Inkjet Recycling Franchises - Are they Really Necessary?

Inkjet printer recycling franchises are availablethe experience of the franchiser, some may
from a number of well known brands such asargue that you are certainly left with a lot of
Cartridge Depot, Rapid Refill Ink and Island Inkjetmoney to play with when you consider that you
to name but a few. The idea of such franchiseno longer have the franchise costs to take
agreements is that for a cost, the franchisee canaccount of. Franchises will also place many
leverage the brand assets and good will that therestrictions on your business; limiting diversification,
franchiser has managed to develop over time.imposing corporate culture and setting rules which
The franchisee then pays an on-goingapply across the board which do not take account
management fees, either directly or indirectly,of the areas and customers that a franchisee
which pays for the maintenance and on-goingserves.
marketing and administrative costs of the centralChoosing to acquire your own remanufacturing
company.equipment is also more sensible when considering
The costs of starting an inkjet cartridge recyclingthat you can choose to scale your business in a
franchise varies somewhat from one provider tomore comfortable fashion. When the printer ink
the next, however most require around $80,000cartridges franchise costs associated with major
in initial investment and it is estimated that aroundinkjet franchise opportunities is so high, you need
$120,000 is needed for other start-up costs thatto be able to operate at a large sales volume
the franchiser will need to assume. However, themerely to cover costs and the opportunity cost
question comes down to whether or not, as aof having the same amount of money in a bank
franchisee, you feel that these costs areaccount.
justifiable and likely to result in a return onBeing able to leverage an additional $100,000 to
investment that you would not otherwise be ablework in your business could allow you to embark
to gain through trading without association with aon both direct and brand advertising within your
franchiser.local area, effectively delivering the same value
For an amount of around $5,000 to $10,000 it isthat the franchiser offers but in a way that is
possible to acquire inkjet printer inksegmented to your local area. In doing this you
remanufacturing equipment and have the flexibilityalso have an asset, rather than an on going cost,
that is not offered by a franchise. Although youwhich is something that is a vital element for
will not be able to leverage the brand assets andconsideration.