PortaPottyBossPro Blog — Running a Porta Potty Business

Pricing Porta Potty Rentals: How Operators Set Monthly and Event Rates

Pricing is the decision that matters most and gets the least time. Many owners set prices once, copy a competitor's flyer, and never look again. Here is how to build rates from your own costs so they hold up when fuel, dump fees and wages change.

Start With What a Rental Costs You

Before setting any price, finish the basics of your operation. If you are still writing down how your techs do the work, Standard Procedures for a Portable Toilet Business: Writing Down How the Work Gets Done helps, because a written service procedure tells you how long each service really takes.

For a standard monthly construction rental, add up what it costs you:

• Delivery and pickup trips, including fuel and the tech's time
• Each weekly service: drive time, time on site, chemicals, paper, sanitizer, water
• Dump fees for the waste you haul
• Wear on the unit and its share of what you paid for it
• A share of insurance, the truck payment, the yard, the office and software

Do the math per unit per month. That number is your floor. Anything below it loses money on every rental.

Add the Profit You Need

On top of your costs, add the margin that pays you and lets you replace trucks and units. There is no correct percentage for every market, and anyone who gives you one is guessing about your business. What matters is that you know your own floor and price above it on purpose.

Check your rates against the work you actually win. If you win nearly every quote, you are probably cheap. If you lose most of them, find out why before you drop prices. Often it is the response time or the follow-up, not the number.

What a Monthly Rental Includes

Most operators include one service per week in a standard monthly rental. Write that down and put it on every quote, so the customer knows what they are paying for. Decide in advance:

• How many days the rental period includes
• What an extra pump-out costs
• What each extra day past the rental period costs
• What changes for deluxe flushing units, ADA accessible units, high-rise or crane units, and hand wash stations

Extra services are covered in Pricing Extra Pump-Outs, Extra Days and Add-On Services in a Porta Potty Business.

Event Rates Are Different

Event rentals are short, often on weekends, and tie up units and trucks on your busiest days. An event rate usually covers delivery, the rental period, any service during the event, and pickup. Large events may need service during the event itself, which takes a truck and a tech off your regular work. Price that in.

Restroom trailers and hand wash stations at weddings and corporate events often carry their own rate, since they take more setup and cleaning. Think about the true time involved, including the drive, setup, and the cleanup after the event, not just the hours on site.

Keep Pricing Consistent

The fastest way to undercut yourself is to quote differently every time. Put your rates into your service list. In PortaPottyBossPro, estimates are built from your service list, the customer approves them online, and the approved estimate becomes scheduled services. Rentals carry days included and a per-day rate after that, and the extra days are added to the invoice automatically, so the rate you quoted is the rate that gets billed.

Raise Prices With Notice

Costs go up every year. Review rates at least once a year, before your busiest season. Give existing customers written notice ahead of time, explain briefly, and stick to it. Customers who value on-time weekly service rarely leave over a fair increase. The ones who do leave over a small increase were often your least profitable accounts.

Price for the Site, Not Just the Unit

Two rentals of the same unit can cost you very different amounts. A unit on a site next to your yard with an open gate is cheap to service. A unit at the end of a long dirt road, behind a locked gate that only opens at 7am, on a site the tech has to walk to, costs more every single week. Some operators add a distance or access charge for sites well outside their normal area. Others just quote those jobs higher.

Either way, think about the site before you quote. Ask where the units will go, how the truck gets in, and how far the site is from your other routes. A rental that fits into an existing route is worth more to you than the same rental on its own across the county, even at the same price.

Discounts With a Reason

Volume discounts for contractors with many units are common, and they can make sense, since several units on one site are cheaper per unit to service. Give discounts for a reason you can explain, like volume or a long commitment, and write the reason down. Discounts given to whoever pushes hardest tend to spread.

For more on how rates turn into invoices without anything slipping, see the Porta Potty Business Software page.