleans restrooms with one other employee; she runs the administrative end — Lindsay has always had an equestrian interest.
“I’ve always done the horses … my whole life,” she says. In addition to her responsibilities at Jet Set, Lindsay trains “jumpers and hunters” in her horse barn, only a few miles from the Jet Set offices. “(The discipline) entails a very high level of precision from horse and riders. I teach the riders from basics to the precision; I also train the horses to respond to the cues,” she says.
“Besides just making up income, it is my love and passion,” she adds. “The original intention was I would do horses part-time. I did that for a while, but it doesn’t really work,” she says. “In order to keep customers happy, you can’t just do it part-time.”
Her equestrian duties also require frequent travel. “I show a lot; I’m also a judge, so I’m gone most weekends,” she says. And while Lindsay used to travel to horse shows in Florida for three months each winter, she hasn’t made the trip since Lilly was born almost two years ago. “Same thing with horses and portable restrooms — no one does anything in the winter (in Ohio),” she says.
To monitor the Jet Set business, Lindsay keeps her Apple Inc. iPhone on at all times — fielding customer calls even during lessons or training. “I’m typically at my horse business,” she says. “The Jet Set phone number is a cell phone.” Her other constant companions? Her order book and laptop computer.
Lindsay typically spends mornings with her daughter, while also doing office work. “Lilly has a keyboard, and we sit in the office together. She kind of entertains herself,” Lindsay adds, admitting to pangs of parental guilt at times.
When she leaves the office — with Lilly at a sitter — Lindsay heads to her horse barn. “I’m typically at my horse business until at least 9 p.m.” Then it’s home to play with Lilly — who dad often keeps up so they can enjoy some family time — and then more office work. “I don’t go to bed before 3 a.m. a lot,” Lindsay says.
A DESIRE TO GROW
With so many balls in the air, Lindsay is often asked why she does it all. Right now, she says, it’s a financial consideration. Jet Set can’t afford to hire another employee, although hopefully that will happen in the future, she says. But the Yingers aren’t looking too far ahead too fast.
“We’re certainly planning on growing the business, and we would definitely love to add office staff,” Lindsay says. “But we’re not even close to it; we haven’t even figured it out … probably like five years down the road.”
“We’ve been hit pretty hard by the economy,” Scott adds. “I don’t see the point in trying to expand too much right now.”
For the time being, the couple might have what Lindsay calls an “unconventional family life,” but she says that despite the hectic pace, there are few regrets. “I try to always keep a very positive outlook,” Lindsay says. “I own my own business, and I do what I love.”
And if that means “doing it all,” then she’s prepared and ready to make the appropriate sacrifices.
Scott adds that even with the long days — sometimes 10 to 12 hours — he’s in it for the long haul.
“I enjoy working for myself, and I have no one to answer to except myself,” he says. “That keeps me going to do the best job I can.”
