Lessons In Entrepreneurship For All Ages

Marci Hernandez of Office Keepers reviews ”Ralphy Raccoon” by Ted Hsu

Ted Hsu, a long-time BSCAI member and president of Horizon Services Company, has published “Ralphy Raccoon,” a wonderful story that can be read and appreciated by both children and adults. “Ralphy Raccoon” is an inspirational, semi-autobiographical book about entrepreneurship, featuring the cleaning industry as a backdrop. 

I interviewed Hsu about the book, and I discovered that it was inspired by the many industry books authored by Todd Hopkins, CEO of Office Pride Commercial Cleaning Services, another building service contractor, during their first meeting a decade ago at a BSCAI event in Chicago.

Hsu was struck that so few books were written about entrepreneurship for the young and none of those books were about the cleaning industry. He thought that people are most impressionable during youth when the earliest dreams are just forming. 

The book covers the life of a business — from start-up to maturity. In between are years of disasters, dues paid and lessons learned. 

Every colorful page in “Ralphy Raccoon” requires a thoughtful moment of personal responsibility from the reader. If your children, or children of your business partners and employees, ask you puzzled questions after reading the book, then the book will have paid for itself many times over. These are the fundamental questions to life and work you should be having with children.

Although technically a children’s book, adults should read “Ralphy Raccoon,” too. This is a five-minute read, straight and to the point with beautiful illustrations and lessons that will last you a lifetime. Perhaps your less than scrupulous staff will even reconsider their hidden dastardly plan to steal your accounts and “strike out on their own” after reading some wise words from Ralphy. 

This book covers it all for me: hard work, business vision, luck as a myth, and cautions to the treachery of the lazy.

 Any cleaning contractor would be proud to have “Ralphy Raccoon” displayed in the lobby or conference room as a quick reminder to every one of the tremendous sacrifices that all BSCs undertake every day for our families and employees, in a service that everyone takes for granted. 

Marci Hernandez
Co-owner and Office Manager
Office Keepers
Mesa, Arizona

Author Ted Hsu would like to offer BSCAI members a free copy of “Rocky Raccoon.” If you are a member of BSCAI and interested in the book, please reach out at mmahon@horizonsvcs.com