In 1999, Rich and Julie Anderson took the reins of Jimmy’s Johnnys and grew that business immensely over the following 22 years of their leadership. Ultimately, per the long-term strategic plan of many forward-thinking business owners, Rich positioned the company to sell, then sold it to Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS), a budding conglomerate, and followed through on the prearrangement to stay on for a few years in a regional management role to help guide the buyer’s company through the transitional period of the acquisition.
Alan Handley of LRS announced at the time of the sale, “We have acquired one of the largest portable restroom and on-site storage container companies in Minnesota, Jimmy’s Johnnys. This is LRS’ 10th 2021 acquisition to-date.” Press Release: http://ow.ly/uqRS50FzOiR.
About six months ago, with his work to facilitate the smooth transfer of Jimmy’s Johnnys to its new owners finally completed, Rich became free of that interim commitment and has now made the full move to his new entrepreneurial venture, Minnesota Container Sales.
From Jimmy’s Johnnys to Minnesota Container Sales
In the ALW January 2019 issue, we ran our original article on Jimmy’s Johnnys, based on our interview with Rich Anderson at that time. In 1999, he had taken ownership of the existing portable toilet rental company his uncle, Jim Lillemo, had started in 1979. With his fresh business degree, he had noticed how popular that kind of business was becoming in his area and decided to buy 10 or 12 toilets and start a rental business of his own. His mom told him about his uncle’s business, which he then bought.
He said in the 2019 interview, “My wife and I discussed whether we wanted to remain a smaller regional player or go for the gusto and become a full-complement provider.” Rich then grew Jimmy’s Johnnys into a thriving mega provider. He eventually added storage containers after he noticed them at an industry convention.
In that original interview, he recalled, “I immediately thought it was a great idea. He [the vendor] had a little bar graph showing strong income for delivery charges for a unit and pay to pick it back up. While it’s on the customer’s site, it just sits there. There’s no service to do to it, and you get paid about the same as for a toilet unit. There are no added real estate taxes for customers who buy the units, because they’re not permanent structures, and they’re waterproof, so they’re a great option for storing equipment.”
In 2021, Rich sold the portable toilet rental business and launched his new shipping container sales business. Minnesota Container Sales does not rent containers at this time, but does offer rent-to-own options for buying shipping containers.
New Business Inspired By Shipping Container Performance as Added Revenue Channel for Portable Toilet Rental Co
We asked Rich what he likes most about his new entrepreneurial pursuit. He said, it keeps us busy, and it’s a kind of fun business. I started it a long time ago as a hobby. Toilet rentals are seasonal in our climate area. Off-season, I was looking for things to do. I was so bored one winter, I looked at the shipping container idea. I thought, I wonder if people will buy these. And, I decided to try it and added it as a new service line.
Shipping container service lines have become a very popular added revenue channel for portable toilet rental companies throughout the country. Rich looks at his own experience with that model. It was a fun add-on to the toilet rental business, and it actually turned into a pretty significant chunk of change. When you sell it, they do the EBIT on your net profit. The LRS buyers determined that they didn’t want the retail sales component. They weren’t really set up for that. I love selling them. It’s easy, it’s clean, and it delivers a good return, so I continued that on my own, aside from my role in managing Jimmy’s Johnnys through the years of the transition after they bought it.
The container sales worked very well as a supplementary service. I was too busy in the summer, June, July, and August. But I could give it more attention in the fall and spring. Now I have time anytime of the year to work on it, and I’m enjoying that.
Minnesota Container Sales – Strong Startup
The new website address for the Andersons’ container business is stunning, though Rich explained, the preliminary site is not fully set up yet. It’s still being developed. The web presence and web reputation of Jimmy’s Johnnys under the direction of Rich Anderson has always been among the very best in the industry. Per his consistent web performance, he is mindful of SEO for the upcoming finished site and supporting social pages.
The sheer volume of coverage of his sale of Jimmy’s Johnnys to LRS and the opening of Minnesota Container in industry news publications has rendered a wealth of quality backlinks for the new mncontainersales.com site. The northern US world of portable toilet rental services, so many of which offer full-scope event facilities and equipment, can now procure containers from Anderson’s new container sales service online.
For events, commercial, and construction customers, Rich has long been reputed as the region’s most experienced and leader in the portable toilet industry. We can imagine the service quality and extraordinary efficiencies he is now bringing to the container procurement process for busy construction supervisors, event planners, and business owners of all types in Minnesota.
The Satisfying Choice to Make the Big Move
In 2021, five different companies approached me to buy it. I looked at their offers. Almost all of them wanted me to keep a lot of skin in their game. The LRS guys came in and said, “We’ll write you a check.” Initially, I told them, you guys are five years too early. I had intended to wait to sell when my youngest graduated from high school, in 2025. So, we chose to sell in 2021 instead, and told them I’d stay on for 5 years as their General Manager. Within 6 months or so of the end of that timeframe, the separation was official. So, I became free to go forward with the container company.
