Maddy Collier, Kez Campbell and Mel Collier have revolutionised the portable toilet business. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Stepping inside a portable loo can be one of life’s least-appealing experiences, with users often having to hold their breath and shut their eyes.
That’s why lifelong best friends Mel Collier and Kez Campbell seized on a unique business opportunity – creating a feminised mobile bathroom enterprise offering a luxurious toilet experience. The pair has teamed up with Mel’s 18-year-old daughter Maddy to launch the all-women start-up Riverina Mobile Bathrooms.
“We got to one job site and the guy looked at the three of us and said, ‘Wow, I can’t believe girls do this too’,” Mel said.
The trio has purchased two four-toilet, four-basin portable bathrooms, which they have rented out for use at weddings, outdoor parties, construction sites, and schools that are renovating their regular facilities.
Kez said Riverina Portable Mobile Bathrooms offered a unique ”girlie” touch, in what could be the first luxury segment of the market.
“We do it all pretty inside, we put in flowers, scents, candles and female sanitary items … we put in insect sprays for mosquitos for night-time events,” Kez said.
“They were pretty basic when we bought them, but we’ve put the nice touches on them.”
Maddy added: “Mum and I do the cleaning, taking it to the jobs, etc.”
Kez looks after the finance and administration side.
It’s the first time Mel, Kez and Maddy have gone into business.
“Setting up was hard, just trying to get everyone on the same page when we first started,” Mel said.
”We hadn’t done any business stuff before. We were like, ‘We’ve got to do this, we’ve got to do that’. But now we have a process, we know our roles, we know what we have to do.”
The hardest part of the job is the cleaning and disposing work after the event, something even the youngest in the group isn’t squeamish about at all.
“Maddy has always been a really good cleaner,” Mel said. ”She’s like my house cleaner, she’s great, she’s a hard worker. That’s why she’s made a good business partner … she’s also a really good saver, she’s been working since she was 14 and put in all her own money.”
Mel and Kez have been inseparable since they were teenagers.
“We were both born in Griffith,” Mel said. ”I moved to South Australia and Kez followed me, she missed me too much. My daughter was born in South Australia, and then we moved back here. If one of us moves, the other one has to follow.”
The duo now plans to grow the business.
“We’re getting a lot of requests and comments on social media now for bigger things,” Mel said. ”We’d like to expand, we want to get more mobile bathrooms that include showers.”
The trio work on their new trademark.
The girl power trio could also become an awesome foursome soon, with Kez’s eight-year-old daughter Jyli also looking to become a shareholder. But she sees her role as limited.
“I want to do the decorations and stuff but not the cleaning,” Jyli said.
More information on Riverina Mobile Bathrooms can be found on its Facebook page.
Original Article published by Oliver Jacques on Region Riverina.
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