Hello ALL

Just wanted to say "hello". I actually have 2 businesses within our company. Totables.net which started as a portable storage company such as "PODS" and then Totables Lawn Care which we started a few months ago. The portable storage business is booming. Several months ago, we started to run out of containers to rent and we were basically sitting around waiting for rented units to be turned back in, so we decided to add the lawn care business as well. We're not doing bad at all, I guess I can't complain. But now with both businesses going, we are definately busy. And by the way, we are located in Greensboro, NC.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Welcome to our forum! I checked out your website and thought it was fantastic! How did you get involved with the portable storage business? Could you fabricate your own portable storage holders? I also wondered if someone could fabricate one that could be made collapseable or where you could take the walls and roof off where it would take up much less room to store, you could really have something there. Do you have any view on expanding it and offering other lawn care businesses to get involved in this?

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[arthur712]

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for the welcome. Steve, The Totables Storage part of our business is actually open to anyone trying to get into the business. We don't franchise but we do sell licensed dealerships. At this time we have the corporate office (which is me) and 2 other dealers. One in NC and one opening up in Washington State. The cost is expensive but the return on investment is around 24 to 33% annually. It's an expensive business to start but not anymore than building your own free standing storage facility. We have different financing options as well.

We have also started a lawn maintenance business which we will be selling dealerships as well. Franchising cost big money up front so setting up as a licensed rep is much more cost efficient.

[Steve]

I'd love to hear more about this!

I say your video on youtube



It's fascinating on how all this works! Did you have to create all of this or was there a lot of off-the shelf equipment you were able to use?

Can you tell us what a reader would have to do to get involved with you on this? What is the difference between franchises and licensed dealerships?

Steve, I'll be glad to give you guys some more info on Totables. My father and I started this project after going out and renting a competitor's container for a project we were doing. Beyond the cost, the delivery system took almost 45 mins to unload the container and set where we needed it. Plus, we couldn't get the container put exactly in the right spot and had to compromise.

After thinking about their program, we decided there had to be a better way to deliver containers. So, with a degree in manufacturing engineering, my father designed a truck and had it built. Every piece was engineered, cut, welded and after 6 months of building, the truck was finished. The delivery system that was built was patented and can only be purchased through Totables. No off the shelf items. This viddeo is kind of old, we now have the truck running by remote and you almost never have to touch the truck when unloading. Our system can unload a container in 5 mins or less now.

What makes our program unique is the system itself. No other storage container company comes close. There are cheaper system out there but they require a rollback truck which pulls the container onto the carrier at a steep angle, letting the contents shift inside. No system is cheap enough to warrent a customer's damaged goods. Our system keeps the container level and can pick up 14000 lbs.

The difference in franchising and licensing is the upfront cost. Our competitors charge a $75,000 franchise fee, we don't. You only buy the equipment and the licensing fee is 8% of the monthly rental revenues the containers generate. The containers are made of steel and are the strongest containers on the market. The cost $4500 each. The truck cost $50k and then you pay for the upfit of the truck which is around $80k. Still cheaper than our competitor. Our truck would crush a competitor's box if we tried to pick it up.

If you owned 100 containers and they rented out at 125.00 per month, the monthly revenue generated from the boxes alone is 12,500k per month, or $150,000 per year. The truck delivery fees and pick-up fees would generate approximately 10k per month or 120,000 per year. These are all numbers based on what we are doing and can vary depending on your location. n But if those numbers work, then you would generate a gross revenue of $270,000 on a 600,000 investment. Not only that, but the depreciation is 5 to 7 years. If you bought rental properties for a total of $600,000, there is no way those rental properties would generate that kind of income. Plus rental properties cost you money with upkeep, that upkeep can be very costly. Our containers have no upkeep.

With our financing option, you can lease the truck, and lease the containers with 1000.00 down per container. So if you want 100 containers, you could lease them with 100,000 vs. straight buy out of 450,000.

If you invested 1000.00 per container, and rented the containers out for 125.00 per month, your net income per container per year is $580. So by investing 1000.00 out of pocket, it would generate 58% return on the money you invested. The rest would go to pay out the lease payment. Once the lease is paid out in 5 years, the containers are yours and you used someone else's money to build a fantastic income for the rest of your life, Or the life of the container. I hope this makes sense.

Remember, the figures I have given you are estimated numbers. Everyone will vary depending on location and market. The truck can be built in 3 months and the containers can be built and delivered in 6 weeks. We train you, provide you with a national call center, we do all the billing etc... The only thing you have to worry about is delivering containers and picking them up.

That is our program in a nut shell. Feel free to ask any questions.

As for me I have some questions about pricing two big lawn maintenence jobs that I will post on another thread. Thanks

[Steve]

That is just such an amazing story! Seeing you both work together and jump on an opportunity like that is fantastic!

Did either you or your dad run a business prior to putting this all together? If so, what kinds of things did you do previously that got you to this point?

Also do you have any pictures of your initial experimentation and design of this system? I love seeing how ideas go from paper to reality! I think it is very inspiring.