Indy Star Highlights Bill Taylor

Recently Bill Taylor, founder and president of Taylored Systems, was highlighted in the Indianapolis Star's technology section. It was a part of their "My Big Break" series. The article explains how Bill has continued successfully through 38 years of business, both before Taylored Systems and currently. It gives insight into what drives Bill and a snapshot into his accomplishments. Please take a few minutes to read the article and learn a little bit more about the person who we, here at Taylored Systems, admire and respect.

The article is posted here:

From working in the grain storage business to establishing telecommunications and Internet service companies, I've been fortunate enough to have more than one big break in my career.

My first was being born to Quaker parents on a farm in Russiaville, just west of Kokomo.

I started my first job in 1971. At the grain storage company, we automated the process from putting the grain into a large tank to sending it to the grain dryer to then transporting dry grain to a storage bin to be held until it was sold and shipped off the farm. By 1978, I had moved to Noblesville to run a satellite office for that same company. As much as I enjoyed the work, it was extremely seasonal, so in 1982, I began looking for something a little more stable.

In 1982, the telephone industry went through deregulation, which presented a golden opportunity. I started Taylored Systems that June.

My first job, automating grain storage, turned out to be valuable because it allowed me to learn firsthand that applying technology can achieve greater efficiency -- in any endeavor. Whatever the application, I love technology. I love to learn about new technology, and I love to see how it can be applied to help companies become more economically feasible and successful.

Our first big break as Taylored Systems came in 1986 when we landed a contract with Indiana Bell (later Ameritech) to sell its Centrex service. Centrex allowed workers in different buildings to communicate by phone by dialing a simple three- or four-digit number. That technology was an important steppingstone for us to grow into other areas of the telecommunications business -- and the Internet.

I invested in an Internet company in 1994, near the beginning of that medium's explosive growth. At first, we provided a place for residential customers to dial in using a modem. Soon we were bringing the Internet into businesses and schools on dedicated circuits. In 2000, I sold my interest in that company and purchased ground in the Noblesville Business Park, which is now part of the larger corporate campus.

Looking back, I have learned that success comes from keeping your eyes open for opportunities that appear around you every day. You have to be able to recognize and take advantage of them, while also understanding that sometimes success doesn't just happen overnight or just because you were there at the right time or because you want it. There's always hard work that goes along with it.

Some of my core values, and hence the company's, go back to things I learned early in life from people who influenced me: Focus on customers and serving them in the best possible way. Stand for integrity. Do excellent work. Be open to new ideas and people. Respect others.

One of the biggest things for me, though, is community. As a businessperson and a human being, I know that the community has supported me, and I need to take the time to give back.

Now, nearly 40 years after starting my first job, farming is still my hobby. It has also led to my success in the telecommunications field. And now that knowledge has come full circle.

---- By Bill Taylor