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What market gap does your brand fill? What was missing in the space before, how was it identified, and what inspired you to create the solution?I’ve been in the imaging industry for 28 years, so when Cartridge World suddenly popped up seemingly out of nowhere as this refilling store ahead of its time in the industry, I was intrigued. Nothing like it really existed at that point. As the brand began franchising, it grew so fast that it was scrambling to keep up with refilling printer cartridges at the rate of demand, which is when I was brought on in a consulting capacity.&nbsp;I could see the animal the brand was becoming, and I saw an opportunity for myself to join the Cartridge World team to usher in the new ways in which technology was poised to change the business.&nbsp;In our heyday, we had couches in the front of our retail storefronts where people would sit and wait for their cartridges to be refilled. Then the internet came along and changed everything—our stores were no longer a destination, and because printer equipment was emerging and evolving so fast, it became a challenge for Cartridge World locations to manufacture a cartridge in-store, leading to an unsustainable retail business due to the convenience the new online world brought. The brand lost its way for a while and didn’t know where it needed to go.I joined the brand more than 11 years ago as its Global Chief Technological Officer and have served as CEO in the U.S. since 2016. I was in the back in the boiler room handling technical issues, and when I took the reins, my emphasis became finding ways to manage the business services element of Cartridge World, because I saw great potential for the brand to be able to offer local expertise to anyone with any printer need.&nbsp;At the time I became CEO, our means of doing business were evolving. We’ve since grown into our new identity as a service-driven company that focuses on providing managed&nbsp;print services that industry competitors couldn’t, which eventually led us to develop the Why Buy a Printer Program. It’s everything a copier deal is not.&nbsp;What are you doing well right now? What are your brand’s differentiators?The shift away from printing as much as we all collectively used to created the need for a sustainable, efficient solution, which Cartridge World delivers. The existing market is completely driven on hardware—the way the industry is structured, it can’t do anything else. Cartridge World is able to break through that with a business model built on no-cost hardware and service. With the Why Buy a Printer Program, we provide our customers with a name-brand printer of their choice at no cost, as well as no-cost recurring on-site printer service. All we ask in return from our customers is for them to sign a two-year agreement to buy our ink and toner. We don’t want an unhappy customer for 5 years, unlike a copier dealer.&nbsp;72% of copiers are printing less than 5,000 pages per month, and so many companies are locked into 5-year contracts with these over spec and&nbsp;over-sold, aircraft carrier-sized products they spent thousands of dollars on just sitting on the floor when they really only need a $600 printer.&nbsp;We fill a market sector that concentrates on small businesses that want their printing needs to be met without having to think twice about it and without them having to spend a fortune. Copiers aren’t convenient—they talk about cost per page, but not cost per step. We are driving the ability to go back to decentralized printing in the right and smart places to bring convenience back to printing, and we’re thriving due to this simple agreement.&nbsp;Plus, because our franchises are locally owned and operated, we’re able to serve as a trusted imaging consultant and advisor to other small businesses unlike a copier salesperson who will be seen only twice: once the day the contract needs signing, and the other 10 months before the contract expires. Our target customers are small businesses with 50 employees or fewer—because of the nature and flexibility of our offering, we can swim as far up and downstream as we want to as it relates to our client base.What are your growth goals? What is your vision that you want your brand to fulfill, realistically or ideal state? How many units is the brand targeting over the next year, three or five?My ultimate goal is to ensure that our invested franchise owners recognize the ROI they expected when they joined the brand by providing a comfortable standard of living while building a sellable asset when they choose to move on to greener pastures. If we can achieve that as the franchisor, we have succeeded.We know the retail model we currently have franchises operating under has its place in certain markets, but we see an incredible opportunity to develop our B2B-focused Executive Office Model franchise offering in major markets across the U.S. We currently have a franchisee operating the Executive Office Model in New York, and his entire operation is completely mobile, giving him incredible flexibility and the means to service businesses across the entire city—and country, for that matter. He’s generating business digitally, isn’t tied to a storefront location, doesn’t have any overhead, and isn’t forced to be in business six or seven days a week.