Lou Paulsen is a real can-do kind of guy. It seems that any time he puts his mind to something, he succeeds.
It’s no surprise, then, that the owner of Can-Doo Budjet Rentals in Abilene, Texas, was honored this year with the Andy Gump Award by the Portable Sanitation Association International. The award is given to a leader in the industry who exhibits fairness and integrity in business and personal relationships and works to improve the image of the industry.
Even though Paulsen says he was surprised by the award, he acknowledges it “meant a tremendous amount.” It’s a nice beginning to his 35th year in the portable sanitation business.
Located in central Texas, with locations in Abilene and San Angelo, Can-Doo has 16 employees and 1,000 portable restrooms (made by PolyJohn Enterprises, Satellite Industries and PolyPortables) and eight restroom trailers (most by Ameri-Can Engineering). Monthly rentals on construction sites, remote oil drilling rigs and military bases make up about 65 percent of Can-Doo’s business, with the remaining 35 percent coming from special event rentals.
But to keep his business going all those years, Paulsen has subscribed to one main goal: the cleanliness of his restrooms. It’s simply something he won’t budge on. “If it isn’t clean enough for your wife or your mother or your daughter, it isn’t clean enough for anybody.
“We have to change the image of portable restrooms and stop calling them toilets, because a good portable restroom is better than a toilet. We should advertise what they really are and why they are cleaner and better,” he adds.
Paulsen learned his business by trial and error. “Just pay attention and study,” he says. “Figure out what you would like to have if you were buying the product.”
Prior to going into the portable sanitation business, Paulsen lived in Illinois, where he ran a marina and a restaurant and flew his own airplane — so adventure and entrepreneurship are in his blood. Of that long-ago life, Paulsen says in his matter-of-fact Southern drawl, “I miss some things, but I’m having a lot of fun.” He particularly enjoys interacting with all the different types of people he does business with.
In the early 1980s, led by an oil boom in Texas, Paulsen headed south and started up a modest restroom business with just 20 units and a pickup truck.
As the industry got into his blood, Paulsen got more serious. He joined the PSAI and has served on the board for eight years, and remains on some committees.
But in an age where some feel bigger is better, Paulsen is content to be just where he is. About 20 years ago, Paulsen’s business had three additional branches, in Fort Worth, Corpus Christi and San Antonio. He found it difficult to have his business so spread out and keep a handle on quality control, so he sold the other locations.
“I thought quality was better than quantity,” he says. His current service area of his two remaining branches is about a 200-mile radius.
Now of retirement age, Paulsen is happy to keep running his business. His wife, Sharon, helps him and is always out driving around, looking to spot potential new customers. And while he works a lot, mainly in the office, he does enjoy golfing, international travel — much of it done with the PSAI — and raising 60 head of Longhorn cattle, which he sells to meat processors. Of the latter hobby he jokes, “Sometimes they support my bad habit — portable restrooms!”
With an engaging personality and penchant for humor, Paulsen continues to be the “can-do” man, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’m having fun,” he says. “So as long as I’m having fun, I’ll keep doing it.”
