Prior & Nami Business Systems celebrates its 110th anniversary, proof positive a small dealership can thrive and survive in an ever-changing industry.
In 1910, Prior Typewriter Company opened its doors in downtown Trenton, New Jersey, selling Royal typewriters. Multiple moves and 110 years later, the company—now operating as Prior & Nami Business Systems—remains a fixture in the greater Trenton area after moving to neighboring Hamilton in 1997.
The company might not be here today if it weren’t for Tony Nami, a go-getter who started in the copier industry in 1978, selling for Royal Business, an office equipment dealership based in Philadelphia.
Nami is of that early generation of copier salesmen, the ones who transported copiers around in the back of a station wagon and then had to lug them up and down steps to demo them.
Above: Tony Nami first joined the company 35 years ago as a sales rep and then acquired it in 1996. Nami has enjoyed his time as a small business owner in a vibrant marketplace where customers include SMBs and state agencies.
“It was terrible, but it built character,” said Nami. “A lot of places didn’t have elevators, it was tough. And the equipment we sold in the beginning, in comparison to what we have today, was junk. Some of the machines didn’t work very well, but that’s what you had to sell.”
He worked out of the company’s Trenton office and drove into Philadelphia for meetings once a week. When Royal closed its Trenton office in 1980, Nami faced a tough decision, a daily drive into Philadelphia, or find a job closer to home. Anyone who has driven I-95 from Trenton to Philadelphia during rush hour understands Nami’s dilemma.
Prior Notice
Nami’s fortunes changed thanks to Jack Prior, whose father and uncle founded Prior Typewriter Company. Prior offered Nami a job that initially he turned down because he wasn’t interested in selling typewriters. Six months later, after the company started selling the Triumph-Adler copier line, Prior made the offer again, and this time Nami accepted and was back in business selling copiers, word processors, and typewriters. Fourteen years later, Nami acquired the dealership from Prior.
Above: A fleet of Prior delivery vehicles in the 1950s.
For Nami, going into business for himself was not a difficult decision.
“When Jack Prior interviewed me, he asked what I intended to do with my life,” recalled Nami. “I told him I always wanted to have my own business. He said, ‘You never know, you could possibly buy this someday.’”
Transitioning from employee to owner wasn’t easy.
“I remember somebody saying, ‘If you’re going to run your own business, you better have a lot of energy, good health, and be willing to put in the time,’” said Nami. “That was true because, in the beginning, I worked tons of hours.”
Right-Sizing
In an era where mega-dealers and direct distribution dot the imaging industry landscape, Nami is perfectly content with the size of his dealership. He has 11 employees, including himself and Karen Robinson, his administrative assistant, who—he laughs—came with the business when he acquired it. Nami’s cousin Mark Nami serves as general manager and has been with him since 2001. Mark also assists with sales. Meanwhile, his IT tech and lead copier tech have been with him for 22 and 17 years, respectively.
Being a smaller dealership has its advantages, especially when serving other SMBs.
“When our customers call, they get a person on the phone, not a voicemail that jumps them all over the place,” said Nami. “If they need to talk to me, they can. If they need a loan copier, they get it.”
Nami still does most of the sales calls and prospecting. He’s had some talented sales reps over the years, but when they left, replacing them was not easy.
“It’s tough for people to get started in sales with a small company and give them a decent base,” noted Nami. “There’s a big ladder to climb here and a low ceiling.”
Nami realizes there’s also a low ceiling as to how large he can get with its current team. The ceiling he said is a few million dollars. After that, it’s difficult to grow without investing in more people. Overall, he’s satisfied with the status quo.
“Some people dub this a lifestyle business where it’s manageable with the number of people we have,” he explained. “We’re like a family. And we’re in a niche where we’re not getting crushed by the big guys from New York, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia.”
Product Fare
While the dealership’s foundation was typewriters, copiers and fax machines were key additions that propelled the dealership’s longevity. In 1995, Prior & Nami started selling Muratec fax machines, which helped it land some large state contracts.
