Derrick Nelson always felt there was a lot of growth potential in Nelson Sanitation & Rental, the portable sanitation and septic service business that his father, Jerome Nelson, ran on the side in Rice, Minnesota, for decades. Turns out he was absolutely right.
When Nelson bought the business from his father in 2011, the company employed three people: Derrick, his father and Tyler Nelson (Derrick’s cousin). The company’s capital assets included 300 restrooms, two restroom service trucks and two septic vacuum trucks. Today, the company employs 13 people (including a full-time sales and marketing director) and owns about 1,400 restrooms, three
