Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

OSHA, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is an agency that was established to ensure safe and healthful working environments for both men and women. OSHA regulations require that an equal number of facilities must be provided for both sexes. For women in construction, this provides an unmet need. The nature of this need is serious, being that female employees in the majority of sites do not have access to a sanitary restroom. Some might argue that separate facilities shows special treatment to women and that unisex restrooms should suffice, however, OSHA rule clearly states that “Employers should provide separate bathrooms for male and female workers.” Sanitation rules, including provisions for female employees in the construction field, have been in place for over 30 years. Despite this, the opportunity is now being created because of the rapid increase of women in the construction field. Demographically, I am targeting females in the industry, however, this spans the entire country and can maybe spread internationally.

The main issue present is that this is an unmet need and even OSHA has acknowledged it. OSHA describes the challenge as being that temporary restrooms are mostly unisex, and these facilities are usually not maintained. As a result, women cut out drinking water in an effort to not use the restroom. This can cause heat stress, urinary tract infections, and many other health issues. This is a challenge that I have personally gone through on the field. The bathrooms on my site were unsanitary, forcing me to drive 30 minutes roundtrip to the nearest Publix twice a day and limiting my water consumption to two bottles a day. I risked my health, spent extra gas, wasted time, and it was an uncomfortable situation overall. This opportunity is huge, not only in a business aspect but in an effort to change the dynamic of the construction industry, a male-dominant field. Construction is slow in regards to internal changes within the company, making my window of opportunity lengthy, which I can use to my advantage. 

Innovation

My innovation is called the “Pink-a-Potty”, a portable bathroom that is “pink” in color and meant to meet my female customer’s needs. It works just like any regular port-a-potty except that since it is meant just for female use it will be easier to maintain it as a sanitary facility. This restroom will offer feminine products for women and, to ensure female-only access, will also bring an external lock that can only be opened by punching in the correct code. This code will be changed on a monthly basis, or per the company’s request. Each “Pink-a-Potty” ordered will also come with a full service contract, so that the company trucks can come to the customer’s jobsite once a week to empty out the restroom tanks and replenish supplies. The supplies will include toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and toilet liners. Inside of each “Pink-a-Potty” will be a toilet paper dispenser, a hand sanitizer dispenser, a toilet liner dispenser, a bag hook, and a shelf. Some of these items are not seen in your standard portable restroom. To have a successful business, I will match the prices of other portable restroom companies. For short term rentals I will offer portable toilets for $75-$100 a day per unit. For long term rentals, contracts over three months, I will offer a rate of $400-$900 a month per unit. The cost will vary based on how many units a customer would like and will include drop-off of the unit, pick-up of the unit once the contract has terminated, and a full service contract.

Venture Concept

An advantage that my innovation has is that it is a product that people already order, and is a necessity on a jobsite. I think that customers will switch from standard port-a-potties to “Pink-a-Potties” because my company will also offer standard portable restrooms so that customers can make a one stop shop. For example, if Smith Construction has a contract for 10 portable restrooms that is up for renewal, they can switch to my company and open a contract for 7 standard toilets and 3 “pink” ones for the same exact cost. It will be easy to switch because they lose nothing, yet gain a new product, a safe workplace for women, and something that makes them standout as a construction company. My competitors would be other portable restroom companies, however, their weakness is that they don’t have my “pink” product. Distribution, customer support, customer experience, and the business location all play an important role in defining my business concept. I will need multiple trucks for distributing the toilets, special equipment to empty the waste tanks inside of them, and customer support to help clients order toilets and set up contracts. With great support and distribution, customer experience will be positive and I will have loyal companies that will use my products on all of their jobsites. To start out, “Pink-a-Potties” will have an office close to major construction sites in Miami, FL. The business will have 15 employees, 10 in the office and 5 out driving trucks. Eventually, my business will expand and I will open more offices and hire more employees. Roles for the employees include sales, service, accounting, distributing, and coordinating.

The Three Minor Elements

My venture’s unfair advantage would be my networking with various construction companies. Not only are these contacts potential clients, but they can also refer me to other businesses. The fact that I am a female in the industry, the exact market that I am trying to target, makes it hard for competitors to copy my success. My next opportunity would be to open a line of pink personal protective equipment, from hardhats to vest to safety glasses and more. In five years I would like to have opened more than a dozen offices around the country and have over 200 employees. In the next decade, I hope my venture has helped achieve my vision of creating an equal workplace for women in construction.