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A Year in the Life - Meet Gena Boggero (Part Four)
Year in the Life, Part IV
For: Sanitation Journal
By: Carol Brzozowski
This is the fourth installment in a year-long series titled “Year in the Life,” featuring
an in-depth look at a portable sanitation operation.
This month, Sanitation Journal interviews Gena Boggero, owner of Boggero’s
Services in Greenwood, Carolina about taxes, expenses and cutting costs.
April heralds spring…and the IRS.
This is naturally the time of year when business owners take stock of the previous year and confer with
accountants on a blueprint for the upcoming tax season.
For Gena Boggero, owner of Boggero’s Services, her accountant, Rodney Stone of Going and Associates in
Greenwood, has become a valuable “partner” in her business endeavors.
“Something I’ve always loved about Rodney is that Rodney will tell you very quickly ‘I’m not going to lie for
you. I’m not going to bend numbers. I’m not going to twist things. We’re going to do this the right way.’
“And that is something I love about Rodney, because at the same time he’ll tell you real quick, ‘I’ve got your
back’. If anything was ever to happen, having an accountant would be my piece of mind because I know I didn’
t do anything wrong so I have nothing to be afraid of.”
For Boggero, that peace of mind is a “huge” factor.
“When I have to worry about whether the sales are up, making sure the trucks are running and making sure
everything is running smoothly and properly, Lord knows I don’t have time to be worrying about the IRS or the
Employment Security Commission and everything else. It’s a wonderful, wonderful thing to have an accountant
so you don’t have to worry about those things.”
In every business, someone has to crunch the numbers. In large businesses, that may be an in-house
accountant, bookkeeper or office manager – in a small operation, owners such as Boggero wear most of the hats
in the operation.
“It’s good to have an accountant and not do it yourself,” she points out.
For Boggero, 2007 was a break-even year.
“We did a lot of purchasing - we bought beaucoup numbers of toilets. We bought a new truck, so breaking even
would be good because of the purchases we made. We had a number of write-offs through our supplies and
vehicle purchases,” she says.
Boggero doesn’t plan to initiate any new strategies for the 2008 tax season.
“We’re going to run the course we’ve been running,” she says. “It’s a good course. We’ve done well on the
write-offs. I think we’re going to hold to the same approach.”
Boggero likes to get her taxes in early each year.
“I like to get on top of the ball when it comes to taxes because I’ve seen my father struggle trying to get his
taxes done with so many things going on at one time,” she says. “I turned them in during the third week of
February.”
Boggero admits she’s not always “on the ball” when it comes to tax issues, so she considers her accountant’s
work invaluable in keeping her on task.
“Bless Rodney’s heart, he needs to stay on top of me about sending in my employee records,” Boggero says.
“He calls me all of the time and says, ‘Gena, you need to send in your quarterlies’ and I say, OK! I’m sorry, I’m
sorry, I’m sorry!”
When it comes to financial matters, Boggero says the best advice she’s ever received is to have ample amounts
of insurance.
“If you get into a little fender bender, people assume, ‘Oh, she owns a business’, and they automatically see
dollar signs,” says Boggero. “That’s so not the way it is!”
In fact, the way it really is for Boggero is staying the course to keep in the black.
“I refuse to let my employees go during the slow winter months from October to the first of March,” she says.
“They’re dependent on me. So we consolidate the entire route with one truck to save on gas. We keep the other
employee here and he’ll do odd jobs here and there and work on toilets, pick-ups and deliveries.
“It does help big time on the fuel bills because we don’t have two trucks running; we only have one. But at the
same time, we’ve got that extra person if an emergency comes up or if we have a situation where we need
someone right away.”
Another strategy Boggero employs during the winter months is to keep a deliberately slow pace.
“We work more at getting everything ready for the summer season, so that way we don’t have a lot of overtime
cutting into the summer months,” she says. “We take advantage of the winter months to get everything ready.
We fixed up a couple of handwash stations that were broke.
“I tell my guys to take off as much time as they can during the winter months because in the summer months, I
cannot guarantee them that they can have a Friday off. That helps conserve as far as paychecks, too. They
understand.”
And like a squirrel who buries nuts during the pleasant weather in order to have food during the winter, Boggero
takes the overflow from a summer abundance of servicing special events and socks it into a savings account.
She’s learned to calculate what she needs each month to get buy and earmarks extra money to compensate for
the slower business period.
