Daniel Tom was 31 when he started Bay Area Sanitation in 2023 with one truck and 100 portable toilets. Two years later, his business had grown to nearly 2,000 toilets and a fleet of 12 vacuum pumper trucks serving events and work sites across the San Francisco Bay Area. The company brought in $3.1 million in 2024 and $4.3 million in 2025, according to documents reviewed by CNBC.Tom’s business rents portable toilets and also handles their maintenance. This includes weekly cleaning, restocking supplies and removing waste from the units. Each portable toilet can hold up to 60 gallons of waste, which is emptied using the company’s vacuum pumper trucks.The business became profitable within its first year. Tom says most of the company’s income now comes from long-term rentals, where customers pay recurring charges for the toilets and their weekly cleaning. Standard portable toilets start at $160 a month for long-term rentals, while short-term rentals for events generally cost between $239 and $399 per event.The work may not sound attractive to everyone, and Tom says he often gets disgusted reactions when he tells people what he does. But he says those reactions usually change when he explains how the business operates and how much revenue it generates. “When I tell people that I own a porta-potty business, I get a lot of disgusted looks,” Tom says as quoted by CNBC. “But once I explain to them the business model and the revenue, most of the time they get interested,” he adds.
From part-time job to business owner
Tom’s connection with the portable-toilet industry began while he was studying at San Jose State University. During his junior year, he was studying to become a physical education teacher when he took a part-time customer service job at a portable-toilet rental company.The job changed his plans. “I liked it so much that I decided to abandon teaching and dive in full-time after graduation,” Tom says. He then worked for seven years as a sales manager at Hanson & Fitch before deciding to start his own company.When Bay Area Sanitation began in 2023, Tom started with just one truck and 100 toilets. The company later expanded as the number of toilets available for rent increased. By 2025, it was managing nearly 2,000 units and had 12 trucks operating across the Bay Area.The company serves different types of customers. Its portable toilets are used at short-term outdoor events such as concerts, as well as at construction sites and public parks where toilets may be required for longer periods.
Focus on long-term rentals
Tom says he prefers long-term rentals because they provide recurring income. Customers who rent the toilets for longer periods also pay for regular cleaning services. “I like to focus on long-term rentals because it equals guaranteed recurring revenue for my business,” he says.Tom says the business has a net profit margin of around 22%. Labour is the company’s biggest expense. Its 19 employees account for about 30% of revenue in labour costs. Other expenses include fuel for the vacuum and delivery trucks, along with supplies such as toilet paper and paper towels.Starting such a business also requires significant upfront spending. Tom estimates that a rentable portable toilet can cost around $800, while a vacuum truck can cost about $160,000. He did not disclose how much he personally spent to launch Bay Area Sanitation, but said the average person might need roughly $250,000 to get started.
An AI-proof business
Tom sees an unusual contrast in running a sanitation business in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is home to major technology companies such as Google, Apple and Nvidia.As artificial intelligence changes many types of work, Tom believes his business is based on a service that still requires people and physical work. “We’ve managed to build what I think is a low-tech, AI-proof business,” he says.He says he also takes pride in providing a service that people need. “The truth is, I take pride in what I do. I love coming to work every day and I provide a service that everybody needs. Everybody goes, right?”The business requires regular hands-on work. Tom says he has become used to the smell after cleaning many portable toilets, although some situations can still be difficult. “I’ve cleaned so many porta-potties the smell doesn’t really bother me,” he says. “But every once in a while, I’ll come across a unit after somebody’s had some bad burritos, or something like that. And even for me, it’s hard to stomach.”
Plans to expand further
Tom says he is reinvesting most of the company’s profits rather than taking a larger personal income. His annual salary is around $120,000, but he says it could be higher if more of the profits were taken out of the business. “We’re really prioritizing reinvesting in the business to continue growing,” he says.His next target is to expand Bay Area Sanitation to 5,000 portable toilets and reach $10 million in annual revenue within the next five years. In December, the company signed a lease for a warehouse yard that has space for “almost twice as many trucks as we have now,” Tom says.The wider portable-toilet rental industry also has a sizeable market in the US. An IBISWorld analysis from September 2025 estimated that the industry generated $3.3 billion in 2025, up 1.7% from the previous year.
