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Making Their Mark: Local entrepreneurs create jobs with ink cartridge business
(Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, KY) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Oct. 22--When Matt Payne and Matt Lucas couldn't find jobs in Owensboro, they decided to create their own.
On Aug. 10, they opened Cartridge Depot at 1020 Halifax Drive.
It's a franchise specializing in refilling and remanufacturing ink cartridges and laser toners for printers, copiers and fax machines,
The men are brothers-in-law. Payne is married to Lucas' sister, Jill. Their first child is due on Nov. 3.
"I worked for a wholesale electrical distributor in Bowling Green for four years," Payne, 27, said. "I wanted to get back to Owensboro, but the jobs just aren't here. The big corporate businesses aren't here. If you don't have a trade, you have to start your own business. That's why you see so many real estate and insurance offices here.
"You're limiting your income potential coming back to Owensboro after college," he said. "But I can't see raising my child without both of our families around. That's just the way we are. Family is very important to us. But unless you start your own business, there just aren't many opportunities to come home."
"Owensboro isn't creating that many jobs," said Lucas, a 22-year-old student at Murray State University. "So you have to create your own."
He said he spent the past two years looking for a franchise that he thought would be successful in Owensboro.
"I wanted to start my own business," Lucas said. "I looked at a UPS store, but I decided against it. This has a low-cost investment, and I saw the potential for growth. Everybody has a printer, and everybody uses ink. Ninety-five percent of the population, anyway."
"We looked for a business that would allow us to help people cut costs, especially small businesses," Payne said. "We've discovered that Owensboro is a networking town. You have to get to know people to get their business, and we're getting involved in the chamber of commerce and other areas, trying to meet more people."
"It's difficult to be an entrepreneur anywhere," Lucas said. "But it seems harder in Owensboro for some reason. There's just not a lot of support for entrepreneurs here."
But that's changing, Nick Brake, president of the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp., said this summer.
Brake said EDC and the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce are trying to build an infrastructure to help entrepreneurs get new businesses off the ground.
That includes such incentives as venture capital to make loans and office space available at reduced rates, he said.
"People go out to explore the world when they get out of school," Brake said earlier. "But we need the infrastructure to bring them back when they're ready to come home."
Growing refill market
Cartridge Depot is part of a growing refill industry that's taking advantage of the high-priced ink cartridges for home and office printers.
There's more to refilling cartridges than just sticking a needle full of ink into an empty cartridge, Lucas and Payne say.
The cartridges can dry out or get clogged, they say.
"The delicate print head of an inkjet cartridge consists of thin nozzles sometimes less than one millimeter in length, backed by a thermal resistor that boils and cools the ink," the company's Web site says.
"A lot of people think remanufactured cartridges aren't as good," Payne said.
"But we have as good a product as the manufacturers, if not better," Lucas said.
"People go on the Internet to save money, and sometimes they get burned," Payne said. "We don't just refill the cartridges. We clean them, fill them and test them before they leave the building. It's a brand new cartridge when we're through -- except for the case."
Their cartridges are guaranteed, they said.
The company's Web site says most cartridges can be refilled eight to 10 times.
Cartridge Depot carries ink for both business and home printers.
"We don't market this as a retail store," Payne said. "But our doors are open, and we want the business."
Lucas said people can save 30 to 70 percent -- depending on the brand -- with refilled cartridges. And teachers and students who present their school identification can save an additional 15 percent, he said.
"We want to open other stores in other cities, and we want to open different types of businesses in Owensboro," Lucas said.
"This business is huge globally, and it's big in other cities," Payne said. "But it's new here."
"This brand sells for $33 in stores," Payne said, holding up a cartridge. "We sell it for $18. We give the same service as Internet companies, and you can get it quicker here. And you'll know it will work because we stand behind it."
Halifax Drive, a small shopping district off Frederica Street, is a block north of Tamarack Road.
"We don't need a prime location on Frederica," Payne said. "We don't get that much walk-in business, and the rent is affordable here."
They just hired a part-time employee, the men say. And business is starting to pick up.
"We really haven't gone out into the surrounding counties to introduce ourselves yet, but we want to serve the entire area," Payne said.
They also sell things on eBay for people who don't want to take the time or trouble to do it themselves.
"We'll sell anything," Lucas said. "We just sold an accordion. Most of the time we get 20 percent of what the item brings. We'll also buy for people on the Internet. That's just another way for us to bring in customers."
For information, call the Cartridge Depot at 685-1411 or e-mail owensboro@thecartridgedepot.com
Copyright (c) 2006, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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