Asked how he’s enjoying the new venture, Rich reflects: We’re very satisfied with our decision to make the change. Selling the containers is more fun for me than work. It’s more of a hobby at this point. When LRS bought Jimmy’s Johhnys, they didn’t want to do retail sales. They took all the rental containers, and I continued to sell units during the transition years.
Now that I’m on my own, I’m pushing a little harder on the sales than I had been while continuing to manage Jimmy’s Johnnys through the LRS acquisition. I sold some every year, to keep it kind of active, but I was working full time through that transition period, so I spent limited time on container sales.
At Minnesota Container Sales, we sell used and new containers. You can get used containers from shipping lines or brokers. Originally, containers were sold mostly just on Craigslist, then they became available on Facebook Marketplace. But, it’s very convenient in Minnesota to get top-quality containers from us, often at better prices.
Growth Goals for Minnesota Container?
When the Andersons sold Jimmy’s Johnnys, they had a sizeable staff and an inventory of around 3,500 portable toilets, numerous luxury restroom trailers, ADA units, shower trailers, an array of plastics (handwashing stations, hand sanitizing stations, etc.), about 200 rental containers, and numerous field service trucks. So, when Rich Anderson says he plans to grow his new container business, it’s a plan everyone takes very seriously. It will certainly be exciting to watch it happen over the coming years.
How Does Rich Anderson Grow Companies?
I’ve been doing it for so long [selling shipping containers] that a lot of past customers call me. Usually, they start off saying something like, “A friend of my cousin, or a cousin of my friend bought one from you…” They always refer people to me because I treat everyone fairly. Shipping containers are very popular for a lot of uses. My cousin bought one from me a couple of years ago. He said he was going to take the 40-foot container and make a bunk house. One customer bought one and buried it under his pole barn for a storm shelter. Another buried one and used it for a gun vault.
Currently, I’m just keeping inventory of up to about a dozen of each size to show people. Since I knew the time was nearing that I would be leaving the LRS organization, I bought two new gooseneck trailers, a 24-foot and a 40-foot, and I have a Dodge 3500F to pull those. [Asked if he expects to add hooklift trucks, additional roll-off trucks, and other vehicles over time, Rich said he would do that as needed.]
We have not hired employees yet. I’ve got a niece who drives big equipment for another company, and she’s expressed interest. My wife Julie is also retired. She does all the billing, creating invoices and processing payments, etc., and she manages all the office operations for the new business.
We asked if he plans to use the mncontainersales.com website to generate leads. Rich said, yes, we will. The lady who created the site for us is really good at SEO. She did the Jimmy’s Johnnys website for us and it really popped. It was always in the top 3 to 5 search results on Google.
Asked if he plans to add any other types of rental products or service lines, Rich said simply — you never know — maintaining the never-say-never mindset of the most creative business leaders.
Biggest Challenges During the MNC Startup Phase
The hardest thing is that the industry has really changed in the last five years since I started selling shipping containers as a part of Jimmy’s Johnnys. Since then, about a million people [he’s speaking figuratively] have jumped into this business. In the past, when you looked in Marketplace, there were maybe a half dozen people selling them. Now there are hundreds.
Advice for Newcomers to the Container Business from Rich Anderson, Owner, Minnesota Container Sales
They’d want to do the rentals for sure, not just the sales alone. Starting out, it would be a hard slog as a stand-alone business to grow much doing container sales only. And going door to door to contractors is not an efficient approach.
Rich Anderson’s vision for a move to the ideal retirement business serves to present a great option for portable toilet rental operators. For those looking to continue working and having fun doing it after they parachute from their long-term businesses at the close of the first chapter of their entrepreneurial careers, this can be a sweet spot to land.
The brilliant and phenomenally accomplished Rich Anderson transformed the industry’s understanding and expectations of Minnesota and the greater northern regional portable restroom rental market. It will undoubtedly be fascinating to follow as he does that kind of magic in the new and increasingly competitive field he has entered.
For information about Minnesota Container Sales you can call Rich Anderson directly at (612-221-2800), or visit mncontainersales.com.
SOURCES:
https://jimmysjohnnys.com/portable-storage-containers/
https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/szENXpe2f_2hYFX96gu1bg/o.jpg
https://www.yelp.com/biz/jimmys-johnnys-north-branch-2
https://www.linkedin.com/in/richanderson/
https://x.com/jimmysjohnnys/status/708388531110981632
https://www.wastetodaymagazine.com/news/lrs-airfresh-jl-hurt-portable-restroom-midwest-acquistion/