A solid waste engineer, a concrete contractor, a businessman, and a judge walked into a business together … and the punch line has yet to be written. Four owners from different backgrounds and a wide range of experience formed The Head Office. They sent their first portable restroom to a customer Nov. 4, 2009, says Jake Philmon, one of the company partners in Lake Charles in the southwest corner of Louisiana.
“We are building a company to grow this thing and expand into other areas in Louisiana,” he says. Currently operating primarily in the Louisiana parishes (counties) of Calcasieu, Cameron and Beauregard, the company places and services about 60 units a week, including several holding tanks. It provides temporary and permanent restrooms for the construction and petrochemical industries, municipalities and special events.
Right now the owners are doing all the work, which keeps costs down and directly ties the business’ growth to their efforts and relationships with customers. The company plans to sell more units by adding industrial accounts and bidding on more special events. The four owners:
• Philmon was in the solid waste and environmental industry for more than 30 years, most recently as major accounts manager for Waste Management Inc. in Lake Charles. At the local Rotary Club, he met Willie King.
• King, a Lake Charles businessman, owns a funeral home, a transmission business, and a limousine service. He is also involved in community activities, which include counseling junior high students.
• Tommy Coyne was in the construction industry for more than 30 years, providing concrete for residential and commercial customers. He and Philmon knew each other from the construction industry and community events.
• Gene Thibodeaux is the sitting chief judge of the Louisiana 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals for 21 parishes in Louisiana. He and King were friends long before going into business together. Thibodeaux has since stepped aside and is no longer involved in the business.
1. DECISIONS, DECISIONS
Philmon said the early challenges in the business were all the decisions. How would the company build visibility in the industry? Which customers and service area would it target? Which vehicles, equipment and supplies would it use? What would it be called? The customer base would be drawn from industries the partners were familiar with: construction and petrochemicals. Advises Philmon, “Make sure you have all your initial cost, equipment and labor estimated, and the cost of disposal, before you make the first purchase. The most important item on the list should be getting your state permit and a certified facility for your disposal. You should make sure all regulations are satisfied.” To keep initial investment to a minimum, they purchased a used Chevrolet diesel flatbed truck locally, then added a new 400-gallon waste/200-gallon freshwater stainless steel vacuum tank from Best Enterprises Inc. When they bought their second load of restrooms, the owners chose the Tuff-Jon brand from T.S.F. Company Inc., going with a unique color scheme for visibility.
2. CHOOSING A SPLASH OF COLOR
Lake Charles, in the southwest corner of Louisiana, is two hours from Houston and three hours from New Orleans. The company’s signature product is a blue-and-gold portable restroom — the colors of the local McNeese State University sports teams. The company paired blue one-piece restrooms from Tuff-Jon with yellow doors. The yellow door provides additional safety, making the units more visible in low light conditions or on busy construction sites. They’re also easy to locate in crowds at special events.
3.MAINTAINING CONTROLLED GROWTH
The quartet of owners has a simple goal: Grow the business one unit at a time. Says Philmon, “This will allow The Head Office to maintain a solid foundation. We do not want to outgrow our ability to provide the very best in service.” After all, he notes, “Our success depends on our client’s confidence in our abilities to meet and exceed their needs.” He says the owners have the respect of the community as well as the local industries they serve. One current customer is the Sugar Cane Bay hotel, resort and casino construction project in Lake Charles.
4. WORKING WITH, NOT AGAINST, ESTABLISHED COMPANIES
Right now, many major construction projects have been put on hold until the economy improves, and that can be advantageous to a smaller contractor, Philmon says. He is using old-fashioned legwork — research and phone calls — to gain the support of larger portable sanitation companies in the region. He’s developing sources for industry advice and networking with offers to pool resources to satisfy unusual spikes in demand for services. “If you have 500 units, you don’t want very many of them sitting idle at any one time,” Philmon says. If, for example, a natural disaster occurs, the companies could rely on each other’s borrowed units to fulfill their deals. Competitive issues have not been a challenge yet, as the companies Philmon is networking with typically do businesses in different states. “We support them and they support us,” he says of the arrangement.
5. EVERYONE’S DOING DOUBLE-DUTY
It is early in the life of the company. There is no website yet, and no full-time employees. The three remaining owners maintain other jobs. Every owner multi-tasks. “We pool our resources, and capitalize on our own individual talents and experiences.” Philmon and King handle operations, while Coyne handles sales. King and Philmon are responsible for running the truck routes.
