How my love for old computer hardware led to a potentially lucrative business deal
I recently met an entrepreneur who sells and repairs printers, photocopiers and scanners. For 40 bucks, he sold me a 1992-era LaserJet 4Si printer with network and duplexer options, and delivered it to my bedroom. The LaserJet 4Si is intended to serve a small office and weighs over 120 pounds fully loaded. That's a big hunk of printer.
Anyway, I was talking with Ioan and I found out that he's losing money on his business. He has low self esteem and underprices himself to a level where people start to believe that there's something wrong with his product or service. And yet, he has a lot to offer.
Here's my point. I present to you a gentleman who will perform the following services cheaper than anybody else in the GTA, guaranteed:
I said, "Okay."
So if you need any of the above services, or if you know anybody who does, please let me know. I only do deals where everybody wins. You get the best prices in the city, Ioan gets a satisfied, paying customer, and I get a percentage of the transaction.
My friend Ike and I are meeting with him tomorrow to brainstorm ideas for how to market his business. There's a lot we could do with it, even if it's as simple as setting up a table at a university to recycle empty inkjet cartridges, or targeting the masses to sell photo enlargements as gifts. Ioan can compete on price alone. We just have to convince him to stop undercutting his competition by as much as 75 percent. If he undercuts them by only 2 percent, he's still the cheapest in the city.
Anyway, I was talking with Ioan and I found out that he's losing money on his business. He has low self esteem and underprices himself to a level where people start to believe that there's something wrong with his product or service. And yet, he has a lot to offer.
Here's my point. I present to you a gentleman who will perform the following services cheaper than anybody else in the GTA, guaranteed:
- Repair of printers, photocopiers, plotters, scanners and fax machines.
- Sales of refurbished printers, etc.
- Refilling of inkjet and toner cartridges.
- Printing of full-colour posters and banners (54" wide x any length, on paper, vinyl or canvas).
I said, "Okay."
So if you need any of the above services, or if you know anybody who does, please let me know. I only do deals where everybody wins. You get the best prices in the city, Ioan gets a satisfied, paying customer, and I get a percentage of the transaction.
My friend Ike and I are meeting with him tomorrow to brainstorm ideas for how to market his business. There's a lot we could do with it, even if it's as simple as setting up a table at a university to recycle empty inkjet cartridges, or targeting the masses to sell photo enlargements as gifts. Ioan can compete on price alone. We just have to convince him to stop undercutting his competition by as much as 75 percent. If he undercuts them by only 2 percent, he's still the cheapest in the city.