“It’s my ‘special’ money,” she says. “At the beginning of winter, I had $7,000 stored up and we had $1,000 left
over, so we’ve had to reach in there, but that’s what it’s there for – a winter contingency.”
Fuel continues to be a major expense for Boggero’s Services.
“Consumption is a big thing for us,” says Boggero. “We’re constantly looking at the route sheets every week
and seeing if there are toilets that can be put out another day to save money. Granted, I know a lot of businesses
out there that are using quadruple the amount of gas we’re using, but for a small company, we’ve got a $2,000 a
month fuel bill and that’s a lot of money.
“I would love for nothing more than to look into biodiesel fuel, but even there, you’re looking into another
investment. Fuel is definitely something we keep an eye on.”
Additionally, Boggero has found a way to make more money off of old units while saving the environment.
She sells old and damaged units to hunters. The toilet seats are removed and hunters paint them camouflage.
“You really can’t do anything with old, damaged portable toilets, but instead of taking them to the landfill, we
have a lot of hunters around here that like to use them as blinds,” she says. “To get $50 to $100 out of them is
really good.”
Boggero’s husband has one, painted camouflage with slots cut into it and a swivel seat inside.
A customer of Boggero’s – a South Carolina prison warden – takes old units, paints them and donates them to
local duck hunting associations for fundraising events.
“The last one he did fetched $400,” Boggero notes.
A lot of people use old units as tool sheds. One customer cut one in half, using it as a doghouse.
“We’ve got a lot of uses for our old portable toilets that can’t be put on jobsites anymore,” says Boggero. “We’
ve found little ways here and there to make money during the wintertime.”
P.S. We welcome Gena Boggero and her husband Ben Partain’s daughter Lilly – barely a half-year old, as
what may be Sanitation Journal’s youngest reader. Gina tells of a recent day when Lilly had been a little fussy,
so Gena’s father Barry offered to take Lilly while Gina could work on accounting issues.
After completing her work, Gena went into the room in which Barry took Lilly and found Lilly on Grandpa’s
lap, reading Sanitation Journal and taking great interest in it, turning it page by page!
Part 1 in a "Year in the Life"
Part 2 in a "Year in the Life"
Part 3 in a "Year in the Life"
Part 5 in a "Year in the Life"
For: Sanitation Journal
By: Carol Brzozowski
This is the fourth installment in a year-long series titled “Year in the Life,” featuring
an in-depth look at a portable sanitation operation.
This month, Sanitation Journal interviews Gena Boggero, owner of Boggero’s
Services in Greenwood, Carolina about taxes, expenses and cutting costs.
April heralds spring…and the IRS.
This is naturally the time of year when business owners take stock of the previous year and confer with
accountants on a blueprint for the upcoming tax season.
For Gena Boggero, owner of Boggero’s Services, her accountant, Rodney Stone of Going and Associates in
Greenwood, has become a valuable “partner” in her business endeavors.
“Something I’ve always loved about Rodney is that Rodney will tell you very quickly ‘I’m not going to lie for
you. I’m not going to bend numbers. I’m not going to twist things. We’re going to do this the right way.’
“And that is something I love about Rodney, because at the same time he’ll tell you real quick, ‘I’ve got your
back’. If anything was ever to happen, having an accountant would be my piece of mind because I know I didn’
t do anything wrong so I have nothing to be afraid of.”
For Boggero, that peace of mind is a “huge” factor.
“When I have to worry about whether the sales are up, making sure the trucks are running and making sure
everything is running smoothly and properly, Lord knows I don’t have time to be worrying about the IRS or the
Employment Security Commission and everything else. It’s a wonderful, wonderful thing to have an accountant
so you don’t have to worry about those things.”
In every business, someone has to crunch the numbers. In large businesses, that may be an in-house
accountant, bookkeeper or office manager – in a small operation, owners such as Boggero wear most of the hats
in the operation.
“It’s good to have an accountant and not do it yourself,” she points out.
For Boggero, 2007 was a break-even year.
“We did a lot of purchasing - we bought beaucoup numbers of toilets. We bought a new truck, so breaking even
would be good because of the purchases we made. We had a number of write-offs through our supplies and
vehicle purchases,” she says.
Boggero doesn’t plan to initiate any new strategies for the 2008 tax season.
“We’re going to run the course we’ve been running,” she says. “It’s a good course. We’ve done well on the
write-offs. I think we’re going to hold to the same approach.”
