Need document imaging technology, MPS, managed IT, security cameras, AV, or VoIP? Better call Phil Houser and his team at DSI.
Above: DSI’s Albuquerque showroom.
Twenty-five years ago, Phil Houser gambled and won. Despite rapidly scaling the corporate ladder, he quit his job with a prestigious office technology manufacturer and started a cartridge remanufacturing business.
Since 1997, Document Solutions Inc. (DSI) has been a fixture in Albuquerque, New Mexico, evolving from a cartridge remanufacturer to a supplier of document imaging technology and managed IT services. What started as a sole proprietorship has become a thriving business. Today, DSI has three locations and 65 employees, including Houser’s three children and his wife Theresa, who serves as co-owner and inspiration. “She has been the rock and the cornerstone of our family and is an equal partner of the business,” said Houser. “She is equally responsible for what we have today.”
Above: Phil and Theresa during DSI’s early days.
The Houser children were exposed to the business at a young age, and what they learned growing up led them back home after working elsewhere following college graduation. Daughter Jocelyn Gorman is the company’s vice president of sales and president of DSI’s IT company. After graduating from the University of Denver, she worked as a sales rep for All Copy in Denver, Colorado, learning the business before joining DSI 10 years ago. While at All Copy, she powered through much of the rejection young sales reps encountered. By the time she joined DSI, she had a strong knowledge of the business. “She’s been the catalyst for change in our organization,” said Houser. “I’m 60 years old, and she’s in her early 30s, and it’s a whole different level of energy. You combine that with my knowledge and experience in the industry, and it created the perfect storm because we just took it and are continuing to grow.”
Above from left to right: Phil Houser, founder & CEO; Eldest Son Alec Houser, major account executive; Youngest Son Preston Houser, leasing and purchasing administrator; and Daughter Jocelyn Gorman, vice president of sales.
Son Alec started at DSI six years ago. “He’s probably one of the most natural salespeople I’ve ever met,” said Houser. “He has a knack for building partnerships and relationships. It’s amazing to watch. He did like $1.7 million last year.” Houser’s youngest son, Preston, runs DSI’s lease portfolio and purchasing department. Preston graduated from Colorado State University in 2017 and worked for a startup data management company in Denver. He moved up quickly and became a team lead for its customer service group before joining the family business. “His skillset and attention to detail along with his outstanding organizational skills make him a perfect fit for his new role,” said Houser.
In addition to the immediate Houser family, multiple cousins work in the business. Asked about the challenge of working with family members, Houser admitted, “it’s been a juggle,” while emphasizing the need to build accountability. “There’s nobody that I would rather depend on than family members,” he said while acknowledging he’s had to sack a few family members over the years.
Above: DSI headquarters circa 1997.
Five years ago, a decision was made to transition the company from a “mom and pop” type of business to one with more structure that functioned as a corporation. “It took a while to change the culture,” said Houser. The biggest difference is that the buck no longer stops at Houser alone. He now has a full-time operations manager, a full-time CFO, and a full-time HR person. “We’ve got a leadership team and have designed the structure of accountability from department to department,” said Houser. “That’s helped keep the integrity of a family business while allowing us to operate like a corporation.”
Above: DSI’s Albuquerque location.
The focus of late has been on process improvement. “We’re at that organizational stage in our business,” said Houser. “The first stage was entrepreneurial, where I made all the decisions and was involved in every day-to-day aspect of the company. We’re now between the second and third stage of building that out.”
Fast Tracking
Houser’s career in the industry began in 1985 as a sales rep for Harris 3M, later to become Lanier Worldwide. He fondly remembers his time there thanks to being able to sell what were then emerging technologies such as plain-paper copiers and fax machines. “I had no idea what I was stepping into because I was straight out of college,” he recalled. “I came home to my wife and told her that I was going to work for this company called Harris 3M and was going to sell copiers. Oh, and by the way, I bought a new van. She goes, ‘You did what?’ We didn’t have a dime in our pockets, and I’m committing to this new car payment. And she’s like, ‘I work in an attorney’s office downtown. Do you know how many sales reps I get in my office every day selling copiers?’ Three months later, I brought home a $10,000 commission check, and she was sold on it from that day forward.”
