About Leader Business

Leader Business is a company founded in and focused on Metro Detroit. We are the largest locally owned and operated Canon USA and Kyocera dealer in Southeast Michigan. Our corporate strategy to provide sales and services through local branch offices has led us to a 97% customer retention rate. We want to tell you more about Leader Business, so please read about us below.

History

Karl Lieder graduated from Western Michigan University in 1981. By 1983, he founded Leader Business and began operating in his garage in Redford and selling Mita copiers with the help of one service technician. The company was established to provide unparalleled service and support after a copier system was installed. In the early 1980s, copiers were analog devices with many moving parts — do you remember sorter bins? Mr. Lieder knew that if he could provide the best support after the sale, he could separate himself from the competition. "Our focus from the beginning was to be unsurpassed in customer service," said Mr. Lieder.

As his startup business continued growing, Mr. Lieder incorporated Leader Business Systems in 1989. For years, the Mita, Inc. manufacturer representative calling on Mr. Lieder saw the potential of Leader Business Systems. In 1992, Mark McMacken left the manufacturer Mita and bought into Leader Business Systems. With both officers of the company having extensive copier sales experience, they hired a veteran service manager, Tim Englehardt, to run the service support business in 1995. Mr. Englehardt has been in the copier business since 1979 and is considered one of Metro Detroit's premier technical experts. Today, he manages Leader Business corporate headquarters' service support team and is our longest-tenured employee.

The company's continued growth is spurred by the founding officer's dedication to our mission statement to operate efficiently, ethically, and economically. This ideology remains our focus today. Our effectiveness in document workflows is based on employing the most qualified sales, technical, and administrative personnel to partner with our customers. We never compromise our principled standards of working with each customer conscientiously. The backbone of our strength is the founders' philosophy to remain debt-free so that we can offer our customers the full advantage of a solvent support company.

As our customer needs expanded, Leader Business looked to expand our product lineup. In 1996, Canon USA approached Leader to become a Canon C-Series dealer. This was a monumental step as Leader Business was able to add the number-one copier manufacturer in the world to the product lineup. Mr. McMacken contacted Craig Wolter. Both were former employees of the original Canon USA dealership in Detroit, International Calculator Sales, Inc., in Southfield, MI. Mr. Wolter sold Canon equipment from 1984 to 1990 and agreed to open the first branch of Leader Business in Taylor, MI, in 1996. Mr. Wolter is a 1983 graduate of Western Michigan University.

In 2003, we opened our third office in Sterling Heights, MI. Bret Tigges was hired from Panasonic in 2001 and now operates this office. Mr. Tigges is a 1998 graduate of Western Michigan University.

In 2008, Leader Business became a full-line Canon Dealer. Our product line expands to 105 PPM MFPs.

In 2012, we opened our fourth office in Ann Arbor, MI. Bobby McMacken was chosen to run and operate this office. Mr. McMacken is a graduate of Albion College. Having a solutions mindset and being CDIA + certified, Mr. McMacken looked to expand Leader's hardware history with solutions in both managed print services and document management software. Today, Leader Business is a total document solutions provider.