Editorial

ICED Has a Franchise Concept Just for You!

ICED ( International Center for Entrepreneurial Development) is a holding company for a variety of unique Franchise concepts including Kwik Kopy Business Center, Parcel Plus, and COMPUTERTOTS / COMPUTER EXPLORERS. Each franchise is a wholly owned subsidiary of ICED and has Franchise Opportunities available across the US.

One advantage for a franchisee of parent company ICED, headquartered in Cypress, Texas, is that it is able to offer financing to qualified franchisees for all of its franchised companies. Another is that with 130 full-time employees, ICED provides a centralized location for superior training and support. They particularly pride themselves on their call center. Each call is tracked to make sure a franchisee’s request is responded to quickly hours and that there is a resolution to the problem in reasonable time.

Kwik Kopy Business Center

A Kwik Kopy Business Center (KKBC) is actually a combination of two businesses, Kwik Kopy and Parcel Plus. The original company, Kwik Kopy Printing, started Franchising in 1967 – making it one of the oldest franchised centers in the industry. The original concept was expensive to run as it required an offset printing press and a press operator. Kwik Kopy has around 700 locations but no new Franchises have been sold since 2000 which is when the concept was changed to Kwik Kopy Business Center.

What happened is that technology had changed so dramatically that they needed to update the business and the model to take advantage of the all-digital environment. “We sell to small and medium-sized business what they have wanted all along – short run color. The technology was never there before, to run small quantities of color copies affordably and with high quality,” says Donald Averitt, ICED’s vice president of franchise development.

As a value added service, Parcel Plus was added to the business model. KKBC was the first Franchise Company to combine these two concepts (printing and shipping) into one convenient location. It gives franchisees two businesses for the price of one. “There are other businesses which have combined a printing and a packaging center,” says Averitt, “but we not only did it first, we did it better.”

Stores are located in areas with small and medium sized businesses and upper middle class homes. Printing business revenue is generated primarily by local businesses while the Parcel Plus feature is mostly used by individual consumers.

The KKBC has four revenue streams:

Printing and copying
Packing and shipping
Outsourced materials such as wedding invitations, rubber stamps and business forms
Retail products like mailbox rental, greeting cards, pack and ship supplies, and business supplies

“We tested this business for two years before we began franchising,” says Averitt. “We now have 16 stores open and we are ready to expand all over the US. This is a ground floor opportunity and we expect rapid growth.”

A successful franchisee, adds Averitt, will be a good people-person with a business aptitude. Excessive business experience is not required, he says, because the model provides everything needed. “We just require franchisees to be trainable and that they follow our system.”

“This is a wonderful opportunity for a family person,” says Averitt, “because our operating hours are Monday through Friday from 9 to 6 and a half day on Saturday.” Owner/operators require only an average of one and a half employees, including a sales person active in the business community.

PARCEL PLUS

In addition to being part of the Kwik Kopy Business Center, Parcel Plus is also available as a solo franchise. In this model the business offers primarily shipping and packing but also services like fax, notary, mailbox rental, business supplies and some copying.

The stores are located within a three-mile radius of 15 to 18 thousand upper middle class homes and can be run by an owner/operator or they could be owned by the franchisee and run by a manager.

An advantage for consumers using Parcel Plus is that they offer all shipping services, depending on a customer’s needs: UPS, DHL, FedEx, Emery Freight and USPS. Other companies can only use one type of shipping service - FedExKinkos SM only ships via Fed Ex and The UPS Store^® only ships by UPS.

“We also handle small cargo, which is defined as over 180” in circumference (like a chair),” says Averitt. Parcel Plus will not only ship large or awkward packages, they will also crate large items and a customer can have the item picked up if needed. You won’t find this service available at other consumer copying and printing stores.

Parcel Plus has approximately 110 locations open and there is much opportunity for expansion around the country. As always with ICED franchises, excellent training and support is provided.

COMPUTERTOTS / COMPUTER EXPLORERS

Quite a different franchise concept is ICED’s newest brand, the home-based technology Education franchise called COMPUTERTOTS / COMPUTER EXPLORERS (CTCE). Started by former educators in 1984, CTCE fills a void in the education system by providing computer education to children, ages three through 12, adults and seniors.

COMPUTERTOTS teaches children in daycare, preschool and kindergarten, usually ages three to five. COMPUTER EXPLORERS is for ages six through adult. “We have courses for adults who want to be more computer-savvy and for seniors who want to learn to use email, digital cameras, and to surf the web,” says Deb Evans, president of CTCE.

“The type of franchisee we look for has either a teaching or business background. If a person with business experience becomes a franchisee, they will need to hire someone with a teaching background, because you need both to be able to run CTCE,” says Evans.

A franchise owner will hire teachers who go into daycare centers, preschools, K-8 schools, YMCA facilities, etc. to teach a technology curriculum. “By using the computer as a learning tool,” says Evans, “children improve their academic performance.”

Marketing is an important skill taught to new franchisees at training. “We don’t have a storefront,” says Evans, “so the owner has to be able to network with the community and get the information out there.” Training includes three weeks pre-training, two weeks at ICED and then eight week post-training.

CTCE currently has 85 franchise owners representing 93 territories. Territories are structured so that each has at least 125 daycare/preschool facilities. A typical franchisee has around six teachers and the business is very flexible for the owner, who can determine the size of their business. “We do require an owner to follow our system, however,” says Evans.

Opportunities for new franchisees in the CTCE system abound as education continues to be under-funded in our society while the need for specialized education increases. The curriculum for each program is written by educations at CTCE and teacher certification can also be provided at ICED headquarters if the franchisee desires.

“All of the franchisees of ICED concepts are provided opportunities for additional training as well,” adds Averitt. “We have quarterly educational summits plus an annual conference. There are instructional tracks franchisees can follow, such as a sales and marketing track, and an operations and administration track. The summits also provide the chance for franchisees to meet, connect and share information.

Connecting at conferences is a definite plus for ICED franchisees. “What I hear over and over from our franchisees,” says Evans, “is that they love their CTCE family.”