Domitek switched from a break-fix to a recurring revenue business model in 2010, and has grown 200 percent since 2013, according to Bueno. It’s now expanding into VoIP services.

After hiring his first VoIP salesperson only weeks ago, Bueno is looking to grow another 150 percent this year. He believes Domitek’s future lies in cloud brokering and an in-house security offering. He said he hopes to utilize his personal relationships with clients to guide them on security, because IT providers that know their clients be the most capable of educating them and keeping their technology infrastructures safe.

Those that don’t, he said, "are going to be out of business."

The Latin community is one Bueno said he has always been watching. When he opened Domitek, he said, he expected he would serve that community. However, he said he quickly realized that for the most part, the Latino community had no use for his services because its businesses were largely storefront, and owners didn’t see value in IT.

But, now, he said, that’s changing.

"There is a new generation of entrepreneurs in the Latin community that are moving away from storefront business and becoming lawyers, doctors and CPAs, and now we are going after those businesses," he said.

Bueno is also involved with the broader Worcester community.  He works with local colleges and individuals as well to create opportunities for the community and his clients. In addition, he works with a state-city partnership that helps the unemployed find new jobs.

"For me it’s a no-brainer," he said. "The more that I make, the more I get to give back."

One program in which Bueno is investing his time is a local board that tries to better incentivize entrepreneurial-minded college students to stay in Worcester after they graduate through incubator programs, as well as lower rents and tax breaks for.

He also works with the Workforce Central Career Center, the organization that helps the unemployed. In that role, he says, he also learns about incentives and resources open to small businesses like his clients. For instance, Bueno said the program provides free training for employees or monetary incentives for hiring the unemployed.

By helping his clients save money or take advantage of an incentive program, Bueno said he’s making sure they have the money to stay in business and continue to work with him.

"If we can help our clients grow, we can grow with them," he said.

Bueno said his involvement with his clients and the community comes from his ability to identify with them, not only as an immigrant from the Dominican Republic but as a local - who grew up in the area since from the age of 16 - and as a small-business owner.

"It goes back to my roots," Bueno said, "The lessons I got from my mother and father [were to] try to be good to other people."

Now, he said, he takes that lesson and applies it to his business, meeting each client face-to-face before extending a proposal, looking at their needs and building affordable solutions for them and developing friendships as part of the business relationship.

That, he added, "certainly helps" his business.

"A lot of times, I am willing to not make the profit I wanted to going into a deal so that I can get my foot in the door," Bueno said. At that point, he added, the business needs to be about developing a relationship before it is about profit.

"I go out of my way to develop a friendship – which can be a [double-edged] sword," he said.  "But, I take that risk … My friendship is the way I develop a trusting relationship with my clients."