Today we shine the spotlight on our Managing Director, Daryn Weller, and the journey of Australian Portable Toilets so far.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I think I always wanted to be a businessman. I particularly enjoyed commerce, the stock market and how businesses ticked but I wasn’t necessarily tied to any one industry. Yet, I landed in portable toilets!
How did that happen?
Well, I could see that the portable toilet industry was growing significantly, mostly because of the rise in construction activity. The design and manufacturing of portable toilets was going to be the core foundation of supporting this growth so when the when the opportunity came up to take over Australian Portable Toilets, I jumped on it.
And how has the company changed since you took over?
In the 7 years we’ve been running, it has changed a lot. The main area of improvement has been on the manufacturing side. With my engineering background, we have completely transformed the system of how our toilets are built to ensure superior quality.
We’ve also formed an in-house engineering team, which means that our product designs are now developed from scratch and importantly, based on customer feedback.
Australian Portable Toilets is operated by yourself and your wife, Jude. What are some of the challenges you’ve faced as a family-owned business?
Well, you talk toilets every day and all the time. That’s the challenge!
It’s very easy to get bogged down and consumed in the business. If we didn’t have our sons playing AFL footy and watching them as an outlet, we would probably just work all the time. But that’s what just what you need to do when you are building a business.
But, in saying that, we are now at a stage where we have more than 10 employees. This has allowed us to take a step back and focus our attention on the big picture items.
What are those big-picture items?
Growing! Next year we plan to open our third warehouse in Sydney. This will allow us to do some of the things on our pipeline more quickly and service our customers in Sydney more effectively.
And finally, what has been the most rewarding part of the journey so far?
I’d say all the little steps and achievements along the way. Whether it’s winning a sale, creating a product design improvement or hearing positive customer feedback – it makes it all worth it.