Four years ago, Mark Fredrickson of Omaha was busy dreaming up new business ideas. He had been in and out of the corporate world and was searching for an opportunity—one that would allow him to run a business, yet still have time for his kids. He knew to achieve that, the business would need to have a limited number of employees and be a business where the equipment could do the work. He also wanted his business to offer something different—something the competition didn’t have.
Mark decided to go into the trash business. After a lot of brainstorming, Mark knew he wanted to do something unique and that the Omaha area had not seen before. This led him to finding redbox +, a franchise company that rented dumpsters with an added “bonus”—a porta-potty built right in. It was a genius idea, and for the contracting world, it just made sense, so Mark became a redbox + franchisee.
Two-in-One: The Benefits
There are numerous benefits to having a porta-potty built into a dumpster. As Mark pointed out, many roofing companies don’t want their crews to leave the job site. The same goes for remodeling companies. Having a porta potty there on the job site is crucial when having to turn the plumbing off during a remodeling job.
Then there’s the convenience factor for contractors. As Mark said, “it just provides the convenience of being able to make one call and get both of those services.”
Having a porta potty securely attached to a dumpster has additional benefits as well. No more having to worry about your porta potty blowing away, being tipped over, or even stolen… which really does happen.
Although Mark serves the commercial industry more often due to the larger-sized containers, he also provides dumpsters for the residential market. According to Mark, “For those garage cleanups, basement cleanups, and small remodel jobs, we offer our 20-yard container at a 10-yard price.” So, if a family has couches, mattresses, or long tree limbs they want to get rid of, the 20-yard container does the job.
Give Mark A Day
One thing that surprised Mark when starting the business was how many contractors thought they needed to call two to three days in advance to have a container on site. For Mark, timeliness and communication is everything. “I try to adhere to a 24-hour time frame. If you give me a day, I’m going to be there for you.” If he can’t? Then he’ll communicate that to his customers. “I come from the professional services industry where I worked with a lot of contractors in my previous life. I understand the importance of timeliness and communication and really apply that to my business.”
Giving Back
When the devastating storms recently hit Elkhorn, Bennington, and Blair, redbox + was there right away helping the communities with cleanup. According to Mark, they had around 30 containers circulating in the areas between Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. When asked what it was like to see his red dumpsters out there making a difference in the community, Mark responded, “It was awesome just to have a resource to be able to help. One of the biggest issues was the fact that there was a lot of cleanup, so being able to provide that resource in a timely manner was really cool for me to be able to do. It was also very cool to see our communities come together and support those in need.”
Have some big items you need to get rid of? Think of Mark redbox +for the job. He’ll be there in a day with his red box…and a portable potty to boot.
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