Meet Rami Paulus of Midwestern Janitorial

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rami Paulus. 

Rami, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I spent my teens playing drums in punk bands and my early 20’s studying the theatrical arts and performing off-Broadway in New York and L.A. My Father encouraged me to attend university, but I resented what a square he was and rarely took his advice. My plan was to fully surrender myself to a life in the arts and deal with the consequences later. 

Nine years later, my plan changed, the moment I proposed to my now wife. As I slipped the ring on, I suddenly wanted to be like my square dad (who knew). Unexpectedly, my life in the arts no longer provided the sufficient purpose I needed inside. Instead, I felt an intense drive start a family, move back to the old community I had wanted to leave in my early 20s, and create a legacy for my wife and future children. 

After getting married and moving back to Detroit with my wife, the next step was to evaluate myself professionally and choose a new direction. Having spent the last nine years drinking pinot noir and studying scenes late into the night, I had no useful skills I could trade for money. I was totally unemployable. No serious person was going to roll the dice on me. This left only one option; start my own business, be my own boss, and roll the dice on myself. 

I looked at a good thirty industries and finally decided janitorial was what I wanted. It had a low barrier to entry, high employee turnover, was totally commoditized, super competitive, and had a bad reputation with its customer base. I saw an opportunity. I set out to build a company that provided a valuable service customers would want to pay a premium for, an exceptional reputation that could sustain through the years, and a culture that employees would find attractive enough to never want to leave. That’s what I set out to do in 2016 and that’s what I’ve successfully accomplished, with the help of my staff and my clients, both of which at some point took a leap of faith and rolled the dice on me before they knew for sure whether or not I would deliver on my promises. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The first two years were tumultuous. I was stupid and naive. I didn’t know how to attract customers and thank God because I also didn’t know how to attract employees. Or how to keep them, lead them, incentivize them, and support them. But my heart was in the right place and I was determined to chisel myself into a leader that was worth following. Eventually, I developed what my staff found to be valuable. Focusing on becoming a competent leader made way for a competent staff to emerge, which brought good customers knocking. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We clean medical, health, and wellness spaces; any environment where patients are seen. Our clients have large portfolios of multiple geographically decentralized clinics around the country. They have well-recognized brands and are usually industry leaders. By the time they find us, they’ve gone through several janitorial firms hoping to get a consistent service and some personal attention but haven’t. We’ve been successful in giving them both, not least of all because we keep our employees. With such high retention rates, we aren’t distracted with scrambling to keep people or compensating for their absence. We can focus on our clients and give them the attention they’re paying for. We can also focus on developing our employees. We invest in them. We know they’ll be their long term. They’re worth it. 

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
It’s a reminder that reinforces how important it is to put a high value on the people who work with you. 

Contact Info:

• Website: midwesternjanitorial.com