The dealership’s success selling fax, as well as its state contracts, captured the attention of Minolta. This was welcomed by Nami, who wanted to become a main-line copier dealer. The dealership was selling Canon’s C-Line series, but Nami wanted to go bigger. However, to take on the Minolta line, he had to place a minimum opening order of $60,000, a significant sum for a small dealership. Nami inquired about placing a lower minimum order, but Minolta wouldn’t budge. So, he told them he’d call them the next day after he thought about it.
“I went home and thought, that’s ten copiers,” remembered Nami. “If I can’t sell ten copiers, I don’t deserve to be in the business.”
Today, Prior & Nami sells Konica Minolta, and Sharp, and continues to sell the Canon’s C Series, which includes devices up to 60 ppm.
Above: Nami at the entrance to Prior & Nami Business Systems in Hamilton, N.J.
“We have a lot of customers who like that level of Canon,” noted Nami. “And we’re doing a lot of cooperative contracts with Konica Minolta products.”
Over the years, he’s adapted his product offerings to keep pace with technological changes in the industry. When digital copiers hit the scene in the 1990s, Nami embraced them without hesitation.
“We loved the transition to digital,” said Nami. “We had to flip all the analog boxes like everybody else in the industry, and that was another shot in the arm for the business.”
After that, he added shredders, which turned out to be another boost to the business and mailing systems.
One might think it would be difficult for a small dealership to offer managed services, but that hasn’t been a problem either. It’s a growing segment of Prior & Nami’s business, doubling in revenues for nearly three years. The dealership uses the Avast platform for its managed services offering, which encompasses remote monitoring, cloud storage, and anti-virus protection. In 2016, the dealership became an authorized Lenovo partner, selling Lenovo desktops, laptops, and servers. The last few months have been busy—and profitable—updating customers from Windows 7 to Windows 10.
Competition and Concerns
Nami still has some serious competition, particularly at the state level, where he consistently locks horns with Ricoh.
“They’ve got some great low prices,” lamented Nami.
Two of his biggest concerns are eroding click margins and the difficulty of finding talented, young service technicians who are willing to work on copiers and MFPs. A lot of the young people he encounters looking for technical positions want to fix computers and don’t have the same skillset as the older workforce when it comes to fixing traditional print technology.
One of Nami’s biggest fears is that copiers will one day become so modularly designed that they’ll be easily ordered online and delivered, and the customer will be able to service them themselves. He references the new Lexmark machines sold through Sharp as an example.
“The finisher plugs in easily, the toner goes in, customers could do that and then realize, maybe we don’t need to pay for a maintenance agreement,” said Nami. “If they get to that point where somebody can order it online, and it’s ready to go out of the box, that will hurt us.”
110th Anniversary Goal Setting
While plans for Prior & Nami’s 110th-anniversary celebration are being finalized, Nami is focused on driving more productivity from his entire staff in 2020. He’s created a program that rewards techs and other team members for generating new business from existing customers by telling them about the dealership’s other offerings.
Above: The Cannata Report’s Editor-in-Chief Scott Cullen with Nami.
He’s also looking to enhance the dealership’s social media platform with the help of a social media specialist.
“Right now, it’s a hodgepodge,” said Nami, who wants to do similar posts across multiple platforms and highlight what employees are doing in the community, as well as showcase the non-profits Prior & Nami supports.
Another item on his agenda is updating the dealership’s website and doing more advertising, particularly on cable television, where he’s been running commercials for a few years. Those ads are fun to watch and showcase Nami and his team. Nami is a natural in front of the camera. I see the commercials when flipping channels, especially on ESPN. A new ad will promote the company’s 110th anniversary.
Nami is often asked if TV advertising works.
“It’s the only thing that we do that people say, hey, I saw your commercial, or my employees will say, I got a text last night, somebody says he saw me during the game,” said Nami. “It gets attention.”
After 42 years in the business, Nami still enjoys what he’s doing.
“I love people and interacting with my employees,” he commented.
As he prepares to celebrate the dealership’s 110th anniversary, Nami is looking forward, half-joking about sticking around another 40 years to celebrate Prior & Nami’s 150th.
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