As demands within the print industry have continued to evolve, traditional print shop businesses have had to balance everyday operations while keeping a pulse on advancements and making adjustments to their business models to stay relevant. FASTSIGNS International, Inc. recognized how challenging this can be for independent businesses and launched its Co-Brand franchise program at Graph Expo 2012—allowing owners to benefit from all the resources of a franchise, yet maintain their independency.
Today, many independent print operators have found incredible success partnering with FASTSIGNS®. Already this year, the company has signed 29 franchise agreements for new centers, including 13 Co-Brand agreements with independent business owners.
FASTSIGNS executives are returning to Graph Expo (Booth No. 4245; Sept. 13-16 in Chicago) to participate in discussions surrounding printing business developments and to speak with independent operators about opportunities to diversify their revenue streams through the company’s Co-Brand program.
In addition to exhibiting, FASTSIGNS executives will host an exclusive lunch session on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 11:30 a.m. CDT. Guests who pre-register for the program will have an opportunity to meet with FASTSIGNS International, Inc. CEO Catherine Monson and EVP of Franchise Support and Development Mark Jameson.
“With demand for signage and visual graphics services continuing to increase, our Co-Brand franchise program is a viable route for printing businesses to attract new customers and drive new revenue streams with healthy profit margins,” stated Jameson. “We created this program to help independent owners effectively offer these services and become a valuable, one-source resource for their customers.”
Independent business owners can join FASTSIGNS through its Co-Brand program for as little as $10,000 down in addition to reduced royalties. The company also offers the leading brand name in the sign and graphics industry, as well as the latest technology, cost savings through relationships with national vendors and suppliers, comprehensive marketing and visual communications solutions and benefits of networking with FASTSIGNS centers nationwide.
Co-Brand franchise partner Dick Helmey, who owns FASTSIGNS of Houston, TX – University – East End, said, “While we had been in the wide-format business for some time, we felt there was a greater opportunity that we were missing out on. We evaluated expanding the product line internally, but felt we would need help to be effective in both production and marketing. The Co-Brand program allowed us to separate the businesses for royalty purposes meanwhile provide access to the resources and tools we needed to really build this space. This made it a natural decision to add the powerful branding of FASTSIGNS to drive incremental gross profit.”
FASTSIGNS is continuously recognized for its franchisee satisfaction and was named one of the inaugural inductees into the Franchise Business Review Hall of Fame for 10 consecutive years of outstanding franchisee support. The company’s franchisee support was also recently recognized by the Franchise Research Institute®, which certified FASTSIGNS as a World-Class Franchise® for the fourth year in a row.
