Florida Portable Services and Newsome Well & Septic, serving the North Central Florida market, are two thriving businesses owned by Kyle Myers of Alachua, Florida. The dual companies function separately, though both are headquartered in the same office in Alachua.
Myers, along with members of his teams from both organizations, got together for an interview with us to share information about the sister companies with ALW readers. Here, Kyle and his team tell the story of these top-quality operations:
Growing Up in the Family Business
Kyle started by sharing his personal story of growing up within the water well and septic service industry. My parents owned and operated a thriving well and septic company in Gainesville. As far back as I can remember, my older brother and I would frequent the shop and job sites. I started going to work with my dad when I was old enough to ride in a truck with him. During my high school summers, my brother and I would run the well service truck, working on residential well calls. After high school, I obtained a CDL, started operating septic trucks, and worked my way up to managing operations.
After my mother passed away, my father decided to retire and enjoy life, so he sold the business to his brother. I appreciated my family’s business, but I had dreams and goals that were not the same as what they wanted. So, I left to do things differently, providing services and opportunities with a more modern approach.
The Start of Something Big in Gainesville
In 2008, at age 23, I left the family business and started my own company. We founded Newsome Well & Septic, primarily drilling wells, pumping septic tanks, and doing drainfield installation. When most of my buddies were in school or partying, I was busting my tail to build what I hoped one day would be an empire. Unbeknownst to me, I started my business during a recession, but I was thankful that I didn’t really know what that word meant, so it didn’t slow me down!
I knew about having a work ethic and a “not to fail” attitude, but I didn’t know a lot about running my own business. I did, however, possess the essential characteristics needed to be a successful business owner. The keys to running a business are to have a passion and a reason, and surrounding yourself with the right people. My passion was the industry and customers, and my reason was the haters who said, “You can’t do it.” Together, those gave me the determination, motivation, and grit to succeed.
I learned over the years that you can’t do it all yourself. As I said, you’ve got to hire and surround yourself with good people. The majority of our staff, starting out, were friends and family. My wife would send out invoices and write reports at night, and an old roommate became our Operations Manager.
On a rainy Friday night in March 2022, I got a call from a buddy in need. He was looking for someone to pump and move rainwater at the Gainesville Raceway. They were rained out and couldn’t get cars on the track. They hired us to come and do vacuum removal of the water. We took six pump trucks and removed over 150,000 gallons of water in one day.
They liked our quick response and knowledge of how to handle the situation, so they asked if we would also be willing to provide them with portable restrooms for their races. We had no porta pots at the time and they had 300 porta pots that needed ongoing service. So, my wife Brittany, and I bought 400 portables and launched Florida Portable Services.
Rapid Growth of Kyle Myers’ Gainesville Enterprise
Florida Portable Services has grown by about 300 portable units per year for the past 3 years. We’re now at about 1,000 rental units and 8 trucks for servicing portables. In 2024, after being asked several times if we had dumpsters, we started to add dumpster rentals and haul-offs to our services.
At Florida Portable Services, we have 5 drivers, 3 office staff, and an operations manager. For Newsome Septic, we have around 9 employees – 2 on the well services side and 7 on the septic side. In total, we have about 25 fleet vehicles. Plus, we have excavators, skid steers, and other equipment needed to perform quality work for our customers.
Our service area spans from Orlando to the Georgia state line, to Live Oak, to St. Augustine. Between the two companies, we provide a one-stop shop for water wells, septic systems, portable restroom rentals, dumpsters, and related services. The restroom trailers provide climate control and other comforts. We offer portable handwashing stations to help ensure sanitation, dumpsters for site cleanup, waste tanks for emergency sites, porta potties with crane lifts for high-rise construction, and light towers for worker safety at night.
We provide trailers for agricultural sites and solar fields, and restroom trailers, including AC trailers, for events and many other uses, to supply critical hygiene resources for all circumstances and needs. We have a wide range of equipment to meet diverse emergency needs. This includes more than 50 handwashing stations, 12 or more hand sanitizing stations, 15 2-unit trailers with a sink, a 4-stall, and a 2-stall AC luxury units.
The transition to running two businesses has worked well. For service calls, we’re probably seeing about 500 customers per month between both businesses. The septic division runs new service or repair(s), along with pumpouts every day. The portable and dumpster rentals have more than tripled in 3 years, and we project the same rate of annual growth over the next few years.
