Overview:
For the close-knit Torres family, business is truly a family affair. Their company, Cole Industrial & Technical Supply, was founded by Michael Torres Jr. in 1999 in Tampa, Florida. It hit $2 million in sales after just three years in business.

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For the close-knit Torres family, business is truly a family affair. Their company, Cole Industrial & Technical Supply, was founded by Michael Torres Jr. in 1999 in Tampa, Florida. It hit $2 million in sales after just three years in business.

When Michael Jr. founded Cole Industrial, he was only 20 years old, and relied heavily on the guidance of his father, Mike Sr., a 28-year veteran of the wholesale industrial distribution trade. Eventually, Mike Sr. retired from his position with another industrial distributor to join his son full time as CEO. The company began in the Torres' garage with rented warehouse space in downtown Tampa, and has since expanded into a 6,000-square-foot warehouse that's better suited to the company's expanding needs.

Growing with Peachtree
Like many small businesses, Cole Industrial has succeeded due in large part to the drive of its founder and the hard work of its employees, combined with smart business decisions. That includes the decision to use Peachtree Complete Accounting and other Sage Software products.

When the business started, Mike Sr. chose Peachtree Complete Accounting to manage the company's accounting, following the recommendation of a friend who owns a small printing business and had used Peachtree for years. Mike Sr. says he's glad that he did.

"Peachtree is intuitive for most users, so it's easy to get new employees up and running. I get all the critical information I need daily - actually, very rapidly each morning,"  Mike Sr. says.

Support When It's Needed
As an integrated supplier, Cole Industrial prides itself on providing both the array of industrial supply products and the training expertise that its customers need. In addition to sales, Cole Industrial also conducts training seminars, surveys and audits. Cole Industrial acts as a true business partner to its valued clients, such as Aggreko and Amalie Oil Company. While most distribution businesses are focused solely on selling products, Cole Industrial offers the technical support its clients need to choose the best products for their business. Mike Sr. explains, "Most of the time, they know what they want, but when they need help, we're there for them."

Mike Sr. values this commitment to service in his business partners as well. "That's one thing I like about Peachtree, to know that on occasion when I need help, it's there. If I need expert help, it's there."

Starting out with just one PC, Cole Industrial now operates Peachtree Complete Accounting in a server environment. It's essential to Mike Sr. as he monitors the overall operations of the business, to the other employees as they place sales orders for clients, and to his bookkeeper as she keeps tabs on the company's cash flow. "She uses the Daily Register report to keep up with which vendors she needs to pay today and which customers she needs to call from a collection standpoint. She loves the cash flow forecasters."

Information at Their Fingertips
And, the insightful reports make life easier as well. "You get information awfully fast out of Peachtree," remarks Mike Sr. "The fact that you can quickly pull any information you need to review is great!"

With the business growing steadily, Mike Sr. and his employees use additional services from Sage Software, including Peachtree Online Backup and Peachtree Credit Card Service, both of which help his business run more smoothly. With Peachtree Online Backup, Mike Sr. says it also gives him peace of mind that his information will be safe even if a problem occurs.

According to Mike Sr., "For most small businesses, you sell during the day and do your accounting at night. Peachtree helps keep that to a minimum. It improves my quality of life. I can make sure my business is doing well, because Peachtree does much of the work for me in a timely fashion, and I can still get out to coach high school baseball in the evenings, which is super!"

Having hit the $2 million mark in sales, Mike Sr. and his family are poised for continued success. "For a small distribution company to be getting $2 million in sales with just eight people - I give Peachtree an awful lot of credit for that."