Local Chicago Boys Add-App-to-Recycled-Ink-Cartridge-Buss

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Date: Friday November 4, 2011 09:09:08 am
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    Local Chicago Boys Add-App-to-Recycled-Ink-Cartridge-Buss

    brothers add app to recycled ink cartridge business
    There’s an app these days for just about everything, but who knew you needed one for that emergency ink refill for your printer?

    Brothers Jacob and Aaron Dallek have been growing Cheap Ink — their Bedford Park-based recycled ink cartridge business — by anticipating consumer needs. The new app so far only records the type of ink cartridge your printer needs so you can call it up on your smartphone. That’s helpful when you’re out shopping for that refill.

    By this winter the app will also connect you to the entrepreneurs’ recently re-launched website, where customers will be able to buy recycled cartridges at a fraction of the name-brand price directly from them online, says Jacob, 29. For purists, there will be an option to buy the name-brand product too, but the discounts aren’t nearly as steep. Either way, the app and the website will keep records of the models purchased so the consumer doesn’t have to.

    The Lincoln Park brothers started their recycled ink and toner cartridge company in 2002 when Jacob was a sophomore in college and younger brother Aaron (now 27) was still in high school. At the time, the duo mostly sold recycled cartridges in a market that wasn’t yet crowded with reusable options to higher-priced name-brand goods. In recent years, their focus shifted to collecting and recycling the empty ink and toner cartridges and selling them to re-manufacturers that refill them. They continue to sell both generic and name-brand cartridges directly to consumers, too, including schools, non-profits and small and mid-sized businesses.

    Cheap Ink recently earned bragging rights by making it onto Inc. magazine’s 2011 list of 5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S.. The publication ranked Cheap Ink as the 22nd fastest-growing privately held company in Chicago, citing a 617% increase in revenue over a three-year period. Cheap Ink posted $2.2 million in revenue in 2010, up from $301,000 in 2007. The company fared well in the magazine’s national listings, too: Cheap Ink came in at No. 40 in its industry nationally, and it ranked 544 on the 2011 list of 5000 fastest-growing U.S. firms.

    The Dalleks identified a niche market early. But they say they also wanted to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills.

    Crain’s met up with the brothers to learn more about how these Davids compete against the big-box store Goliaths.

    Crain’s: What inspired you to pursue this specific corner of the printing and ink cartridge market?

    Jacob: We come from a long line of entrepreneurs. Our parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and even great-grandparents were entrepreneurs. So it’s in our blood.
    Jacob Dallek

    The reason for the printing and ink business is that we wanted to be in a business that helped both the environment and our customers at the same time. When we started it nine years ago, the concept of using compatible cartridges to provide cost savings was still new to most people. We figured everyone prints and everyone always complains about how expensive ink can be. So our solution was cheap ink.

    Crain’s: How cheap is Cheap Ink? Can you really compete with the big-box stores?

    Aaron: If someone’s buying a name-brand product, we can offer the compatible (non-brand) version of that for up to 75% less. With name brands, we’re slightly less (than the big-box stores), but very close.

    The recycling has been a great business for us, but we now want to focus again on selling the full cartridges. That’s one of the reasons we just set up an ecommerce site and relaunched our website.

    Crain’s: Can you describe the eco-friendly aspect of your business?

    Aaron: Every part of our business is eco-friendly. We sell recycled products and we collect and recycle used cartridges. Recycling cartridges eliminates plastics and metals from going into the landfills and it saves oil by not having to use energy to make more new cartridges.
    Aaron Dallek

    Companies can also earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) credits toward their certification (from the U.S Green Building Council) by recycling with us. We are partnered with Allied Waste and offer a free pickup service to companies and buildings that want to recycle their cartridges.

    Crain’s: Can you tell us a bit about your website relaunch?

    Jacob: On our new site, we provide technology that solves many of the problems people have with buying printer cartridges. One big one is that people have a hard time figuring out which cartridge goes with their printer. Our site and mobile application make it easy to find. You can also save your cartridge information for easy re-ordering so you save time in the future and don’t have to worry about it every time you need ink.

    Crain’s: OK, tell us why anyone would need an app for ink cartridges? Is it a marketing gimmick or are you filling a real need here?

    Aaron: In doing research for the app, we found that most people we talked to complained about not knowing which cartridge goes with their printer. When I go to Office Max, I see people walking around with their cartridge in their hand to make sure they buy the right one. The app eliminates that problem and allows you to save your cartridge information for easy reference in the future. We also make the app compatible with our website. If you sign in and save your cartridge information on the app, it will be there waiting for you on the website for easy ordering. We feel there’s a niche there that wasn’t being filled.

    Our industry is highly competitive, yet there is only one other cartridge app — it’s by Hewlett-Packard, and only for their cartridges. This is a major part of how we are innovating in an industry that’s been stagnant for a long time.

    Yes, the app does help us with marketing, but that’s secondary.

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