Sue Rasmussen, owner of Royal Flush RV Services, describes how she makes money flushing holding tanks on Episode 176
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Today I will be speaking with a full-time RVer who is a certified RV technician, but opted to specialize in a very unique niche – cleaning RV waste tanks – and she makes a very good living doing that.
Sue Rasmussen has been living full-time in her Airstream travel trailer for more than six years. She started as a personal coach helping clients to unclutter and simplify their lives. In fact, for about 24 years, she helped women and business owners who were feeling overwhelmed to help them streamline many of their activities so they had more control over their time.
Originally from Minnesota, it was easy for Sue to transition her business to a travel lifestyle because most of her coaching sessions took place online before COVID made Zoom popular.
After a few years of RVing, Sue opted to attend the National RV Training Academy to learn how to take better care of her own RV and to fix most of the things that went wrong with it. As Sue attended classes, she realized there was big demand for technician services, so she opted to complete all the advanced training to become a certified RV technician.
During class, she identified a way to simplify being a technician by focusing her efforts on one particularly troublesome area – flushing RV tanks. It’s a problem that impacts all RVers at some point, especially full-time RVers. Using a hydrojet, she thoroughly cleans black and gray tanks that are either backed up or displaying faulty sensor readings.
She also gets referrals from local RV technicians who despise that type of work. Because Sue invested in the right equipment, she can do the job quickly and efficiently. She describes how she cleans the tanks and the type of equipment used to do the work.
Although she lives in an RV full-time, Sue is not a full-time traveler. She picks an area to visit, then stays there for six months to a year to fully immerse herself in the culture and experience all that region has to offer.
Although she enjoyed being a Minnesota resident, Sue started RVing because she wanted to experience different cultures and travel to new places. One of her favorite experiences enabled Sue to live on the edge of a lake in Florida where she watched alligators and sandhill cranes every day.
Even though Sue has had just one traditional Workamping job, she has met many Workampers over the years and highly recommends the lifestyle to anyone contemplating travel, but concerned about how to fund it. She liked her Workamping job because it gave her behind-the-scenes access to the RV park and let her meet many new people.
But, when Sue decided to specialize in RV tank cleaning, she really liked that work, too, because she provides an important service needed by all RVers. When people see what comes out of their holding tanks, Sue’s customers are even more grateful for the work she does.
I love Sue’s example because she found a niche to provide a service everyone needs, but few have the desire to offer. She is rewarded for her effort because people are willing to pay her well to take care of a problem nobody else wants to touch. Sue earns $250 to flush a gray and black tank, and another $75 for each additional tank, if necessary.
It’s not glamorous, but it is a viable, mobile business that Sue can do anywhere she wants to travel. Campgrounds appreciate Sue because she doesn’t use any bacteria-killing chemicals to clean the tanks, which means she’s not hurting the RV park’s septic system.
I also love the very imaginative name she gave her business – Royal Flush RV Services. You can connect with Sue and learn more about her business by visiting www.royalflushrv.com.
Today’s episode is sponsored by The Dreamer’s Journey, it is an online course and community produced by Workamper News. Life is way too short to keep your dreams on hold, so don’t be held back by fear because you were designed for more! Get started in the RV lifestyle the right way with this comprehensive guide.
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That’s all I have for this week’s show. Next week, I’ll be talking with a ranger from a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project in southern Massachusetts who is looking for volunteer Workampers this summer. I’ll have that interview on the next episode of The Workamper Show. Thanks for listening!
