At age 31, John Payne already has almost two decades of working behind him. He’s worked for others and started three businesses of his own. Those experiences have led him to a formula for a successful business: being part of a team. The portable restroom and waste management service he founded in 2012 is technically called Waste Now Restrooms & Dumpsters, but Payne prefers to call it “Team Waste Now,” which is reflected in the logo and business’ website name.
Despite initially knowing little about the industries they now serve, the young entrepreneur and other members of his team have grown a business from 200 neglected restrooms to 1,000 units and expanded into a full gamut of waste management services in the Louisville, Kentucky, area.
LANDSCAPING TO WASTE
Payne started out in the landscaping business in high school, mowing lawns and doing summer maintenance for a business. After 1 1/2 years of college, he decided instead of working for someone else for $8 an hour, he was ready to be his own boss. He started a residential landscaping company and built it up to hiring employees and serving 200 customers. It was going well until the economic downturn in 2008. He sold the business and took jobs working for others.
“I hated it and was miserable,” Payne recalls. “I saw better ways to do the jobs and couldn’t speak my mind.”
So he returned to landscaping, but this time, he focused on commercial jobs with steady work and contracts. Contracts in hand, he started from scratch and purchased equipment. His landscaping business was growing when he ran across an unexpected opportunity while renting a building to house his equipment. Among the items around the warehouse were 200 portable restrooms. The landlord said he could use them if he wanted.
Payne knew nothing about portable sanitation and might not have done anything about it, but he started receiving calls from upset customers who had restrooms left on their property. He sought advice from PROs outside the area and used a couple of old trucks at the facility to service restrooms and salvage the business.
“It was a struggle the first two years,” he says. “I had to rebrand.”
Initially, he only modified the name of the inherited restroom business, but the reputation of the former business continued to work against him. Switching to Waste Now to better reflect what he was doing gave the business a clean start.
FROM THE GROUND UP
Payne learned about running a portable restroom business like he learned other work — on the job. As the company built a good reputation, he increased the number of restrooms and employees. Being out in the field, he recognized other opportunities.
“When we delivered restrooms, I saw that the next thing that construction sites brought in were dumpsters,” Payne says. “They go hand in hand. So, we added dumpsters. We started small (10-yard containers) but now have every size out there (up to 40-yard containers).”
With about 60 percent of its business coming from construction, Payne recognized other opportunities as well and added wastewater tanks and, most recently, temporary fencing.
“We try to make our business a one-stop shop,” he says. “Customers love it; they don’t have to call three different people.”
The added services are just as valuable for the event rental side of the business. Waste Now can bid on restrooms, temporary fencing, dumpsters and waste pickup services for the many events held in Louisville.
THE TEAM
Waste Now employees have successfully serviced a couple of large events with 250-300 restrooms, but for Payne, the biggest turnaround with the restroom side of the business came when he hired Gavin Shook to handle sales and event management. With Shook focusing on the restroom side of the business, Payne handles the waste management division.
“I didn’t know a thing about the portable restroom business,” admits Shook, who has been in sales and marketing for years. But, like Payne, he learned on the job and is as likely to be delivering and servicing restrooms as bidding on new events.
Personal contact and being at events has been a good way to build the business. Shook likes to be part of the team working events to get to know the customers and see firsthand what they need. The next time, the customer may want additional services — such as fencing and complete waste management — where Waste Now workers come in and clean up the grounds after the event.
The location for many events is the Louisville Waterfront Park, which is divided in four rentable venues. Between April and October, Waste Now workers service one or more events at the park almost every weekend — from car shows to concerts and farmers markets.
“If there are three events there, we can be on site and take care of all three. Our manpower is more efficient because they don’t have to drive between them,” Shook says.
Personal contact is just one of his strategies. If he sees a construction site while covering an event, he stops in and finds a manager to drop off cards and marketing materials. Though they may be renting restrooms from another company, the construction company may need containers or fencing in the future.
Shook is just one member of his valuable team, Payne notes.
“I grew up playing sports and had lots of mentors. There was a leader, but I learned that it’s about the team. I have to do my job, but there are things I don’t know about. They (the employees) bring ideas to me,” he says.
For example, one employee told him about CRO Software Solutions, which has been helpful with the logistics of organizing delivery and service schedules on busy event weekends. Another employee was only 21 when he started with Payne and has proven to be talented as a Mr. Fix-It and getting things done.
“I have learned I am not good at some things, so I surround myself with good people and don’t micromanage,” Payne says. It can be challenging to retain employees to service portable restrooms, but he believes in doing what he can. He says his keys are treating employees with respect, giving them the right training and equipment, and paying competitive wages.
