The dealership has made its mark across three New England states.
Above: Tom Ouellette, president, and his brother Steven who serves as CFO.
Budget Document Technology President Tom Ouellette’s story is far from unique in the office technology dealer community. He’s not the first entrepreneur to start his career in service before expanding to sales and leading a thriving dealership that’s the perfect size for the markets it serves.
After serving in the Navy and earning an electrical mechanical degree in Virginia, thanks to his military educational benefits, Ouellette began working as a service tech in the mid-1980s for a small dealership in Brunswick, Maine. Over the course of four and a half years, he repaired typewriters and liquid toner copiers.
In 1989, Ouellette started Budget Document Technology, focused primarily on service. He would drive around in his Chevy Astro van with a tool kit, servicing customers’ equipment. “It didn’t matter what brand it was; as long as I could get a part for it, I was going to try to fix it,” he recalled. “I was working on anything back then just to make a living.”
If something needed to be repaired offsite, Ouellette’s repair shop was his parents’ garage. At the time, there wasn’t enough work to keep him busy for a full day, so he supplemented his income by working for L.L. Bean, taking phone orders in the evenings. Working two jobs and building a business was tough, but he enjoyed it. After a year and a half, Ouellette hired his first employee. The next big step was moving into a 1,000-foot shop on Lisbon Street in Lewiston. A few years later, the company moved into a 2,500-square-foot space across the street. In 1995 he built a 5,000 square foot building and again in 2010 expanded the building to 10,500 square feet.
It wasn’t unusual for Ouellette to occasionally find himself selling, which was an asset because, as he noted, “Service techs tend to be trusted by customers. When you tell them they need a new machine, they usually listen to you more than a salesman.”
Asked if learning to sell with a service tech pedigree was challenging, Ouellette acknowledged that it wasn’t all that tough, “I get along with most anybody, so that part wasn’t too hard.” It was all about building trust, which he’d already done as his clients’ service tech, and then being straightforward. He recalled telling them, “‘I’m going to sell you what you need, not oversell you.’ They might have a 40-page-a-minute machine but didn’t need a 40-page-a-minute machine. A lot of customers just seemed to trust me.”
Budget Document Technology vehicles ready to deliver and service customers.
After not having a copier line, Budget Document Technology became an authorized Olympia dealer. At the time, Olympia had an agreement with Minolta to market its machines up to 60 ppm. After Olympia exited the business, Budget switched to Panasonic. “We had a great relationship with them,” said Ouellette, who added that he’d still be a Panasonic dealer today if the company were still in the copier business. Today, the dealership’s imaging product lines include Konica Minolta, Lexmark, and Xerox.
The dealership also has a strong MPS offering, thanks largely to acquiring a toner supply and printer repair company in 2010. The 2013 acquisition of Automated Mailing Solutions added mailing equipment to Budget Document Technology’s product mix. It also sells Kodak Alaris scanners, KIP wide format, Ademero document management solutions, PaperCut print management software, and the latest addition to its offerings, Zebra label printers, and most recently, Zultys VOIP.
Sibling Support
Ouellette runs the business with his brother Steven, who serves as CFO. After graduating college with an accounting degree, Steven worked part-time at Budget Document Technology, helping with bookkeeping, before taking a position in Boston in the insurance and finance industry for a couple of years. After moving back to Maine, Steven assisted his brother, whose business was growing, write a business plan and oversee the construction of a 5,000-square-foot building in an industrial park in Lewiston.
Steven remained with his brother for another year before leaving for another position in the finance world. He returned in 1996, this time for good. The two brothers have been working together for the past 28 years.
Expanding Budget Document Technology’s Footprint
Budget Document Technology has locations in Maine, New Hampshire, and the North Shore of Boston.
Budget Document Technology employs 36 people across its various locations. In addition to Maine, the dealership has a presence in New Hampshire thanks to two acquisitions and the North Shore of Boston. Its biggest competitor in Maine is the Xerox Group, formerly Global Imaging Systems, and direct branches from Canon and Kyocera. It competes with two small independent dealers in New Hampshire and Southern Maine. In Massachusetts, the primary competition is Konica Minolta, Toshiba, and Kyocera direct branches and a few local dealers.
Like many dealers who compete with direct branches, Ouellette said that direct competition has greatly contributed to Budget Document Technology’s growth as unhappy customers seek a more reliable alternative. Last year, Budget Document Technology grew more than 20% because of the current competitive atmosphere. “It seems to have gotten even easier,” said Ouellette about winning new customers. “People just want to talk.”
Service and service response times are big motivators for switching from a direct operation to Budget Document Technology. “We’ve been a Konica Pro Tech Dealer now for 12 years in a row,” revealed Ouellette. “We really make sure our clients and prospects know that.”
But it’s not just its service techs that set the dealership apart; its tenured administrative staff also play a big part in customer retention, ensuring customers can talk to a “live” person and get quick answers to their billing questions. “They’re very responsive and know the industry, so that’s really helped,” said Ouellette.
Membership Has Its Privileges
In 1998, the dealership was recognized by BTA for achieving $1 million in sales.
Ouellette is a big supporter of BTA and has held various volunteer roles in the organization before serving as vice president and then president in 2011. In 1998, his dealership was recognized by BTA for achieving $1 million in sales. The plaque still hangs proudly in the dealership’s headquarters. Ouellette is also one of the founding members of Pro Dealer Group. He appreciates the camaraderie of being a member of these organizations, the educational opportunities, and the various networking events where he can mingle and exchange best practices with peers.
Still Growing After All These Years
Ouellette has made several acquisitions over the years, which have been key growth drivers for expanding into new locations or its product offerings. If the company is right, acquisitions remain part of the plan. However, Ouellette is satisfied with the dealership’s current size and footprint. “It’s very manageable,” he said, adding, “There’s still a lot more business to capture in our footprint.”
Meanwhile, employee retention has been excellent. Ouellette hasn’t lost a sales rep in four years other than one who retired because of COVID-related health issues. At the time of our interview, he was looking to hire another sales rep for a new territory. In addition, Ouellette has done an excellent job recruiting younger service techs. “That’s really nice because you talk to a lot of dealers right now, and they’re very worried about their technicians aging out,” he said.
Advertising and word of mouth have been instrumental in filling service positions. One of Ouellette’s top employees who handles service and logistics for equipment installations was an auto mechanic working in a small garage. “He was tired of crawling under cars,” said Ouellette. “He’s been a great find.”
Budget Document Technology doesn’t offer managed IT, but it can handle IT issues and over the past 10 years, Ouellette created the company’s help desk, assisting customers by remotely installing printer drivers and setting up new employees to access the equipment.
Last year, Budget Document Technology grew 20% in revenue. Things are looking good this year, although Ouellette admits last year’s growth will be tough to beat because much of the additional $1 million generated was a rollover from COVID, namely, filling backorders. “Right now, we’re on track to be where we were last year, which I’d be very happy with,” he concluded.