&nbsp;His success is a testament to the viability of the model, and we’re excited to introduce it in new cities with the help of business-savvy entrepreneurs looking to protect their investment with an in-demand, easy-to-operate business. The Executive Office Model is the vehicle through which we are reestablishing Cartridge World as The Printer People—we’re much more than printer products, we’re real people, which is undoubtedly our best asset. We benefit the small business owner who doesn’t want to be overcharged and enjoys working with humans. Were in it for you, not us.&nbsp;&nbsp;What are some of Cartridge World’s most important milestones over the past five years?&nbsp;<ul><li>The development of the Cartridge World Executive Office Model:&nbsp;Cartridge World’s new, high-growth franchise model makes it easy to get into business quickly without the need for a retail storefront. It’s flexible, personalized and simple, above all—owners can act as a supply chain and choose their preferred vendors without the overhead that comes with a costly real estate footprint. There’s no weekend work and our digital marketing resources and B2B sales training allow owners to generate business for themselves in the most efficient way possible, establishing and developing local community relationships in the process. Plus, there’s a lower cost of entry, minimal labor costs and high earnings potential. What’s not to like?</li><li>The implementation of the Why Buy a Printer Program:&nbsp;As any smart franchisor can attest to, the best ideas for how to better the brand, and the products and services we provide, come from within the franchise system. Such was the case for us with the Why Buy a Printer Program that is really driving the impact we’re making with our business. One of our top-performing franchisees developed the program, which was adopted by the network as a best practice. It was created as a way to win new B2B customers and retain current ones in addition to targeting copier dealers. Now, of that franchisee’s top 20 customers, 18 are locked into the Why Buy a Printer Program on an agreement, demonstrating the impact this key differentiator has on our business.</li><li>The 2020 strategic investment into the brand by Blackford Capital: As we begin to turn our focus back toward franchise development after redeveloping the Cartridge World business model and training systems to be more service-driven and with a renewed outbound focus on the SMB market. The timing is optimal for this strategic investment by Blackford Capital who has been very successful in our industry through prior investments and represents a solid strategic fit for CW USA going forward. Blackford Capital is committed to this space through additional investments that will help CW USA grow and expand its core business as well as develop important new markets and opportunities. &nbsp;We spent two full years preparing ourselves for the future, and now, we’re ready to direct our focus toward growth and profitability through our new Executive Office Model that is fueled by the Why Buy a Printer Program. We are well positioned to grow this business and continue to add value for our network Blackford Capital makes an immediate positive impact on our business and brings a wealth of industry knowledge and experience to our team and is an excellent strategic partner for us with regard to driving accelerated sales growth, We are laser focused in developing the SMB model with existing franchise locations while simultaneously expanding the overall footprint in other strategic markets throughout the USA. We can now provide a much broader overall value proposition and additional offerings to franchisees in terms of what they are delivering back to the end-user. We are investing in even better technology to increase integration and workflow efficiencies, ensuring our franchise owners are working more on the business than in the business. This takes the heavy lifting off of our franchisees and gets us in front of more consumers in the process. It’s an exciting time for us and we can’t wait for the progress 2020 will continue to bring.</li></ul>What does your ideal franchisee look like?Cartridge World thrives with entrepreneurs who not only have business acumen but B2B experience, preferably in sales or marketing. They can maintain strong client relationships, can leverage their local footprint to serve as their community’s on-the-ground expert, and want to scale their business and evolve with the changing technology landscape. Most importantly, though, we’re looking for people who will happily carry out our mission to be The Printer People—those who want to become a service-driven ally to other local businesses.The initial investment required to open a Cartridge World Executive Office Model franchise ranges from $58,900 to $106,300, including the $40,000 franchise fee. For more information on franchise opportunities with Cartridge World, please visit https://cartridgeworld.com/franchising/.&nbsp;

Q&A with Cartridge World's CEO Mark Pinner

1851 Franchise

Pinner sits down with 1851 Franchise to discuss what makes the brand's franchise opportunity stand out.

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