EQUIPMENT
The 200 Satellite Industries Taurus portable restrooms that Payne started with were in poor to average condition. Many needed repair, and all needed a good cleaning.
By attending shows and talking to manufacturers, he has steadily added restrooms, including more Satellite Industries Taurus units along with PolyJohn Enterprises and PolyPortables restrooms. He’s also added 100 hand-wash and hand-sanitizing units from TSF Company (Tuff-Jon) and PolyJohn Enterprises. For events, Waste Now uses gray units with the company’s orange logo and information to build the company’s branding.
Waste Now also carries restroom trailers for weddings, long-term construction and special events. Payne invested in two trailers — a three-station by A Restroom Trailer Co. (ART Co.) and a Comforts of Home Services nine-stall unit.
“They have been a great investment. We will buy two or three more,” Payne says.
At the other end, Waste Now rented out a “urinal unit” for the first time this year. An 8-by-20-foot shipping container was modified with 13 urinals and PVC pipe plumbing to create the specialty unit. They bought the unit from a contractor who built it for a one-time use.
“It’s ideal for beer festivals and large events where you need to move people quickly. It was a big hit,” Payne says, noting he expects the unit will be used frequently. Customers like it for its convenience. It’s worth the cost for the extra work to deliver it with a roll-off truck and set up with a waste tank hooked up on the outside.
To service restrooms, Waste Now has three 2001 Ford F-550 Super Duty trucks with 950-gallon slide-in aluminum tanks from Robinson Vacuum Tanks. A 2001 Ford F-350 and 1997 Freightliner FL60 are used for deliveries. For the many events that require a large number of restrooms, Waste Now made three trailers that haul eight, 12 and 20 units.
On the waste management side of the business, the company has 150 roll-off containers in sizes of six, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 40 yards. Four trucks — 1987 and 1999 Macks, a 1999 International and 1997 Volvo — are used to deliver them.
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
Payne notes that the business has been a learning experience and grows by responding to customers. With the addition of new restrooms and services, the building he rents where he began the portable restroom adventure is no longer big enough or efficient. Waste Now purchased and is remodeling a 20,000-square-foot building on a 3-acre site in downtown Louisville. With more bays and places for trucks to have access to water and air, drivers won’t need to wait in line, Payne says.
Instead of being reactive to keep up with demand, Payne anticipates the business will be more proactive in the future to continue to grow. Newer technologies are an important part of that growth. Waste Now has GPS tracking by marrying CRO Software Solutions software and LG tablets in the trucks, and it uses QuickBooks in the office. For marketing, the business has a website that includes several pages of information and blogs, and it uses social media tools including Facebook and Google AdWords.
“Social media is a huge part of today’s society. We use it to find more employees and more customers, and to promote our company,” Payne says.
Though sometimes it seems like overkill posting on Facebook and other social media sites, Shook sees value in regularly updating the many events Waste Now covers.
“You never know when or where someone will see you one time,” Shook says.
Though he maintains his commercial landscape business, Payne doesn’t anticipate growing it. Starting the portable restroom business has led him in a direction where he sees more opportunity in waste management services combined with portable restrooms.
Shook, who also has been part of many sports teams, agrees with Payne that reputation and teamwork are important.
“When everyone is on the same page, knows the goals, and sees the bosses willing to jump in and lead by example, it’s easy to keep that (team) attitude,” Shook says.
As a person who never imagined working in the portable restroom industry, he is surprised how satisfying it can be when customers are grateful for the company’s services.
“It’s a profitable industry if you do what you say you will and do it well,” Shook says.
Disposable cardboard trash boxes are one of the popular products Waste Now offers
Waste Now owner John Payne explains that clients putting on events in parks or even in their backyards appreciate avoiding the hassle of buying or renting trash cans and then cleaning up the waste afterward. Many like the option of the one-time-use boxes that Waste Now disposes of after the event.
The 18-by-18-by-32-inch disposable boxes are shipped flat (by Party Time Inc., home of TTC System) and include a 55-gallon bag with a draw tape. The bottom part folds open to make a box and the lid folds like a pizza box. The lid has two hole-size options — large for trash or small for recycling cans or bottles.
Payne says they are easy to handle and dispose of after the event. He has the Waste Now logo imprinted on the cardboard for additional promotion.
The disposable trash boxes don’t make much profit, but by offering them Waste Now proves itself as a one-stop shop that responds to customers’ needs.
