Spotlight on: Mike Corey

Among his friends, Phoenix resident Mike Corey, president of Imaging

Technology Solutions, is affectionately known as the “Haunted House Guy.”

“I liked the idea of being in charge of my own destiny,” Mike Corey said, “especially in the way I could treat my customers.”

--Mike Corey, president of Imaging Technology Solutions, on why he started his own business.

A family man….

He runs a successful business…

Imaging Technology SolutionsCopy & Imaging Systems

The Phoenix Business Journal

2.0 minutes with…Mike Corey President/Imaging Technology SolutionsSeptember 2008

• What is one of your business goals for 2008? “Drive innovation! We want to continue to empower our employees to strengthen customer relationships. It helps us develop new ideas and enhance existing products and services.”

• How do you recruit and retain quality employees? “Our employees may earn ownership through sweat equity. It’s a pretty simple formula for success. Everyone’s eligible. If you put the company first, and perform well, our customer’s will be rewarded. If an employee does that then we want them to be rewarded with more than a pat on the back.”

• What is a significant goal you achieved in the past 12 months? “Ensuring our employees have health care coverage with absolutely no out of pocket expense. It’s the right thing to do. No one at Imaging Technology Solutions has the burden of having to take money out of their pocket for health insurance. Imaging Technology Solutions has also made a concerted effort to give back to the community through various events.”

• What do you believe is the most significant issue facing small-business people today? “It’s the uncertainty in the local economy. Small business owners currently have a ‘wait and see’ attitude. It’s causing a ‘snowball effect.’

• What is the biggest challenge you’ve overcome in growing your business? “We’re operating in an inefficient market. The challenge is training our sales force to find better prospects. To take advantage of current market conditions, we must findprospects willing to rely on us.”

• What advice do you have for an entrepreneur just starting out? “Don’t get discouraged. Unexpected challenges will happen. If they are really big, they can distract you. Keep telling yourself to stay on target and don’t be afraid to seek advice.”

• Do you have an exit strategy? What is it? “We don’t have an exit strategy set in stone. If and when the time comes that we feel it's time to move on our first choice is to give someone within the Imaging Technology Solutions family an opportunity to become the managing member.”

• What do you know now that you wish you would have known when you started your business? “There’s no magic formula. Success comes from surrounding yourself with the right people. If you try to do it all yourself you’re just setting yourself upfor failure.”

• On a daily basis, what are one or two key performance measurements that you frequently keep an eye on? “I get a daily report on our service performance. At the end of the day I print out a spreadsheet that tells me everything from our responsetime to customers to how many calls we’ve completed and everything in between that has to do with customer service. I also look at a daily activity report to ensure our marketing team is doing everything they can to get our message out to current and potential customers.”

• What mistake have you learned from? “I’m very persistent when I work on something challenging. I’ll never give up until I've succeeded. There have been times in my career when I should have moved on sooner. There's a very fine line between being persistent and being counter-productive.”

• What's the best piece of business advice you ever received? “Recognize the skills and traits you don’t have and hire people who have them.”

• What advice can you offer other entrepreneurs? “I speak to a lot of soon-to-be entrepreneurs. Most have great ideas but they don’t really have any idea of the commitment it takes. I tell them not to expect an eight-to-five job. It just doesn’t workthat way.”

• What is the best small change you've made in the past year that produced surprisingly big results? “In business, time is our most precious non-renewable resource. By automating the mundane, you free yourself and others to perform tasks that have the potential to significantly improve your business. It's relatively easy to come up with a list of repetitive tasks, and thenmake conservative estimates on how many hours a day it takes to complete them. When you calculate what that additional time is worth it can make a dramatic impact on your bottom line.”

• How do you foster teamwork? “We involve the employee’s in most decisions. Our business is pretty simple and there’s no point in running a covert operation. When we make important decisions no one is surprised. It’s a philosophy that works because people know their input is being considered. As a result, changes are usually pretty transparent in our organization. Itfosters a good sense of teamwork.”

…And Gives Back to His Community

In 2007 and 2008 Mike Corey donated a copier to Camp

Invention.

Mike Corey with Hope Massar (left) and Julie Perks of Camp Invention

His Goodwill Efforts are recognized by the media…including Ahwatukee Foothills News and

Ahwatukee Republic

The business, Imaging Technology Solutions, is also cited in the media.

The Arizona Republic

The East Valley Tribune

www.azcentral.com“Copy, imaging-systems firm opens Tempe base.”

About Imaging Technology Solutions

With several financing and leasing options available on new equipment, Imaging Technology Solutions educates its customers--enabling them to

make the best possible decision on equipment that fit their needs. In addition to offering a variety of the best products on the market,

including copiers, printers and business equipment, Image Technology Solutions services and repairs most of the major brand names. Its

service technicians understand the need for quick response time to keep offices running smoothly. Most service calls are same day.

Mike Corey

President

Imaging Technology Solutions

2415 W. Huntington St.

Suite 101

Tempe, AZ 85282

(480) 628-5335

www.imaging-tech.net/