While Joe and Carli Watkins, owners of Watkins Septic & Drain in Hartland, Michigan, are grateful they have a business that provides them with a good living and a bright future, they’re not only in it for themselves. They say that the business also gives them the ability to contribute to their community, provide employment opportunities, and support their current and future employees.
The couple hired their first employee in October 2022. Although that person left earlier this year, they quickly replaced him.
Managing employees adds a whole other element to running a business. But it also offers many benefits if you get the right person. It helps ease one of the most challenging aspects of business ownership — namely its all-consuming nature, which is especially difficult for the Watkins as they have two young children, a son age 5 and a daughter age 4.
The company offers above-average pay. Joe Watkins, having been an employee himself in the industry, believes in paying drivers well. It’s not a job many people want to do, and he says he believes it deserves good compensation. Benefits include a 401(k) plan and paid vacations and holidays. Their driver also gets a dig fee when he has to dig up a tank to service it.
“I’ve dug a lot of holes in my lifetime and I believe, for a driver to even want to dig, we should give him some incentive,” Watkins says.
The Watkins also believe in contributing to their community. While they are well-engaged with social media advertising, they are also strong supporters of local businesses. They run ads in their monthly shopper newspaper and use a nearby print shop for their printer needs.
The couple discounts services for veterans and seniors. And they support other contractors by sending them work that requires larger equipment not in their roster, such as Vactors and heavy-duty commercial jetters.
Read more about Watkins Septic & Drain in the December 2024 issue of Cleaner magazine.
