The Founder of Kinkos Speaks at Illinois

Paul Orfalea, the founder of Kinkos, told his story of entrepreneurial success to students and community members in a packed Spurlock Auditorium on November 8, 2006, as part of the "Spotlight on the Entrepreneur" lecture series. Orfalea's story is unique because he overcame dyslexia and hyperactivity to grow Kinkos from a small private shop in California, to a multi-billion dollar business with over 1,000 stores.

While growing up in a community of Lebanese-Americans, Orfalea knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. "I never knew anyone who had a corporate job.everyone owned small businesses. Working for someone else only brought in paychecks, but opening your own business was way of life."

School proved challenging for Orfalea, as classroom assignments were not tailored to his dyslexia, and he often found focusing on tasks taxing. Other students would often call him "monkey child" as he disliked sitting still during class, and would often daydream or walk around. He says of school, "reading was always a problem. I always disliked reading because I couldn't concentrate for long periods of time."

But Orfalea was focused on his goals and passionate about working for himself. Thus, in 1970 Kinko's was founded, and Orfalea and really did achieve success his way, by hiring only the best managerial staff to oversee day-to-day operations, while paying careful attention to customer service. "I used to travel around unannounced visiting Kinko's stores. I would ask the staff what things they did well and what areas needed improvement. If any employee, regardless of title, had a great idea I'd call up corporate right away on my cell phone and have them tell the VP's their idea. Many corporate changes, both good and bad, were a result of staff feedback.and the bottom line is we learned and grew together."

One bit of advice Orfalea passed on to students is to "think outside boundaries." He says that good entrepreneurs don't have to follow logic and book-smarts, they can go by instinct and see where their business goes. "All it takes is a good idea.and of course a passion. Be passionate about what you're doing and you can succeed if your business adds value to customers."