Vol. XXII, No. 76
Monday, November 10, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Corporate News
Corp File:
Ink More: quality ink for those on a budget
TEN YEARS ago, Euclid S. Cezar dreamt of hitting it big and he knew he could only succeed by setting up his own business.
"I really dream a lot. In business, although it’s risky, you have a chance to hit the jackpot," said Mr. Cezar, president and general manager of InkMore Ink Company, Inc., the pioneer in the ink refilling business.
In high school, the 31-year-old businessman practised his entrepreneurial skills by selling combat boots to his batchmates who were then taking up the required Citizen’s Amy Training. While he did not have the capital then he realized he had the flair to become a businessman.
"That was the time that I realized my entrepreneurial skills. I innovated the buy-and-sell concept," he said in an interview. "I did not have the money at that time, but when I got the payment from those who purchased the goods, I paid the supplier," he pointed out.
Mr. Cezar started an ink refilling business in 1999, in addition to his first business venture — a shop that sells computer hardware.
When his customers complained about high ink prices, he thought of selling do-it-yourself ink refill kits. He pursued his business while taking up an entrepreneurship course in a college in Manila. As a working student, he tried to maximize the time he spent with his professors, who gave him free consultations on his venture. As a result, it took him a decade to finish college.
"My professors didn’t even know that I was actually engaged in business. They thought that I was just a happy-go-lucky guy. I didn’t want the business to become my alibi for getting low grades," Mr. Cezar said.
In 2003, with no feasibility study or a background in franchising, he gambled and opened his own ink refilling business in Manila, separating it from his computer shop. In the same year, he convinced two franchisees to invest.
From a one-man company, InkMore now employs more than a hundred workers. It has 98 branches nationwide — in Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga in Mindanao, Isabela in northern Luzon, and Bohol, Dumaguete and Iloilo in the Visayas, to name a few. Seventy-two of these are franchises.
InkMore now exports ready-to-use ink cartridges to countries like Canada, Vietnam and Singapore. "The only research tool that I used was observation. I observed that a number of my customers were complaining about the high cost of inks. I realized that there was a need for an alternative," Mr. Cezar said, noting that customers used to pay thousands of pesos for printer ink.
A blank ink refill sells for P250 per cartridge, while the colored variant costs P100 more. The cost for the company is only 10%, allowing it achieve a high profit margin. The entrepreneur insists the ink refilling service is not a fad and the success of his company is a proof of that. He also disputes the claim of original equipment manufacturers that ink refills sacrifice quality and can damage printer heads.
Mr. Cezar said ink refills are a good alternative for those who want quality prints but have a tight budget. He said ink refills only cause problems when used improperly. "That’s why after less than a year, several ink refilling stores have already closed down. They cannot ensure the quality of their products and service." InkMore offers customers a money-back guarantee and free printer maintenance as a value-added service to make sure they will come back.
"Ink cartridge is a staple product nowadays. The target market is wide and almost everybody owns a printer," he said, noting that marketing had played a role in the company’s success. InkMore sells ink in bulk to government bodies like the Senate, Supreme Court and National Food Authority, as well as a number of private companies.
The success of InkMore has led Mr. Cezar to set up another business that sells car lubricants and tires. It has also allowed him to take up further studies at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati, where he earned a Masters in Entrepreneurship, and at the AOTS Yokohama Kenshu Center in Japan, where he finished a program on entrepreneurship development and Kaizen management. He also teaches business subjects in his alma mater.
Mr. Cezar, now 31, still describes himself as a student. "Right now, I still consider myself a student. One of my personal missions as a professor is to become a catalyst by producing entrepreneurs, because they are the backbone of our economy," he said. — B.U. Allauigan
1 comment:
Ueclid is a great resource speaker in Entrepreneurial process.
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