At just 31, Daniel Tom has turned one of the least glamorous services into a booming business. As owner of Bay Area Sanitation, he now manages nearly 2,000 portable toilets across the San Francisco Bay Area, generating $4.3 million (around Rs 39 crore) in annual revenue in 2025, up from $3.1 million in 2024.
Tom launched the company in 2023 with a single truck and 100 rentable units. The business turned profitable in its first year and has scaled rapidly, supported by the region’s growth in outdoor events and construction activity. With 12 vacuum pumper trucks and 19 employees, the company handles weekly cleaning, restocking, and pumping for each unit, with labor accounting for roughly 30 percent of revenue.
Reactions to Tom’s unusual business are often skeptical at first. “I get a lot of disgusted looks,” he says. “But once I explain the business model and the revenue, most of the time they get interested.” Long-term rentals, starting at $160 per month with weekly maintenance included, provide predictable income, and Tom estimates a net profit margin of about 22 percent.
Tom reinvests most profits to expand the business, paying himself roughly $1 million annually. His next goal is to grow the fleet to 5,000 portable toilets and reach $10 million (around Rs 91 crore) in annual revenue within five years, supported by newly leased warehouse space for a larger operation.
For Tom, the work is about more than money. “I take pride in what I do,” he says. “I provide a service that everybody needs. Everybody goes, right?”
The US portable toilet rental market generated $3.3 billion in 2025, and Tom believes there’s still plenty of room for growth in the Bay Area, proving that even low-tech, AI-proof businesses can deliver high returns.
