Mendebaldea’s photocopier It is one of the examples of local commerce in Pamplona which advances by resisting the crisis and tough competition with work and enthusiasm, after its opening ten years ago.
This company is located in Irunlarrea street 13 B in the heart of the Mendebaldea district. very close to other establishments that we have seen in this section of the local commerce of the Navarrese capital.
As is the case for example, of the new Argentinian bakery Kanel, which delights its customers with its surprising gastronomy, either the new Lu Grisales Notion de Beautè beauty center, at 10 rue Benjamin in Tudela.
The native of Pamplona David Gonzalez He is 43 years old, owns the stationery store and works with his sister-in-law. Jacqueline Romero. “We took over the premises ten years ago, first as a call center until the pandemic,” he says.
“Then we reinvented ourselves. We took over the San Fermín stationery and its owner Juancho offered us to take over his share of the Low Cost photocopier. We brought it to our premises with the machines we have. We are doing very well. We have increased our activity a lot in recent years. We produce more than a million and a half copies per year.”
David points out that They grew their business when they saw an ad on Navarra.com: “We learned that they were moving the Iturralde paper mill to Martin Azpilcueta Street. We spoke with its owner Conchi Olaizola. We were encouraged. We took it and my wife (Rosalba Romero) has been working there since January 2022.”
Being self-employed and having two businesses has complicated things, even though they are going well, according to David: “There is very little aid because it focuses a lot on the new entrepreneur, but not in small businesses. There is no help at all. »
“Another problem we have is hire people, which means a lot of money if it’s full time. “If you hire a part-time person, they only ask for 550 or 600 euros and there are few people who want because they earn almost as much with the aid they receive without working.”
Fortunately, they have two businesses “in locations where people are very willing to buy from local businesses.” It’s not much more expensive than in department stores. A laptop only costs you 30 cents more and if you buy a lot we will lower the price,” says David.
They really enjoy working with people: “We get along very well with everyone in the neighborhood. Even on cold days, they bring you hot coffee. The way he treats people is spectacular. You help elderly people whose cell phones have been blocked and who don’t know how it works…”
David González is very familiar with the issue of generational change in small businesses: “Kids don’t want to be stuck in the store all day working like their parents did. But today it’s different because you can adapt your business to your life and not the other way around,” explains David.
At the photocopier, activity drops significantly in July and August “where you can close for a while in the afternoon. The same in December. You can play with peaks of activity in September and October, where you work more hours. I encourage people to start a business if they have the opportunity in viable businesses. You have to be smart to adapt it to your life,” concludes David.
