LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – As the overflooded working climate becomes the eye of the storm for students hoping to land a local entry-level job, Derek Baker and Tyson Scott are the first to catch its break. From the moment they began working together as the co-owners of West Coast Exterior Solutions in the summer of 2024, the two boys never shied away from going all out as young entrepreneurs, laying a sturdy foundation that would lead them to become top dogs.

It started with a hopeful and inspired 14-year-old freshman four years ago. Derek Baker had watched his father devote himself to his own business for years. Now, as an 18-year-old senior, he’s reflecting the hardworking and motivated mindset he built at a young age onto West Coast Exterior Solutions.

Because Baker was never much of a believer in working at a regular job he didn’t prefer, he decided to explore the possibility of window cleaning as a “side gig.”

“I was looking to make some extra money and knew window cleaning was a trend. I saw people making good money on the internet, so I decided to go out and get some equipment, and just get at it,” Baker said.

That year, Baker sealed the “discovery” of West Coast Exterior Solutions, though it wasn’t until 2025 with Tyson Scott that the company achieved its “launch.”

“Tyson is my business partner and brother from another mother. During high school, he worked at a grocery store and a drive-in car wash. He never enjoyed having to take orders from a higher-up and not getting what he truly deserved from it. He then decided to start a pressure washing business with one of his best friends from high school, which lasted about half a year,” Baker said.

Scott, now 21 years old, had been reluctantly attending college in the Midwest for two years, majoring in real estate.

“I didn’t like the way school was. My brain just did not like the application, material and format of the education. It was really difficult for me, but I still wanted to be successful,” Scott said.

Eventually, he moved back to California for real estate, but decided to kickstart the business on the side with Baker. Scott always knew he had a strong suit in talking to people, so he and Baker grabbed their $100 worth of cheap Home Depot equipment and started door-knocking around Los Alamitos.

“Tyson is an extremely outgoing, high-energy people pleaser, whereas Derek is more introverted and quiet, a deep thinker and more methodical. They both strongly believe in integrity and honesty, understanding that at the end of the day, staying honest and following through with promises creates a strong following,” Scott Baker, Baker’s father, said.

Naturally, Baker and his longtime family friend assumed the roles of co-owners in between setting up a proper sales pitch and hiring employees. Near the end of 2025, they were working seven days a week with three employees and making up to $1,000 a day. Now, they specialize in window, solar panel and gutter cleaning.

When asked to give a piece of advice on entrepreneurship, Scott made it clear not to worry about others in the same industry, yet to have an open mind when failure hits.

“You’re essentially set up to fail, and it is important that when you do, you learn from it. There’s a lack of security in entrepreneurship, and the people who push through it and persevere are the ones who end up on top. The hardest pill for me to swallow was putting on the blinders,” Scott said.

He confessed there wasn’t exactly one clear vision at first. Confidently and with relief, he reflected on the time when he used to be pressured by intrusive opinions and others’ success, and how much he’s grown out of that.

He compared the feeling of that directionless rush to the sport of horse racing.

“Without proper focus, (racehorses) can run all over the place. They won’t run in a straight line. But when they have on (blinkers), it blinds the horse from seeing left and right. This stops the horse from being distracted by the other horses running the race as well. So, you have to put your blinders on and stay moving forward,” Scott said.

Of course, the boys aren’t afraid to fail, nor are they afraid to accept the hard truth. The worst-case scenario, agreed Baker and Scott, would be going back to the “9-to-5 life.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the 9-to-5, don’t get me wrong. I’m not bashing on that. But I think people with an entrepreneurial mindset are wired a certain way, to do things a certain way. So sometimes a 9-to-5 doesn’t always work in that mindset,” Scott said.

Amidst the challenges, they’ve always stuck together, constantly adapting themselves and West Coast Exterior Solutions to lessen the chance of a fallout.

“Tyson and Derek have overcome challenges of firing a partner, dealing with unruly parents, losing employees, changing processes, creating spreadsheets, and altering services to meet clients’ expectations,” Scott Baker said.

Baker and Scott would schedule weekly check-in calls in hopes of boosting team morale and finding resolutions to conflicts. Like many companies in their infancy stage, ordinary communication strategies took their toll, and the work culture was overlooked.

“We received a text from our longest working worker, which quickly triggered us to have an urgent team meeting. We realized that just because we (as co-owners) think that everything is going smoothly, it may not be. So it’s always important to express and exercise clear communication. That’s why we are so picky with who we hire; many people don’t speak up or know when to,” Baker said.

“We hire purely on character. Not skill. We don’t care what experience you have. We care what you stand for, how you behave, and your morals. Skill can be taught, character quality can not,” Scott said.

Ultimately, it’s an ongoing learning process, and communication is just one of the many growing pains the pair is experiencing in West Coast Exterior Solutions. They’re learning the tediousness of tracking finances. They’re also learning the difference between gross and net profits, and how difficult it can be to calculate.

Their trendy approach to social media marketing might convince followers of how the business achieved success. In truth, it is a very fitting conclusion in a generation reliant on social media.

“They created an Instagram reel that got over 1 million views, which not only brought in lots of customers but also caught the attention of a few highly successful and influential individuals who are now mentors for them,” Scott Baker said.

Yet, they’ve moved past the notion that popularity and profitability originate from social media clicks, despite the viral business page they’ve attained over the past year. The boys still go door-knocking to this day, recognizing that longevity and status in the entrepreneurial world demand the same old-school grit that successful business leaders before once had to prove.