Kinko's - The Free-Agent Home Office

By: Paul RobertsTue Dec 18, 2007 at 11:50 PM

Sure, this fast-growing company makes copies -- 12 billion copies in 1997 alone. But its real mission is to help the growing population of self-employed professionals remake how they work and live.

It's not uncommon for Kinko's customers to stop by the store and celebrate with the staff (and whoever else is there) when they land a big client or a great job. Kinko's founder Orfalea finds the trend moving and a bit worrisome. "This whole [free-agent] thing started with salespeople working out of their homes," he says. "But even salespeople like to chat with one another. They need the reinforcement of talking to people with similar interests and backgrounds. Sometimes I think we've gone overboard with this work-at-home thing. People don't go to a corporate office just to collect a paycheck or to move up the corporate ladder," Orfalea adds. "They go because they don't like talking just to their neighbors."

Paul Roberts proberts@nwi.net is a frequent contributor to Fast Company. His most recent article was "Group Genius" (October: November 1997).0