After two years as a sales rep, Houser was promoted to sales manager. Not long after that promotion, at age 26, he became the youngest district manager in the company. The turning point in his career was when Lanier asked him to relocate to Houston in 1997. Firmly rooted in Albuquerque, Houser had no interest in moving. He took money out of his 401k to start DSI, working out of a 10 x 10 office in his home. A startup business is tough, and Houser was selling by day and remanufacturing by night, sometimes starting at 6 a.m. and ending at 2 a.m. That grueling schedule lasted about four months before Houser hired his first employees.
“In a short period of time, we had a $10 million enterprise business selling cartridges,” said Houser, who took the lessons he learned working in the copier industry where developing the aftermarket to create an annuity stream was the model for growth. Meanwhile, realizing that the advent of the computer meant there were 10 times more printers in the workplace than copiers, Houser created a rudimentary managed print program, eventually bundling in service, further accelerating DSI’s growth.
After a few years as a cartridge remanufacturer and managed print services provider, DSI started selling copiers and printers, initially taking on the Kyocera line before switching to Konica Minolta. After nearly 20 years as a single-line Konica Minolta dealer, the dealership recently partnered with Sharp in support of a local acquisition and to offset some of the supply chain problems the industry is experiencing. DSI also sells HP and Lexmark A4 devices and printers, as well as Epson A4 and A3. “Epson A3 is a disruptive technology,” said Houser. “There are certain areas where their cost-per-page is starting to grab some attention. The reliability of the product is solid. They’ve got some work to do on the accessory side of things in terms of the finishers and so forth, but all in all, we’ve got Epson products out there that are performing.”
IT Excellence
Another catalyst for growth has been managed IT, added to DSI’s offerings six years ago. It is a healthy, financially strong business that continues to grow. “It’s the gift that just keeps giving because customers continue to need upgrades on their servers and new computers,” said Houser. “As long as you take care of the client, you’re going to grow.”
DSI’s IT business was built from the ground up, although that wasn’t the original plan. Just as Houser was about to sign a deal with a local IT company, one of DSI’s largest medical clients asked if they would consider responding to an RFP for managed services. Even though DSI didn’t offer managed IT services, the client still encouraged them to consider providing desktop support because of the great job they’d done on the imaging side. “We beat out some pretty big players,” recalled Houser. “They really wanted us to be their partner and let us hire a couple of their internal people to start our infrastructure.”
That first client had 1,300 PCs. “That gave us the infrastructure to build out an IT company,” said Houser. “Otherwise, it is very difficult to get started in that space.” Today, DSI manages about 7,000 devices with a staff of 12.
Beyond IT
DSI also offers customers security cameras, AV, and VoIP. While at a Konica Minolta dealer meeting in Aspen, Colorado, six years ago, Houser was introduced to MOBOTIX, a company that makes security cameras. With school shootings front-page news, Houser saw the need for products like this. DSI now has close to 50% of the education market in New Mexico. However, security cameras haven’t been a slam dunk. “Security is a totally different ball of wax, much more complex because it includes intrusion and access control,” explained Houser. “It is not for the faint of heart. There are so many elements to it. You’re hiring electrical contractors and integrators. We’ve been in it for five years, and this should be our breakout year in that division, but it’s been painful. I see us becoming much more proficient.”
Above: DSI’s lobby bar at its Albuquerque headquarters where team members meet and greet customers and prospects.
What’s made a difference for DSI in the security segment so far is the professionalism of its employees, thanks to 25 years of experience selling office technology. “We are competing against the blue-collar guy, the integrator, and we’re coming in with a team of sales professionals,” said Houser. “We also provide the integration behind the scenes.” He believes that will make a difference in the AV space as well, an opportunity Houser described as “low-hanging fruit.”
For VoIP, DSI partners with Crexendo. The first deal was a 10-year contract for 1,200 phones. “Crexendo was absolutely outstanding to work with, and they were willing to do all the heavy lifting because we really didn’t have a VoIP infrastructure at that point,” acknowledged Houser.
The Best Is Yet to Come
Despite the pandemic and supply chain problems, Houser is more excited than ever about the business. He’s convinced DSI will continue to thrive in the future. “I want it to be a flourishing business,” said Houser. “We do that by setting our sights on being the best that we can be. Growth comes when you deliver outstanding products and services. Our growth will be the result of our strengths, and how we support our clients and the partnerships that we’ve developed.”
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