Paul Taylor is the founder and president of ESS Clean, Inc., which had its start in 1995. He is the BSCAI membership chair and has been on the BSCAI board of directors since 2013. Here, he shares his history working in the BSC industry, predictions of the industry’s future, and what he finds most valuable from his BSCAI membership.

1. How did you get your start in the BSC industry?
   
   After graduating from college and working for a failed startup company, I tried my hand as a remodeling contractor for about a year. It did not go well. In 1995, I met a fellow contractor who had experience in the contract cleaning industry and we partnered to start a new company. Our first two years were extremely difficult.
   
   When we began the company in 1995, my partner and I had big ideas and spent big bucks for a nice office, a secretary and lots of new equipment. In 1997, the money ran out and my partner left. I had no choice but to cut back and began performing most of the work myself. This was a very humbling experience. I vividly recall being called out to a manufacturing facility to clean restrooms during the day while people were working and using the restrooms. This was a life-changing experience for a guy who had just graduated college.
   
   Over time, we were able to land a few decent-sized accounts, which allowed us to hire others to do the cleaning. By 1999, we had grown enough to hire an office manager and an operations manager, and purchase our own building. Since 1999, we have grown the business every year.
    
2. What changes or trends do you suggest professionals in this space keep an eye on in the year ahead? 
   
   I believe we are facing a labor shortage, and it will only get worse. It is getting more and more difficult to hire qualified people. Our industry has to figure out a way to automate, become more efficient and increase wages for our staff.
   
   I believe our customers will tolerate limited price increases to cover the increased cost of labor, but it is difficult to sell when the consumer price index is flat. As contractors, we must find a way to add enough value to our customers to justify paying our staff higher wages. We have to stay customer-focused and look for opportunities to make life easier for our customers so they can focus on their business. 
    
3. What do you value most about your BSCAI membership? 
   
   It’s easy to get caught up in our own small world of day-to-day operations. We have our regular work along with new challenges to deal with every day. If we allow ourselves to get caught up in it, we will spend all of our time fighting fires.
   
   BSCAI helps us to get outside of ourselves to see the big picture. Educational events allow us to spend time planning for the future, learning about leadership and improving our efficiency. Volunteer and networking opportunities help us to put things in perspective. Not only can we commiserate about our difficult situations, but we can also learn from others’ mistakes and figure out how to do things better. Most of all, meeting with other successful contractors gives us the motivation, education and inspiration to take on new challenges, grow our business and continue to provide great opportunities for our team.