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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 #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?

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.’”
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.

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.”
Guest Post: Memo from Kafka's Castle and What Employers Want to See on Your Resume
Glenn Kelman is the CEO of Redfin, an online real estate brokerage firm. Prior to joining Redfin, he was a co-founder of Plumtree Software, a publicly traded company that created the enterprise portal software market. Prior to starting Plumtree, Mr. Kelman worked as one of the first employees at Stanford Technology Group, a startup that IBM acquired. Mr. Kelman is a member of the Board of Directors for Naviance, a hosted service for schools and colleges. Mr. Kelman was raised in Seattle and was graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Berkeley.
It's not about who you know...
For years smart people have been saying "It's not about what you know, it's about WHO you know!" Well, I'm here to disagree. I know lots of people that have absolutely no value to my business. How much is my favorite grocery clerk going to help my business? What about the lawn service that cuts my grass, or the staff at the local Kinko's? Yeah, I know, they MIGHT be able to make a referral some day. And the worlds is going to be destroyed by a global nuclear war. And I'm not waiting around for either. Personally, I don't think who you know is nearly as important as who knows you. If you want to make change happen and move mountains of bureaucratic crap that make us all a bit crazy, making sure others know you is where you need to focus.

Other kinkos Related Articles

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.

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