The passion you all feel for your businesses, employees and customers is infectious, and it’s fun to read back over the 2017 PROfiles and share your enthusiasm all over again.
Here’s a look at how the featured owners approach their work every day, in their own words. (Click the links to revisit each company’s PROfile.)
“I have been blessed with an amazing team that is very much committed; I treat them like family. Three of my employees have been with me since day one. In these little towns, you have to build a relationship with them. It’s not a ‘me’ thing; it’s a ‘we’ thing.” – Sherry Rodriguez, Take A Break Portables
“Dad always said anybody can rent you a portable toilet. But what we’re selling is service. We give you a clean unit and good service.” – Dawayne Murdock, Murdock Portable Toilets & Septic Tank Service
“We’re always doing something different. I enjoy being out with the public and dealing with different customers every day, and trying to do whatever we can do to make them happy.” – Jonathan Powell, Powell’s Sanitation
“Driving a beat-up old truck and delivering old restrooms won’t cut it. Even in the construction market, customers figure that if you have clean restrooms and clean trucks, you’ll probably keep restrooms clean, too — and that you’re probably legit and have insurance.” – Jennifer Corrigan, JW Craft Portable Restrooms
“The willingness of people in this industry to help each other and provide information is astonishing. We’ve picked the brains of other operators for hours. ... No one ever refused to talk to me about their business. And I needed a crash course — had to learn 10 years’ worth of knowledge in about 1 1/2 years. That’s why when other companies call and ask me for information, I’m always more than willing to do that and give something back.” – Gary Springer, Outdoor Restrooms Inc.
“Our plan is to grow when the market’s right. We never say no and we’re not going to start now. If we don’t have enough trucks and restrooms, we’ll go out and buy them.” – Cy Quackenbush, QP Energy Services
“I want controlled growth, buying equipment when I can pay for it and adding restrooms six at a time. I plan to stop at 500 restrooms because it’s manageable with a nice profit margin. After that you have to add trucks and men.” – Don “Buddy” Van Sant, Jersey Shore Restrooms
“You always get people who take shortcuts. That’s not what we’re about. We’re about reputation, longevity and quality of service. I think that’s why we’re still here 30-odd years later.” – Sonia Gilbert, Site Equip
“We were hungry and go-getters. We wanted to be successful … so we chased everything we could, everywhere we could. We sort of figured it out as we went along.” – J.R. Pickens, QP Energy Services
“Our industry is not respected because of what we handle and haul. So I feel that if we go out on a construction site, for example, and have a uniformed, well-groomed employee driving a very nice-looking new truck, it helps our image in the industry. I’m very big on that.” – Jennifer Corrigan, JW Craft Portable Restrooms
“It’s not the size of my company I worry about. Customer satisfaction is more important. I just want to focus on great customer service.” – Dan Smart, Pete’s Toilet Rentals
“You’ve already worked a 12-hour day, and then you agree to deliver a restroom 30 miles out of the way, adding an extra hour to the day and not making any money on it. But that earned us some pretty loyal customers. We’ve been serving some of our customers since 1994, which says a lot about the service we provide.” – Derrick Nelson, Nelson Sanitation & Rental
“We’ve seen a huge amount of change not just with what we’re providing, but with the expectations of the clients, as well. If you get a very posh wedding, they want something that’s even better than they can get in their homes. At the end of the day, we just want to please the clients — to surprise and delight them.” – Sonia Gilbert, Site Equip
"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. I have learned I am not good at some things, so I surround myself with good people and don’t micromanage.” – John Payne, Waste Now Restrooms & Dumpsters
“That is why we do this festival (the John C. Campbell Folk School’s fall festival) and others … because people know Take A Break Portables will be here to provide excellent service ... one of the biggest things that has been a huge success for us is word-of-mouth. Women, especially, appreciate our immaculate restrooms. It’s like a snowball effect.” – Sherry Rodriguez, Take A Break Portables
