Take the guesswork out of starting or scaling your portable toilet rental business with this financial projections calculator. This tool estimates startup costs, monthly revenue, and annual profits while identifying the exact number of toilets required to hit your financial goals. Whether you’re planning for your first 50 toilets or scaling to 100+ this porta-potty business tool delivers projections you won’t want to flush down the toilet.
Porta Potty Business Calculator
Business Information
Startup Costs
Rental Projections
Monthly Costs
Additional Monthly Costs
Profit Goals
How to use this calculator
This guide will walk you through each section of the calculator and explain the underlying formulas used to generate results, and cites my sources behind the default settings in this tool.
1. Business Information: Simply enter your business name. This will be used in the financial projections report at the end.
2. Startup Costs: This tool tracks two primary startup expenses:
Porta Potty Investment = (Unit Price × Number of Units). I used the default price of $800 per portable restroom as a baseline for a basic toilet, but this price could vary greatly depending on the type.
Viking Rentals explains how a standard toilets you see at concerts or job sites with lock and simple ventilation system range from $600 – $1,200 new. But there are flushable and ADA accessible toilets that range from $1,200 to $2,500, and all sorts of enhanced luxury toilet options you could invest in that can flush, have hand rails, more space, sinks, and air conditioning that could cost $20,000 or more and considered luxury toilets.
Tushee’s Portable Toilets has some of the best branding I’ve seen in this industry.
Vehicle Investment: This is a rough estimate required to purchase a truck or trailer. By default I set this at $40,000. As with any vehicle / trailer combination you could go much higher or lower with the estimates.
3. Rental Projections
The calculator uses a percentage-based system to estimate revenue across different rental types:
Monthly Revenue Formula:
Total Monthly Revenue =
(Monthly Rental % × Units × Monthly Price) +
(Weekend Rental % × Units × Weekend Price × 4 weekends) +
(10-Day Rental % × Units × 10-Day Price)
Important notes about this section:
- Percentages must total 100% (Monthly + Weekend + 10-Day + No Rental)
- Weekend revenue is multiplied by 4 to account for all weekends in a month. This tool assumes you can rent the porta potty each weekend of the month, which is a good option for events like concerts or street fairs.
- “No Rental %” represents unused inventory. I used a 20% built-in buffer for toilet rental vacancy based on the business projections from Nate Jones, the CEO of Wexford Insurance, and someone who offers his perspective on a wide-range of business ideas on YouTube.
- According to Nate, an 80% occupancy rate for this type of business is a reasonable estimate based on the industry so I included this in the default settings. I utilized Nate’s thought process behind projecting revenue for a portable restroom business to build this calculator so major hat tip to him.
The calculator considers many common expenses you’ll encounter with this business including: salaries, storage fees, insurance, septic fees, fuel costs, marketing and custom expenses you can add to make the calculations more accurate. Monthly loan costs associated with starting the business is one way to take advantage of this customizable section.
This tool also considers per-toilet maintenance and servicing costs calculated as: (Variable Cost per Toilet × Number of Units).
Profitability Calculations:
Monthly Profit:
Monthly Profit = Monthly Revenue - Total Monthly Costs
Per-Unit Metrics: You could also consider this per-toilet metrics. This is my favorite metric in the tool because it will help you understand the exact number of toilets you’ll need to hit profit goals based on your exact inputs.
Monthly Profit per Unit = Monthly Profit ÷ Number of Units
Annual Profit per Unit = Monthly Profit per Unit × 12
Business Valuation: This is a very rough value that you could potentially sell a business based on an industry standard 3x – 5x multiplier. But keep in mind that these factors will vary greatly depending on whether or not you can pay yourself and employees a salary or if this business is the owner / operator model.
- Low Estimate = Annual Profit × 3
- High Estimate = Annual Profit × 5
Consult a licensed professional for an accurate estimate and explanation of all the factors that go into this sort of evaluation. In fact, consult a licensed professional before investing or starting any type of small business.
This is your standard issue portable potty.
How not to fail in the restroom rental business
When most people think about starting a porta potty rental business, their minds jump to logistics: buying units, pricing strategy, buying a reliable truck and trailer, and handling septic services. But here’s the deal: none of that matters if no one is renting out your restrooms. Marketing can’t be an afterthought in this business, it needs to be a foundational part of your business plan.
Let’s start with the essentials. If you’re not listed on Google My Business, you might as well not exist. Registering your business and investing in Google advertising ensures that when someone searches for ‘porta potty rental near me,’ your company is what they see. This is the kind of low-hanging fruit you can’t afford to ignore.
Contractors, event organizers, and even wedding planners often make snap decisions based on what’s at the top of their search results. If you’re not there, your competitors will be. So make sure to claim your Google My Business page, fill it out with lots of photos and details, and of course encourage your customers to provide reviews.
Some porta potty services are able to show up on page 1 will fewer than 10 reviews. This is could be an opportunity in your area too!
Caitlyn breaks it down further: “Focus on areas with contractors and event planners. These customer profiles drive demand and directly impact your profitability.” For example, a booming city with multiple construction sites creates a steady baseline of customers, while a festival-heavy area brings in short-term but lucrative rentals.
The takeaway? Success in the porta potty business isn’t just about having the cleanest units or the best delivery times. It’s about being discoverable when potential clients are looking and making sure you’re in the right place to capture their attention. In an industry that’s constantly in demand, smart marketing and thorough market research are what separate the winners from the rest.
Related tools:
Septic Tank Pumping Cost Calculator & Quote Estimator: Since you’re going to be renting out portable restrooms, why not take the septic tank cleaning expense and put it into the income column of your business. As your rental business grows, explore how adding a septic tank cleaning service could add to the bottom line.
About the Author: Brett Lindenberg