Equipment in Dual Operations
We chose the Armal equipment for several reasons. One was about brand recognition. Branding is important to me. As we started out, we wanted to distance ourselves from the competition. We wanted a unique color scheme that fit our business brand and stood out, not only from the competition but also on the job site. The Armal staff were accommodating to make that happen.
Armal also provides a good quality porta pot product along with great customer service. Anytime we’ve needed them, they’ve always been there, reachable even on nights and weekends. From our inception, all of our portable toilets have been purchased from Armal. From our porta-pots to our trucks, they are all coordinated to match our brand and vision.
Florida Portable Services and Newsome Well & Septic
Our employees are very skilled. They all know how to deliver excellent services for any situation a customer may have. We are professionals who are familiar with our local region and know its particular challenges and requirements. We provide a full range of site facilities and services for special events, sporting events, construction, agricultural operations, and industrial needs, including, but not limited to:
| Porta Potty Rentals Restroom Trailer Rental Handwashing Stations Hand Sanitizing Stations | Waste Tanks Light Towers Dumpster Rentals Septic Inspections | Drain Field Installation Septic Systems Installation Septic Tank Pump Outs Hydrojetting and storm jetting |
We offer 24/7 availability for emergency services through both of our businesses. We’re always ready to respond to customers’ needs.
Marketing for Florida Portable Services and Newsome Well & Septic
Today, we have websites and social media. But, for the first 12-15 years, our growth was almost all from word of mouth. When it comes to social media, we post photos and we try to “go live,” posting videos of services that we’re providing, along with trying to engage our followers with questions. We also try to keep our websites up to date and ensure that our SEO is set up to help get customers through internet searches.
We do our best to provide quality services and customer service. We know that with this, we can gain reviews through Google, Facebook, etc. It is also important to us to do our best to respond to the comments made by our customers.
With both businesses, we try to provide the best services in our area, as we know that generating positive word of mouth, in some way, shape, or form, is still our biggest marketing technique.
Jontelle, Office Manager, Newsome Septic, offers insights into the impressive success of Kyle Myers’ team leadership methods in the dual operations. We asked about managing what might present unwieldy daily team coordination problems across the two businesses. Jontelle explained, “We mostly use a group chat app to provide everyone with easy access to an open team platform.”
Kyle continued, Our team attends trade shows, the WWETT show, and other learning events. We’re a member of FOWA (Florida Onsite Wastewater Association), and we utilize the learning opportunities they offer. The biggest thing I’ve learned about leadership is that you’ve got to have a team with everyone on the same page to make it work. We always talk, every day, and we pull together to create solutions when something comes up. We’re a close-knit group.
The portables business is really fast-paced. The hardest part is finding quality drivers. The jobs working out in the field are harder to fill with talented, long-term employees. We offer a great benefits package and a family-like environment. We have monthly breakfasts and celebrate birthdays. We offer insurance that pays 75%, paid vacations, retirement plans, and we give people a happy environment to work in.
When asked about adding to the team, Jontelle added, “We just had a meeting on that today. We do working interviews. We understand that this is definitely not an industry for everybody. We have job applicants come in, and we pay them for the interview. We work them the full day.
We ask them to be here at 8:00 am and experience it live, to make sure they’re into it. They do a ride-along. They can’t be afraid of a shovel. They can’t be afraid of the heat. They can’t be afraid of poop. Spending a day doing the job is very effective for finding people who are a good fit for these companies.”
Advice for Newcomers to the Industry from Kyle Myers, Gainesville, FL
Do what you say you will. Show up, and do the job right. Also, you’ve got to answer your phone — and be ready to go all the time. For the future, have an open mind.
On Myers’ Dual Operations in North Central Florida
There is a sense of powerful energy, laser focus, and indomitable momentum conveyed by the Myers team. The earlier-mentioned passion, motivation, determination, and grit of the business owner are ingrained in the internal culture. The fierce commitment to quality and customer satisfaction, common among the best in the industry, was also strongly recognizable in this dynamic team.
It certainly seems reasonable to expect this group of very dedicated professionals, under the direction of the remarkably driven Kyle Myers, to meet or exceed his growth goals for Florida Portable Services and Newsome Well & Septic. We look forward to continuing to follow the progress of this exciting pair of companies through the coming years.
For information about Florida Portable Services or Newsome Well & Septic services in North Central Florida, you can call (352) 810-5341 or (386) 462-7745, or visit floridaportableservices.com or newsome-septic.com.