It all started with a voice mail. Bernard Young, a chemical company rep servicing on-premise laundry (OPL) and warewash (i.e., commercial dishwasher) accounts, noticed that many of the hotel laundries he visited were costly and inefficient. He figured he could do better as a niche service provider processing items such as customer-owned table linens.

So he went prospecting. He called one of his hotel customers to talk about outsourcing opportunities, never expecting the prompt response that he received. “In 2003, I got the first opportunity to do a major hotel,” Young says. “I was doing sales calls while selling chemicals ...