Carlos Camargo started Olé Copiers in 2014 with business partner Alex Payne after working in his industry for 20 years. Despite the sound of the company’s name, the company doesn’t make copies for customers. In Camargo’s words, “we don’t have a retail store or cash register.” He describes Ole’s core business as “document life cycle services. When a page comes out of your printer, we can convert hard copy to scan documents, help you manage it through cloud services. We do offsite storage. We provide shredding and telecommunications.” Camargo, who has a business degree from California State University – Northridge, noted that while some of his clients had to close during the pandemic, Olé Copiers managed to stay open as an essential service. “I’m cautiously optimistic,” Camargo said. “I do feel we’re in the tail end of the (pandemic). I feel that we’re on the right track.”
What inspired you to start your business?
I felt that a lot of small- and medium-sized businesses were overspending on technology. I worked at Canon and Ricoh. The Canons and Xeroxes are way too expensive. (Customers) just need reliable equipment and fast service and I felt that those were key metrics where we could really impact. And cost reduction. And it worked out.
Do you like being your own boss? Or would you ever think about trading it for a steady paycheck?
I gave up a position where I was making about $200,000 a year. My first few years (at Olé), I made zero. Now I make somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000 but I wouldn’t trade it. My nest egg is this company. I’m growing this. I’m lucky and fortunate that I’ve lasted for seven years. The first three or four years and especially through the pandemic, was hard. I have a very supportive wife (Julie). We’re about at $1 million (in annual revenue). I feel very fortunate to sign the front of the paycheck and the back of it.
What’s the best aspect of running your own business?
I had been in this industry for more than 20 years before starting the company. Coming here, I was able to implement a lot of things that clients really want. If you cut all that B.S. out and hire the best people and provide them with the best services, the client is the happiest. They pay a very reasonable monthly rate. There are no surprises.
And the worst?
Management of cash flow. It’s the thing that keeps me up at night.
What’s the biggest challenge your business has faced?
Marketing has always been tough for small businesses. It’s tougher now. As a business owner, it’s really hard to determine where to spend that marketing dollar.
What’s your most popular service?
Most of our revenue comes from office technology: copiers, printers, management of copiers and printers. Second would be offsite storage of documents, records management. Recently, that part of our business is booming, and I think it’s because a lot of offices are downsizing. Say a law firm is downsizing and their employees are working remote, they need to find a place for those records. That’s why we’re getting a lot of phone calls for offsite records management.
Has your Hispanic culture had any influence on your business?
I grew up in a prominently poor part of the city in Boyle Heights. I’m very scrappy, a direct result of where I grew up, how I grew up and how my family raised me. There’s a limited mobility; I would see other people promoted. I saw nepotism. I didn’t grow up privileged. I thought, “If I open a company, I can do a lot better than what I see.” And it worked. That really instilled in me a “don’t say no”-type personality. Even now, I have a mentor, who is also a Mexican-American business owner. He grew his company into a billion-dollar company. I network with the Latino Chamber of Commerce. All of those affiliations have helped.
What advice would you give someone who wanted to start their own business?
Be a master of the business you want to start before you start: Who you would serve, what you would serve, how you would make the service better than other people serving it.
