By Laurie Gordon
WEST MILFORD — It hasn't been easy for West Milford resident Ken Freedman to keep his store, Computrs Inc.. opening and thriving for 30 years.
The late prime minister of Great Britain has inspired him.
“Nothing is impossible. The impossible just takes a little longer,” Winston Churchill was famously quoted and it has been Freedman's mantra to keep him going through the ebbs and flows of the economy for so long. Freedman and his staff credit their tenacity, professionalism and exceptional customer service.
“The enjoyment of succeeding where everyone else has given up is what our philosophy is all about,” he said. “With the help of good people around me we all succeeded here.”
Freedman started the business in 1987 after spending many years in the computer industry. He saw there was a huge demand for additional services that weren't offered at the company where he worked."
Evolving business“The business model in the computer industry has to be fluid and easily evolving otherwise the company outlives its usefulness," he said.
"My original plan was as a parts distributor, similar to any of the local auto parts stores," he said. "As the price of computers came down the move to making our own brand of computers, as well as repairing them, became essential. At one point, we had our company logo on the computers and were doing about 5,000 custom computers per year. We also did 'multimedia computer systems' for schools and businesses. There’s even a local business in Wayne — Fireside Furniture — still running a computer we custom built for them over 20 years ago.”
As the computer industry evolved so did Computrs Inc.. It went from being a box builder and break-fix computer company to a networking company.
“We became a Novel then Microsoft Partner," Freeman said. "Network support and design took over our business as we moved into 2000,” Freedman said. “Today our business is a one-stop-shop for anyone with a computer or network. We also become one of the premier Data Recovery companies in the area. When someone’s computer fails and the hard drive won’t allow access to the photographs or business files we provide recovery services.”
Passion for the workFor Freedman, his business' success has been a combination of his passion combined with resilience, flexibility, vision and compassion for customers.
“When a computer hard drive fails, it can be an emotional time for the client," Freedman said. “One Sunday a few years ago, we received a call from a man who had taken his computer to another place and they wiped out his hard drive even though he told them he didn’t have a backup. His fiancé was killed by a drunk driver, and he had not backed up the photographs.
"I told him to meet me at the office later that same day. In two days I got all the pictures and documents back. He got quite emotional when he saw the pictures. I still remember the look on his face when he told me the story of losing her, then the pictures, and finally getting them back.”
Support helps businessFreedman's family and the West Milford community have been important in keeping business going, he said.
“I am blessed with a wonderful wife (Diane), who has always been supportive,” Freedman said. “She has always been my voice of reason. When our daughters were small she would even bring the girls to the office during the day. They became part of the company when they were growing up. My employees loved having them around.”
Their eldest, Lindsey, is now a social studies teacher and his younger daughter, Laura, is a student at The University of Scranton. Diane is the Director of Career Services at Montclair University's Feliciano School of Business.
Freedman has also had key employees over the years, Including Jesse Ginder, who has been a major part player in Computrs Inc.’s stability for more than 20 years.
Additionally, Computrs Inc.'s service manager, Mario Silvera has been an asset to this firm’s expansion.
Bloomingdale storefrontThe office was based, physically, in Pompton Lakes and last year expanded to larger quarters in Bloomingdale, but it's clients largely stem from the West Milford community.
“Over the past 30 years I have lived in West Milford, I’ve been part of the community,” Freedman said. “Through coaching PAL and CYO Basketball, I got to meet many parents over the years who would end up bringing their computers to our office for repairs.”
Freedman was also on the West Milford Board of Education many years ago. Additionally, Freedman said that the small business group in the community is very loyal to other local businesses.
“We all support each other knowing the personalized service can't be replicated at a faceless chain store,” he said.
Customer loyaltySome of Computrs Inc.'s clients have been with them since the beginning, and Freedman and his clients have together seen shared the evolution of kids growing and parents getting older. They truly became family, he said.
“Loyalty comes with being comfortable with the people you interact with," he said. “We sincerely like our clients. We know their life story and want to help with more than just keeping a computer or network running for them.”
Computrs Inc. finds ways to extend the economic life cycle of computers and networks for its clients. Freedman tries to save his customers money and breathing new life into a older computer.
And of that quote that's his business mantra, Freedman said, “Everything was impossible before it was done. Over the years we have been told by so many people 'that can’t be done, you can’t do it, nobody could do it.' I just don’t like to accept failure. My dad (the late Milton Freedman who was a role model and highly influential in Freedman's life) did things which I always was amazed with. He could never accept that something could not be done if he truly wanted to achieve it."
Appropriately, Freedman used Churchill's quote in his father's eulogy.
Computrs Inc. can be contacted at: http://www.computrsInc..com or by calling 973-248-9500.