5 Key Takeaways From Take 5

From equipment concerns to startup lessons, your fellow portable restroom operators have wisdom to share

It’s busy out there. Temperatures across the U.S. are hovering in the upper 80s and low 90s. It’s mid- to late-July and the summer special-events season is full swing. Not exactly the time to slow down and swap insights with your fellow PROs, right? Wrong.

You may not have a lot of time, but there’s always time to learn from your peers. With your schedule in mind, we here at Portable Restroom Operator have taken a moment to glean our top five tidbits of information from Take 5. Take a beat, and see what other PROs have going on. Happy reading.

No. 1: Care for Your Equipment

Luxe Flush owner Randall Moore says he’s a huge believer in image. “It’s everything. And when you’re talking about the sanitation industry where people just think ‘nasty,’ we show up and we’re totally different.”

— Randall Moore, owner, Luxe Flush, Sanford, Florida, in Florida Restroom Operator Takes on Blue Skies and Disasters

No. 2: Make Strategic Choices

“When you’re a startup business you can’t just purchase every single thing that would make everything optimal. You have to pick your battles and make do for a little bit.”

— Charles Mishakis, owner, Rapid Deployment Portable Restrooms, Almont, Michigan, in Full Steam Ahead

No. 3: Learn Your Limits

“Setting hours versus just allowing everything to intermingle is vital,” Michelle Stotts says. “It’s OK to take a break. I make a point to inform our customers of any holidays or time away through mass emails and on Facebook though our page and local community pages. I also update our phone message to reflect it. I still answer emergency calls. I’m also on top of responding when I am back in the office. Most people respect the boundaries we set. With that being said, during the summertime we don’t really get breaks as is standard in this industry, for sure.”

— Michelle Stotts, owner, Trackside Sanitation, Albany, Oregon, in Turning Frustration Into a Restroom Fleet

No. 4: Donate What Is Needed Most

“If you see an event or a benefit happening, try to think of what you could do to help them the best way. We always just think, ‘Would they need toilets for that or would they rather receive money donations?’ Whatever it is, we try to give them what they need. In some cases, we’ll donate septic servicing to a silent auction, to help them raise funds.”

— Leslie Ness, office manager, Ness Pumping Service & Porta-Potty Rentals, Waukon, Iowa, in Working for Your Customers and Community

No. 5: Build Leadership Skills

“The best thing that I get from being in the PSAI is my involvement in the leadership. I’ve been on the PSAI board of directors for a couple years, and I’ve since moved to the executive track at work as a result. I’ve been able to really grow in my job due to my relationships with all these different people — seeing the challenges that they overcome and the great ideas that they have. All of them just bring so much to the table and so it’s just been pretty incredible for me to be involved in this way at the PSAI.”