Time to get inked?

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the exponential growth of the sale of inkjet printers and cartridges as the global population shifted towards WFH (working from home). The WFH paradigm shift has rapidly expanded the printing market share of an already large industry, which has opened up franchising opportunites across Europe. 

Cartridge World is an internationally recognised franchise and one of the worlds’ largest specialty retailers of ink and toner printer cartridges and customised B2B solutions and services operating in an industry worth over USD 100 billion annually. With over 600 locations in 30 countries, the company is conveniently located with hundreds and thousands of individual and corporate customers across the world. This award winning brand is committed to providing the best products and services to consumers, while offering multiple revenue streams for their franchisees. 

Bryan Stokes founded the company in 1988 from Australia - although franchising didn’t begin until 1992, when the company name changed to what we now know as Cartridge World. In those 30+ years, the brand has grown globally with the first international Master Franchise established in 2000 in New Zealand. This saw the start of exponential global growth with the UK joining in 2001, followed by France, Cyprus, Greece, and Malta. By 2005, the company celebrated the opening of its’ 1000^th store in Atlanta.

Over the last 15 years, the brand has entered into emerging markets such as Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Guatemala, and Afghanistan. In 2015, the company established the Cartridge World Global Procurement Centre in Zhuhai and 2020 saw the granting of a new franchisee in Nigeria and Master in the west Africa territory.

Cartridge World is not just an international franchise business that just sells cartridges. They have long term goals to help every individual and corporate customer understand their unique printing requirements and the cost savings as well as the reduced environmental footprint they can achieve.

The establishment of our Global Procurement Centre in Zhuhai has been a significant investment and ensures our global network receives consistent high quality printer cartridges at prices that keep our franchise locations competitive and more profitable. In the imaging aftermarket, the CW-GPC is unique, with quality assurance specialists ensuring our quality remains consistent through a unique three stage quality assurance process to six sigma standards.

According to Adam Davison, Cartridge World’s operations manager, while Cartridge World is regarded as the printer experts, a Cartridge World franchise isn’t just about ink - it can offer so much more. “We sell to both business and retail customers,” says Mr Davison.

“Our franchisees come from a wide range of backgrounds and careers, proving that more or less anybody can make a success of a Cartridge World franchise,” says Adam.

“To help them on their way there’s in-depth training on every aspect of running one of our franchises. There’s ongoing back-up and support from your business development manager and Cartridge World’s franchise support team, which includes marketing, IT and finance.”

FRANCHISE UNITS

• 600 locations across 30 countries

SUPPORT FOR THE FRANCHISE

• Product procurement
• Sales support
• Global team of industry experts to guide you on your business journey
• Economy of scale
• Marketing support
• Regular business webinars
• Up to date operations manual

BASIC NETWORK REQUIREMENTS

• Good managerial skills
• Excellent business judgement
• Working capital to fund your own business
• Desire to grow in the industry

KEY FIGURES

• Minimum Investment €50,000 + working capital
• Short payback period of 2-3 years
• Initial franchise term of 5 years