Resilience, Vision and Ingenuity
Forever Clean Portable Toilets grows by diversifying its products and services
![Father and son team, Scott and Nick Tart, in front of a Forever Clean dumpster.](storyassets/carolinas/feature_stories/S19_NC_FS3_Resilience_Vision_and_Ingenuity/S19_NC_FS3_Interior1_530x370.jpg)
Father and son team, Scott and Nick Tart, in front of a Forever Clean dumpster.
![Interior of a VIP luxury restroom trailer fitted with a radio and granite countertops.](storyassets/carolinas/feature_stories/S19_NC_FS3_Resilience_Vision_and_Ingenuity/S19_NC_FS3_Interior2_530x370.jpg)
Interior of a VIP luxury restroom trailer fitted with a radio and granite countertops.
Scott Tart was running an all-purpose store in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, selling everything from tools to jewelry, and cooking up hotdogs outside for customers on nice days, when he was struck with a vision to start a new company. His idea was to launch a business delivering portable toilets to construction sites, and the business partner he had in mind was someone close to his heart—his son, Nick.
In 2005, Scott launched Forever Clean Portable Toilets (Forever Clean), purchasing 28 portable toilets and a vacuum truck that is used to service each unit once a week. At the time that Scott launched the business, Nick was only 16 and still finishing high school. At first, he was enlisted after school hours to help Scott with the delivery, pickup and servicing of the units. By the time Nick turned 18 years old, he began working alongside his father on a daily basis.
For three years, the business moved from strong to stronger, until 2008 when the recession hit, and the construction industry slowed dramatically. To adapt, Scott and Nick diversified their services and the company started servicing septic tanks for residential buildings, pumping, fixing and maintaining them while waiting for the industry to recover. When the economy and construction started to slowly pick up again, they returned to delivering portable toilets to construction sites, but in the meantime continued to expand their services and client base to ensure the business would be more resilient in the future.
Nick adds, “If a customer calls with an issue, we never say, ‘Oh, we’ll come sometime today or tomorrow.’ We always say, ‘OK, we’ll deal with that now.’ ”
Diversifying Services
These days, Forever Clean serves commercial, residential and private clients across the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, referred to as the Triangle region in North Carolina. Scott says he frequently goes to industry trade shows to see the newest product lines in portable toilets and to invest in the latest innovations to set Forever Clean apart from its competitors. For example, the company now offers VIP luxury toilets exclusively designed for special events, such as weddings. These units—offered at a higher price point than the conventional, standard units—are climate-controlled, with features such as granite countertops, wood floors, stainless-steel sinks, radios and iPod players, all in addition to a restroom. “We’re really big on service,” says Nick, who credits his father for the constant injection of new ideas and products into the business.
The company also performs water jetting, which involves clearing a plumbing line with a machine that blows high-pressured water, and they diagnose plumbing blockages using a specialty camera that is inserted into the line to identify the issue at its source.
“We’re one of the few companies in the area that do that,” Nick says, “In fact, few companies do everything we do.”
Two years ago, Scott identified a new area of growth for the business, and began delivering and picking up roll-off containers used to collect debris at construction sites. This is just another example of how the ever-evolving business continues to meet the needs of its customers.
A Successful Combination
Since 2015, Forever Clean has enjoyed booming business. The company now employs 25 people, including route drivers who drive the roll-off trucks and portable toilet trucks to and from each site, route service drivers who maintain the company’s products, and office staff who cover logistics, customer service calls and accounts payable.
“Our employees are the driving force of our business,” Nick says. “None of our work would be possible without their dedication.”
Forever Clean also owes a large part of its success to Scott and Nick’s father-son teamwork.
“[My father] is a visionary person and I’m an integrator,” Nick says. He explains that Scott’s talent lies in thinking up new ideas and ways to put things into place, as well as the overall strategy. “I’m good at making sure things happen, keeping the ball rolling and making sure things are done in a timely manner to ensure success,” he adds.
Beyond the Daily Business
Beyond meeting the needs of clients, Scott and Nick also ensure the company gives back to the community. In 2018, during both Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael, their team participated in a food drive and volunteered labor to help recovery efforts.
This tight-knit group of employees is also a loyal one; many of the staff have worked at the business for over 10 years. Dedicated to providing high-quality services to their customer base, they have built a system of trust where they rely on each other to resolve issues whenever they arise.
“If something goes wrong, we investigate the issue first to see what’s caused it,” Nick says. “We will let the customer know that they’re right, but we also help our team find a solution. In doing so, we let our team members know we care.”
A Bright Future Ahead
These days, with the business growing at a fast pace, Nick sees a bright future ahead. He and Scott are just as driven and ambitious as when the company first launched. They are competitively going after growth, and willing to do whatever their clients ask of them. Their adaptability and diversification of services has been sustainable because finding solutions that make clients’ lives easier has been the driving force.
“We’re open-minded and flexible, and never afraid to try new things,” Nick says.
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