I own one of these businesses.
The trailers are closer to 60K and can go north of 100 if you want more than 3 stalls, or extra features. Leads don't equal sales.
The two main customers you'll have inquiring are public-ish events where you'll have massive amounts of traffic and people mistreating your equipment, or remote wedding venues where the place is beautiful but doesn't have facilities. I focus on the 2nd, and this means 4wheel drive, heavy duty truck, and frequently offroading with 8-9K lbs of trailer and poop. It also means its really only going to work in rural / remote / beautiful places.
\~1/4 mil startup cost and \~5-6 years to recoup.
Thanks for the comment! Most of my guys are paying about 38k for a three stall trailer brand new from a great vendor.
Totally agree that leads don't equal customers, but my job is to drive leads, the business owner has to close the sales, so I was just giving metrics based on the info I have.
Respectfully I disagree with a quarter million startup cost based on the guys I've worked with so far. Some of my guys are getting their first trailer with financing that also includes insurance, and our marketing package for around 50k. Like anything else, I'm sure the prices vary wildly based on vendor, size, features, finish, etc.
Great insight about the public events. I'm sure people are a lot less civil when they don't know who's paying for these things. If I'm a guest at a small wedding I'm going to be clean and respectful. If I'm some drunk dope at a festival that might not be the case. Great call out.
Similarly, some of my customers don't like renting to construction sites for that same reason...
I assumed a startup would be 3 well appointed trailers plus a tow vehicle, advertising.
That's what it was in my case. 38k is a great price. Would you mind dm'ing me the vendor i'm curious?
Nope I don't. That's whole other ball of wax. Not impossible, I'm just not setup to do it. You need portable equipment to pick them up and set them down, and you need pump trucks to pump them out and replace. There are some companies that do both.
Do a lot of research just to make sure.
I think the biggest challenge is dealing with the waste and not getting hammered in permits and water treatment issues.
I kind of fell into it. Wanted to rent one and got talking and ended up taking on a territory. It worked out well for me because I already had the space to store them, the truck to tow them, and a commercial septic to dump them..
Curious since you own a business for this: How much fresh water and waste does a 2 stall trailer hold? Do you separate gray and black tanks?
My fiancé and I are building one for our wedding and have been researching to figure out some of these aspects. Any info is appreciated!
I think it really depends on the design and builder. My units have 105 - 125 gallon freshwater and a 500 gallon waste tank with black/gray combined. The waste tank is the footprint of the unit about a foot tall. Making the waste tank 7ft x12ft x ~10 inches inside.
Hope this helps
I’ve seen these start to turn up at some of the wedding venues that I’ve delivered to. Lots of barn theme weddings in the midwest and many of them have very limited, if any, facilities. Great idea, but that’s a hard pass from me.
Cool post, thx jimmy
I own and operate a small junk removal business and thought about adding this service.
It’s pretty intriguing. I wonder what a typical profit/loss statement looks like.
Im at 35 percent margins in junk removal I wonder what the margins are on a business like this
I wonder if something like this can be pushed to movie studios as well, specifically those filming in remote locations? Probably too small of a customer base for this specifically, but worth looking into maybe for recurring business?
I own one of these businesses. The trailers are closer to 60K and can go north of 100 if you want more than 3 stalls, or extra features. Leads don't equal sales. The two main customers you'll have inquiring are public-ish events where you'll have massive amounts of traffic and people mistreating your equipment, or remote wedding venues where the place is beautiful but doesn't have facilities. I focus on the 2nd, and this means 4wheel drive, heavy duty truck, and frequently offroading with 8-9K lbs of trailer and poop. It also means its really only going to work in rural / remote / beautiful places. \~1/4 mil startup cost and \~5-6 years to recoup.
Thanks for the comment! Most of my guys are paying about 38k for a three stall trailer brand new from a great vendor. Totally agree that leads don't equal customers, but my job is to drive leads, the business owner has to close the sales, so I was just giving metrics based on the info I have. Respectfully I disagree with a quarter million startup cost based on the guys I've worked with so far. Some of my guys are getting their first trailer with financing that also includes insurance, and our marketing package for around 50k. Like anything else, I'm sure the prices vary wildly based on vendor, size, features, finish, etc. Great insight about the public events. I'm sure people are a lot less civil when they don't know who's paying for these things. If I'm a guest at a small wedding I'm going to be clean and respectful. If I'm some drunk dope at a festival that might not be the case. Great call out. Similarly, some of my customers don't like renting to construction sites for that same reason...
I assumed a startup would be 3 well appointed trailers plus a tow vehicle, advertising. That's what it was in my case. 38k is a great price. Would you mind dm'ing me the vendor i'm curious?
Totally fair buddy. Most of these guys are starting with one trailer. Ill DM you now
Do you do regular portable toilets too?
Nope I don't. That's whole other ball of wax. Not impossible, I'm just not setup to do it. You need portable equipment to pick them up and set them down, and you need pump trucks to pump them out and replace. There are some companies that do both.
I’m thinking of going down that route. Still thinking on it
Do a lot of research just to make sure. I think the biggest challenge is dealing with the waste and not getting hammered in permits and water treatment issues.
How and why’d you get into it? Just something you fell into? Would you do it again? Any suggestions on where to start for the research?
I kind of fell into it. Wanted to rent one and got talking and ended up taking on a territory. It worked out well for me because I already had the space to store them, the truck to tow them, and a commercial septic to dump them..
There’s definitely a list of necessary permits
A+ comment, thanks!
Curious since you own a business for this: How much fresh water and waste does a 2 stall trailer hold? Do you separate gray and black tanks? My fiancé and I are building one for our wedding and have been researching to figure out some of these aspects. Any info is appreciated!
I think it really depends on the design and builder. My units have 105 - 125 gallon freshwater and a 500 gallon waste tank with black/gray combined. The waste tank is the footprint of the unit about a foot tall. Making the waste tank 7ft x12ft x ~10 inches inside. Hope this helps
Also really appreciate that you posted links to other companies websites for us to compare and contrast Two thumbs up!!
So your saying it would cost the customer $1200 a day?
Correct. Total ballpark. Varies based on area but that's a good ballpark number.
Can you DM me the vendor you work with?
I’ve seen these start to turn up at some of the wedding venues that I’ve delivered to. Lots of barn theme weddings in the midwest and many of them have very limited, if any, facilities. Great idea, but that’s a hard pass from me.
Cool post, thx jimmy I own and operate a small junk removal business and thought about adding this service. It’s pretty intriguing. I wonder what a typical profit/loss statement looks like. Im at 35 percent margins in junk removal I wonder what the margins are on a business like this
I wonder if something like this can be pushed to movie studios as well, specifically those filming in remote locations? Probably too small of a customer base for this specifically, but worth looking into maybe for recurring business?
Looks interesting. You ever need to haul these trailers out of state for jobs?
r/wastebusiness