Flooring and carpet retail warehouses. (Woodland Hills)

Growth Rate 178%

Executive:

Michael Cope, chief executive and founder

Early Days/Financing:

I’m an ex-homeless rock musician. My band came to Los Angeles and my bass player taught me how to lay carpet. I’ve been in the business ever since. That was 1983. In 1998, I began working on the Amigos business plan. I couldn’t get even one person to invest, not one person that I knew. I finally found a partner who put up a little money. I put up a little money. We opened the first store in January 2001. We had 9/11 just a few months later. After that, I bought him out and became chief executive at the end of 2001.

Big Break: Everyone asks:

“What was your big break?” Really, there was no big break; it was a lot of tiny breaks added together. When I started, no one was doing what I’m doing. There are tens of thousands of flooring sample stores but not many stocking dealers. The typical stocking dealers just have some carpet rolls. I bought containers of laminates and hardwood and went to Asia and started shipping containers from Asia and South America and Europe. It was very expensive to buy containers of hardwood. It was a big risk but it worked.

Biggest Challenge:

Getting the right people on board is always the biggest challenge. Show me one company that has never had trouble with employees and I’ll show you someone that hasn’t ever had a company. People put their best foot forward in the interview. You try to break down the fa & #231;ade, but you just never know until you give them a shot.

Secret to Success:

We have to be flexible and adaptable. That means having a vision and being able to accurately predict what is going to happen around the next corner. Hard work is definitely important as well. Never be afraid to do anything that you ask your people to do. You can’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and get dirty. Earn people’s respect and give them respect back.

What’s Next:

We launched our first ever Web site in July this year. It was just supposed to be informational for local customers, but we’ve had interest from people all over the country and as far as India. We are revamping the Web site so that people can shop.

Slogan:

Make a little money and a lot of friends.