Across the country students are returning to school, and to the popular question ''What do you want to be when you grow up?'' Many will say they want to be doctors or football players or maybe movie stars. But for increasing numbers of young people who are part of Generation Y — those ''echo boomers'' who are all under age 30 — there's a new answer to that age-old question: They want to be their own bosses, and smart companies who understand that can benefit.

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	''Going green is the wave of the future for business, and being your own boss is going to become more and more common, and important, as a career option,'' says Blum.

One such smart company is Cartridge Depot. The Owings Mills, Maryland-based franchisor is perfectly poised to take advantage of Gen Y’s entrepreneurial impulses.

Senior Vice President Nick Sheehan knows all about the factors that make Cartridge Depot ideal for young entrepreneurs. Sheehan, a member of Gen Y himself, was still a student when he helped develop the concept for the Cartridge Depot franchises. Sheehan helped get the first Cartridge Depot launched, and today he advises all of the company’s franchisees on how to succeed.

''I’m proof that Cartridge Depot is a great fit for young people interested in going into business,'' Sheehan explains. ''Our business model allows franchisees to start small and grow the business at their own rate. Recycling cartridges isn’t going away — it’s becoming increasingly important. Owning a Cartridge Depot franchise allows people to make money without ignoring their concerns about the planet, and that’s very appealing.''

Statistics show that today’s young people are much more interested in being their own bosses than the young people of earlier generations. A recent survey by the OPEN division of American Express revealed that Gen Y entrepreneurs are more likely to start businesses right out of school, enjoy taking risks, and plan to be serial entrepreneurs. These young people are interested not just in making money but in social responsibility and environmental impact. With its emphasis on green business practices and affordable costs to get started, Cartridge Depot is quickly becoming a hot buy for young entrepreneurs.

''Young people can start a Cartridge Depot franchise without a lot of capital, even while they’re still in school,'' CEO Ken Blum explains. Blum knows how successful franchises work — he was the brains behind the turnaround of the Rent-A-Wreck franchise in the 1990s. ''The business can grow as quickly as they want it to. Cartridge Depot allows young entrepreneurs the opportunity to be their own boss, have their own business, and make a difference, but with a safety net they wouldn’t have without the franchise behind them. Some of our most successful franchisees are Gen Y owners, and we’ve recently made arrangements for affordable third party financing that makes getting started even easier.''

Cartridge Depot, is in the ink and toner cartridge recycling and remanufacturing business an industry that combines business and environmental savings. It’s an industry that does well by doing good: Each cartridge that’s remanufactured and reused costs up to 50% less than a new one, and keeps two and a half pounds of plastic out of a landfill somewhere.

Gina Kazimir

Matt Lucas, co-owner of Cartridge Depot’s Owensboro, Kentucky, franchise, is one example of the type of young person attracted to the industry. ''Cost was a huge factor in choosing this business. I’m still a college student, so I had to be able to finance this with private funds — being this young it’s hard to get outside funding. We went into a storefront on Aug 10, 2006, and we were profitable from the start of the second month. My plan is to open as many successful Cartridge Depots within a 200-mile radius as I can.''

Jeremy Ross, who owns Cartridge Depot franchises in Florida and Maryland, is another of the franchisor’s young entrepreneurs. ''I always wanted to own a business, and this one is really interesting. You can start small and grow, and our products and our customers speak for themselves. It’s a profitable business…everybody needs cartridges.''

''Just getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in franchise fees [while] having stores fail is not what we’re about,'' explains Blum. ''This business has huge potential, and we see our growth path in having prepared, protected franchisees who prosper in their markets. We’re interested in long-term profits, not just upfront fees. That’s why we provide a strong on- and off-site training program for our franchisees, offer affordable costs to entry and access to capital to finance startup costs, and use exclusive refill technology. We want repeat customers who build relationships, not just retail purchases. I think that philosophical difference in how we approach business helps make Cartridge Depot a good fit for younger entrepreneurs.''

It also helps that cartridge remanufacturing is a growth industry. Estimates are that refilled cartridges were just 5% of industry sales in 2005. But Business Week has estimated that non-OEM cartridge sales were 23% of the industry as a whole, and that the percentage could rise to 31% or more by 2009.

''Going green is the wave of the future for business, and being your own boss is going to become more and more common, and important, as a career option,'' says Blum. ''Cartridge Depot provides an outstanding answer to both of these needs.''

For information on Cartridge Depot’s products and franchising, visit www.thecartridgedepot.com or call 800-914-5828.

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