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Part Two: 12 Step Startup Guide
Chapter One: Research Your Market
You will need to do a little investigating to discover what the other cartridges are in use in your town. One way is to conduct a simple survey by phone or in person. Talk to anyone you think might have some information. Go to computer stores, talk to salespeople, start networking with the people who eventually will be some of your best sources of potential customers. Examine the inventories of cartridges available locally. Obviously, stores will be stocking the cartridges that are most in demand. I know one successful entrepreneur who found his largest customer, an architectural firm that consumes 2000 cartridges per month, simply by talking with a service tech from a local store. This individual then became an expert on remanufacturing this particular cartridge and was eventually able to capture a lucrative contract with the firm. It does not take too many customers like these to supply you with all the business you can handle!
Although there are slight variations from town to town, you will find that just a few cartridges will make up the bulk of cartridges that are in use, and these should be the ones you need to be an expert in remanufacturing. Hewlett Packard owns the lion's share of the ink jet printer market, because their printers are sold through all the mass-market channels including computer stores, office superstores, and mail order houses. There are several printers made by HP that use the exact same cartridges, namely the HP51626A and 51629A black cartridges. We suggest getting started with these cartridges, as they account for approximately 60% of the cartridge market.