Boggero likes to get her taxes in early each year.
“I like to get on top of the ball when it comes to taxes because I’ve seen my father struggle trying to get his
taxes done with so many things going on at one time,” she says. “I turned them in during the third week of
February.”
Boggero admits she’s not always “on the ball” when it comes to tax issues, so she considers her accountant’s
work invaluable in keeping her on task.
“Bless Rodney’s heart, he needs to stay on top of me about sending in my employee records,” Boggero says.
“He calls me all of the time and says, ‘Gena, you need to send in your quarterlies’ and I say, OK! I’m sorry, I’m
sorry, I’m sorry!”
When it comes to financial matters, Boggero says the best advice she’s ever received is to have ample amounts
of insurance.
“If you get into a little fender bender, people assume, ‘Oh, she owns a business’, and they automatically see
dollar signs,” says Boggero. “That’s so not the way it is!”
In fact, the way it really is for Boggero is staying the course to keep in the black.
“I refuse to let my employees go during the slow winter months from October to the first of March,” she says.
“They’re dependent on me. So we consolidate the entire route with one truck to save on gas. We keep the other
employee here and he’ll do odd jobs here and there and work on toilets, pick-ups and deliveries.
“It does help big time on the fuel bills because we don’t have two trucks running; we only have one. But at the
same time, we’ve got that extra person if an emergency comes up or if we have a situation where we need
someone right away.”
Another strategy Boggero employs during the winter months is to keep a deliberately slow pace.
“We work more at getting everything ready for the summer season, so that way we don’t have a lot of overtime
cutting into the summer months,” she says. “We take advantage of the winter months to get everything ready.
We fixed up a couple of handwash stations that were broke.
“I tell my guys to take off as much time as they can during the winter months because in the summer months, I
cannot guarantee them that they can have a Friday off. That helps conserve as far as paychecks, too. They
understand.”
And like a squirrel who buries nuts during the pleasant weather in order to have food during the winter, Boggero
takes the overflow from a summer abundance of servicing special events and socks it into a savings account.
She’s learned to calculate what she needs each month to get buy and earmarks extra money to compensate for
the slower business period.
“It’s my ‘special’ money,” she says. “At the beginning of winter, I had $7,000 stored up and we had $1,000 left
over, so we’ve had to reach in there, but that’s what it’s there for – a winter contingency.”
Fuel continues to be a major expense for Boggero’s Services.
“Consumption is a big thing for us,” says Boggero. “We’re constantly looking at the route sheets every week
and seeing if there are toilets that can be put out another day to save money. Granted, I know a lot of businesses
out there that are using quadruple the amount of gas we’re using, but for a small company, we’ve got a $2,000 a
month fuel bill and that’s a lot of money.
“I would love for nothing more than to look into biodiesel fuel, but even there, you’re looking into another
investment. Fuel is definitely something we keep an eye on.”
Additionally, Boggero has found a way to make more money off of old units while saving the environment.
She sells old and damaged units to hunters. The toilet seats are removed and hunters paint them camouflage.
“You really can’t do anything with old, damaged portable toilets, but instead of taking them to the landfill, we
have a lot of hunters around here that like to use them as blinds,” she says. “To get $50 to $100 out of them is
really good.”
Boggero’s husband has one, painted camouflage with slots cut into it and a swivel seat inside.
A customer of Boggero’s – a South Carolina prison warden – takes old units, paints them and donates them to
local duck hunting associations for fundraising events.
“The last one he did fetched $400,” Boggero notes.
A lot of people use old units as tool sheds. One customer cut one in half, using it as a doghouse.
“We’ve got a lot of uses for our old portable toilets that can’t be put on jobsites anymore,” says Boggero. “We’
ve found little ways here and there to make money during the wintertime.”
P.S. We welcome Gena Boggero and her husband Ben Partain’s daughter Lilly – barely a half-year old, as
what may be Sanitation Journal’s youngest reader. Gina tells of a recent day when Lilly had been a little fussy,
so Gena’s father Barry offered to take Lilly while Gina could work on accounting issues.
After completing her work, Gena went into the room in which Barry took Lilly and found Lilly on Grandpa’s
lap, reading Sanitation Journal and taking great interest in it, turning it page by page!
Part 1 in a "Year in the Life"
Part 2 in a "Year in the Life"
Part 3 in a "Year in the Life"
Part 5 in a "Year in the Life"
Serving the American Liquid Waste Industry Since 2002
