Today, Mr. Roesch is the co-owner of a master franchising firm called Dazser, Inc. It employs sixty individuals and took in $40 million in revenue last year. The company has offices in Tampa, Baltimore, Birmingham, Charlotte, and Orlando, and is still expanding. Most impressively, Dazser was in the Incorporated 400 four times; just one more time will land it in the Hall of Fame.

Dazser sells and supports franchises of Jani-King, an international commercial cleaning business. Jani-King has offices in almost every major U.S. city and more than 20 countries abroad. Dazser provides its Jani-King franchises with marketing, sales, and accounting services.

Initially, when Roesch and his friend, David Zillig, decided to enter business together, they only planned to purchase an individual franchise. Franchises are proven business models, so it seemed a safe venture. They chose Jani-King because it was the franchise ranked second highest return on investment. Instead of opening a single franchise, however, they opened their own company to sell Jani-King franchises.

Roesch and Zillig encountered several challenges on their way to success. In Dazser’s infancy, the men worked 14-hour days cleaning office buildings. Neither took a salary. Because they lacked much working capital, they financed their first expansion by opening as many credit cards as possible. “Building the business to the size where it can support itself takes several years,” Roesch attests. “We didn’t realize it would take so long to get over that hump. We thought within 10 or 15 years we would be retired.”

This initial setback did not extinguish their determination. Motivation and ambition are essential to the success of a business. Since Roesch and Zillig were responsible for their profits and losses and not reliant on the government, they were driven to succeed.

An ongoing obstacle Roesch faces is finding and keeping good employees. Jani-King requires the lowest initial investment of any franchise in the world. Buyers are less likely to remain committed because there is not a lot of money at stake. Roesch says, “It’s hard to get people to act like business owners when they are not your employees.” He attributes overcoming challenges like this to his well-balanced partnership with Zillig.

Another characteristic necessary to success is the desire for profit. This mentality is what drives businesses to better their products; naturally, this pleases the consumer. In a nation where the government controls commerce, consumers rarely are satisfied. The government knows individuals will buy goods out of necessity and has no incentive to improve. In a capitalist economy, however, businessmen work in their own interests, resulting in better and more affordable products.

Dazser seeks to earn profits by addressing a problem with commercial cleaning services. Small “mom and pop” companies have great customer service and close supervision but often do not have proper training or insurance. Big national companies have the opposite problem. Jani-King is a big company with proper procedures and record-keeping combined with the small business owner who provides customer service and supervision. Their interest in making money benefits those looking for a reliable cleaning service.

Dazser engages in other profit-seeking ventures that please the customer. Unlike other master franchisers, Dazser promises initial business to those who purchase Jani-King franchises. Roesch says, “When someone purchases a franchise from us, part of our commitment to them is to provide them with some customers.” This unique guarantee – though it helps small business – is applied only because it brings Roesch revenue.

This kind of self-interest is what drives individuals to turn profit while incidentally benefiting their communities. Roesch became an entrepreneur for personal gain, not to make a difference in the world. “I wanted to be financially secure at as early an age as possible. I didn’t want to help anyone.”

Dazser supports its communities by putting 10 percent of its profit into charities such as Young Life and Family First. Public knowledge of this boosts the company’s appeal in the community. The company has also been converting to “green” cleaning technologies, but as Roesch points out, “not because it’s required but because it’s a good business practice. It’s a marketing strategy that is a way to separate us from our competition.”

This notion of self-regulation is truly at the heart of successful business. The best perk of being his own employer, Roesch says, is “control over all aspects of the business.” The government, however, still imposes many requirements on businesses that decrease their effectiveness.

For example, government mandates such as those imposed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are more harmful than helpful. Roesch is against the quota in hiring employees because it doesn’t allow him to hire the best candidate for a job and limits his ability to fire underperforming employees without fear of frivolous legal retaliation. “Anybody can walk in to the EEOC and file a complaint without a single shred of evidence. It costs him nothing and costs us thousands of dollars just to reply to the inquiry.”

Despite government red tape, Roesch is glad he made a career in business. He works approximately 30 hours a week doing what he loves and gains personal satisfaction from engaging in work that will make people more productive and businesses more profitable. Additionally, Roesch says, “Business can be a reflection of our values and principles; we can use it to help others.”

The most interesting part of Stephen Roesch’s story is the lesson that business is more than just a job to an entrepreneur. From a young age, Roesch was involved in starting businesses and spearheading productivity and finance projects. Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle sustained by personality traits such as zeal and motivation for profits.

Mr. Roesch says the most important thing he has learned from his career has been that what really matters is the journey, not the destination. As people and businesses grow, ideals and goals may change, and this is good. His advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is simply, “Do it.”