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The Curly Haired Copy Entrepreneur: The Rise of Paul Orfalea

“If you’re going to enjoy the picnic that life really is, you’d better learn to like yourself,” says Kinko’s founder Paul Orfalea, “not despite your flaws and so-called deficits, but because of them.”

One Copy at a Time: Kinko’s Takes Off

Orfalea had been a student at USC when he noticed a copy machine in the school library. He realized that few people had access to the new technology and decided to do something about it. With a $5,000 loan from the bank, Orfalea rented out a 100-square-foot garage behind a hamburger stand near his campus. In addition to selling school supplies, Orfalea bought a copier and began charging 2.5-cent copies. The store was so small that the copier had to be used out on the sidewalk in front. He called his business “Kinko’s” after his childhood nickname.

Lesson #1: Keep Your Workers Front of Mind

“The people in the front lines are my customers,” says Orfalea. “I need to keep them happy. And, the best way to take care of your customers is to take care of your workers.”

Lesson #2: Grab a Partner and Go

Orfalea recalls the way in which he first came up with his idea for Kinko’s: “It was an easy business…My dad made women’s clothing, and he had all this inventory to worry about. So I thought, this inventory thing is bad news. I don’t want anything to do with it. With a Xerox machine, I can dial a button and what comes out the end I can sell. It’s actually a simple, dumb business really.”

Lesson #3: Know the Difference between Working Hard and Working Smart

“I had a real problem with people overworking actually,” says Orfalea. “They’d work sixty to seventy hours a week in the stores, and they were busy, busy, busy, but the store was dirty and they didn’t see it. I’d say, ‘Why don’t you get the windows cleaned,’ and they would say, ‘I’m too busy.’”

Lesson #4: Turn a Learning Disability into a Learning Opportunity

For the 30 years that Orfalea served as CEO of Kinko’s, his office would have been unrecognizable as such. He had no stacks of reports piling up in his desks. He had filing cabinets, but a quick peek inside would reveal no files. He had no computer and often times, not even a pen. Why? Because Orfalea suffered from both dyslexia and ADHD. He ran his company differently from most CEOs because he had no other choice.

Lesson #5: Take Time Off to Tune Up

When Orfalea first rented his little $100 per week garage near the USC campus, he was told his venture would never work. It was a pipe dream, they said. It was a business that would flunk as fast as Orfalea had in school. Still, says Orfalea, “I didn’t listen. I knew what I was going to do.”

Copying Success: How Orfalea Turned Paper into Power

“Keep your nose in the window long enough, and they are going to let you in.” That is Orfalea’s advice to up and coming entrepreneurs; he got in and he has not looked back since. But how did his hyperactive dyslexic who flunked two grades in school turn his condition into a recipe for success?

Paul Orfalea Quotes

Paul Orfalea Quotes

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