Royal Restrooms of California is not a traditional portable restroom business. In fact, its owners, Rich and Kristin Reynolds, don’t even own what you might consider your stock-in-trade portable restroom. Rather than carry individual restroom units, they have only rolling stock.
The couple has filled a business niche providing luxury shower and restroom trailers for special events and weddings throughout California. And they’ve been able to do it, in part, by establishing mutually beneficial relationships with other portable restroom operators and pumpers throughout their expansive service area.
The couple got into the portable sanitation industry three years ago, licensing a territory and marketing expertise from Savannah, Ga.-based Royal Restrooms, a national company that has 50 franchise offices in 13 states. Founded in 2003, the Royal Restrooms business model focuses strictly on providing restroom and specialty trailers for special events and other customers.
The Reynolds’ territory covers the entire state, except for Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The national company hosts the Reynolds’ Web site and provides information on customer leads, and also oversees Internet marketing.
Kristin Reynolds says the arrangement shortened the couple’s learning curve in a business in which they had no prior experience — they had the ability to get questions answered and conveniently learn best business practices. She said another advantage to this type of startup was that the corporation already had established relationships with suppliers.
WORKING WITH PUMPERS
Royal Restrooms of California sets up, but doesn’t service the trailers. Instead, it relies on partnerships with liquid waste haulers and more traditional portable sanitation providers throughout the state.
“We’re not a waste handler, and we’re not a sanitation company,” Reynolds explains. “Currently, we subcontract with other sanitation companies, some large and some small mom-and-pops. We bring in their (portable restrooms) when we need them for special events.”
Since many events require a mix of luxury trailers and individual portable restrooms, the partnerships have proven fruitful for all.
“We bring in and collaborate with other (pumping) companies to provide what they don’t,” she adds. “We don’t compete with one another. The relationships have been really beneficial in seeing us as a complementary item.”
Could they branch out to offer these other services? Sure. But the couple prefers to stick to what they do best and rely on other service providers to fill in the gaps.
“We’re a rental company, like a tent, linen or other rental company, Reynolds explains. “In the beginning we did the research and heard about the pros and cons of owning your own vacuum trucks and having sanitation workers. We decided at the time we wanted to stay strictly in the rental business.”
It makes sense for them, she continues, because of the company’s far-ranging service area. Covering most of the state would require a big fleet of service vehicles and staff to run them.
Reynolds says their business strategy — sticking to trailer rentals in lieu of full-service pumping — has nothing to do with wanting to leave the dirty work to someone else. In fact, initially, before they established relationships with pumpers, they did their own pumping.
“I’m not afraid, and neither is Rich,” Reynolds says. “We serviced such a large area, we’d rather purchase more trailers than invest the money into pumping and equipment and people and trucks. If we serviced only one county, that wouldn’t be a problem.”
DROP OFF AND PICK UP
Having backgrounds in real estate contributed to their view of the trailers as “mobile real estate.” “They’re our 37 properties that we rent out.
“Our primary focus is the backyard wedding or the vineyard or corporate event where they need restroom trailers; we provide the upscale and that’s what we want to be known for,” Reynolds says.
For a typical event, Royal Restrooms’ drivers will drop a trailer off, clean and ready to go, then conduct a walk-through with the customer. After the event is over, Royal picks up the trailer and has it serviced at one of its lots — Royal has three locations: San Diego, Los Angeles and the East Bay/San Francisco area.
For long-term rentals, Royal Restrooms works with a septic pumping company to service trailers on location. The pumpers then send an e-mail or text alerting Reynolds that the trailers have been serviced.
For the technicians (who are spread among the three locations), there is a lot of driving involved. Vicinity and traffic are factored in to who delivers what, when and where.
Royal Restrooms currently works with about 10 pumping or portable sanitation contractors, sending them referrals and leaning on them to help out with events, occasionally at odd hours. The process of developing these relationships was painstaking. It began with Rich Reynolds making cold calls, trying to explain the restroom service procedures to septic pumping outfits unaccustomed to the work.
There are still challenges, in that each company Royal Restrooms works with operates differently. Some liquid waste haulers offer 24/7 availability — great when service is needed in the middle of the night and on weekends — but most do not. Pricing invariably differs across the board, requiring Royal Restrooms to get a quote for each job. But the working partnerships are easier to manage the longer they are with the pumping companies.
ON THE GROW
When the couple first saw the trailers, they were immediately intrigued. They took notice of the industry after Kristin Reynolds’ mother told her about seeing an upscale trailer at a friend’s house in Florida.
“My mom always knew I wanted to own my own business. She saw these and called me consistently for two days. She said I’m not getting off the phone until you go online.”
Working in sales management and real estate, part of Reynolds’ job was helping real estate agents automate business processes.
After assessing local competition and believing there was an untapped market for luxury restroom trailers, the couple decided to take the leap and become business owners, leaving behind the security of corporate jobs. They haven’t looked back.
Kristin Reynolds admits running a business is hard work, but it’s also rewarding. And she says the growth has come quickly. In their second year of business they worked 29 events — their third year they nearly doubled that number. The company now has nearly 40 trailers to meet increasing demand, including Jag Mobile Solutions’ single-stall restroom and an eight-stall Jag Mobile Solutions Functional shower trailer; Wells Cargo Comfort Elite II, Comfort Elite III and Comfort Elite ADA+2, Comfort Elite II and Comfort Elite III shower trailers, and Comfort Elite II and III Platinum Series trailers; Alpha Mobile Solutions Denali 10-stall semi-private restroom trailer; and Comforts of Home two-stall shower trailers. The couple did not want to specify how many of each trailer model they maintain in their inventory.
To haul the trailers, Royal Restrooms has Ford F-250s and F-350s from 1999 to 2007 model years. All are four-wheel-drive with diesel, and modified with back-up cameras. They also have a Ford LCF (low cab forward) diesel, with the bed modified to carry and tow two trailers.
QUALITY SERVICE A MUST
To achieve their goals, the couple is banking on an upscale product and the promise of round-the-clock service. Reynolds says good service builds a good reputation and spurs word-of-mouth business.
Reynolds’ growth strategy includes opening new offices throughout California, more yards to house trailers and more drivers in remote areas, so the company is better prepared to deliver units on short notice.
“Our philosophy is providing an excellent restroom with excellent service,” she says. “We want the restroom experience to be painless and carefree. Our repeat business and referrals are phenomenal, and that tells us we’re doing something right.”
