Start a Business of Ink and Toner Cartridge Refilling

           





 

Start a Business of Ink and Toner Cartridge Refilling 

Replacing your empty printer or copier cartridges every time they run out is not only expensive, but it also takes a toll on the environment. Businesses that provide ink and toner cartridge refilling can save consumers money, and  help protect the environment from unnecessary waste.

If you want to help the environment and save your customers money, a small business as an ink and toner cartridge refiller may be the business for you.

Pros

Some of the benefits of starting an ink and toner cartridge refilling business include:

·         It's good for the environment because it reduces cartridges in landfills.

·         Startup costs are relatively low.

·         There are startup kits available to help you get started.

·         There are franchise opportunities available.

·         Your business can be home-based, mobile or have satellite locations.

·         There is a growing demand for refillables.

·         You have a broad target market and can service individual residences or businesses.

Cons

Potential challenges of starting an ink and toner cartridge refilling business include:

·         It can be difficult to find the right marketing strategies to hit the right markets.

·         You have to purchase the necessary supplies.

·         There is a lot of competition.

·         You need to be able to learn how to refill cartridges.

·         Parts of the industry have somewhat of a disreputable reputation, making it difficult for honest business.

We've decided to put together this tip sheet to help people start up a refill business.

  

Market Evaluation

When looking over your market, consider the following rules of thumb:

• About 50 percent of personal computers have attached inkjet printers.
• About 75 percent of home personal computers have inkjet printers.
• About 10 percent of inkjet printer owners are highly concerned about inkjet refill costs.
• About 20 percent of inkjet printer owners are likely to buy generic refills.
• Senior consumers are more concerned about inkjet refill costs -- but are more likely to purchase their own ink in bulk and refill their cartridges themselves.
• Certain types of businesses use more inkjet refills than average. Some of these are:
• graphic design firms
• architecture firms
• engineering firms
• advertising firms
• photographic firms

Operations

Some key areas of operations are the following:

• Equipment
• Ink
• Cartridges
• Employees

Equipment

Equipment is available at three different levels:

Beginning Equipment

At this level, the required equipment is the following:

• Syringe bottles or syringes.
• A hand drill with a #55 or 1/16 inch drill bit (from your local hardware store). A drill press is very helpful and will allow you to do neater work.
• A small, securely mounted vise to hold cartridges with.
• An adjustable wrench (approximately a 12 inch handle).
• A supply of vinyl electrical tape (from your local hardware store).
• A supply of 8-32 x 1/4 inch set screws (check your local hardware store, Home Depot, or a fasteners supply house). Stainless steel is preferred, but ordinary steel will work in most situations.
• A hot glue gun and glue stick supply (check your local craft supply or                     Wal-mart).
• Labels (available through most quick printers or Mail-boxes Etc).
• Shipping boxes and packing material.
• Ink.

This equipment will allow you to operate a low volume inkjet cartridge refill business.

Medium Volume Equipment

At this level, you will want to purchase some of the more specialized equipment available, such as:

• air-powered syringes
• air-powered vises
• drill press

High Volume Equipment

You may eventually wish to look at some of the high volume equipment. Two examples:

• Self-contained refill equipment for HP 51625A
• Custom refill equipment for any specific cartridge, 1 cartridge per 30 seconds throughput –

Ink

Initial ink stock depends largely upon your customer base. However, we have found some rules for guidance. The following are the most popular inks to refill with.

Black ink

• * WJ 106 -- Older HP cartridges, and some Lexmark
• * WJ 114 -- Many Apple and Canon cartridges
• * WJ 163 -- Most popular newer HP models (600, 800 series)
• WJ 161 -- Canon BJC 600 series
• * WJ 165 -- Canon BJC 4000 series
• * WJ 190 -- Newer Epson Stylus Color models (400, 500, 600, 800 series)
• WJ 171 -- Older Epson Stylus Color II and Stylus Color 200 models

Color Ink

• WJ 242, WJ 635, WJ 716 -- Canon BJC 600 series
• * WJ 245, WJ 639, WJ 720 -- Canon BJC 4000 series
• WJ 219, WJ 615, WJ 706 -- Older HP series (400, 500)
• * WJ 243, WJ 637, WJ 717 -- Newer HP series (600, 800)
• * WJ 264, WJ 659, WJ 737 -- Newer Epson Series (Stylus Color 400, 600, 800)
• WJ 255, WJ 649, WJ 730 -- Older Epson Stylus Color (200, 500)

The asterisk (*) signifies most people's highest volume products. If startup cash is tight, we suggest that you focus on these inks and cartridges first.
There are many other inks, but these are limited to printers with low installed base. We suggest that you consider purchasing those inks as the refill opportunities come up. In general, you should be able to pay for a pint of ink with the sale of three or four cartridges.
Do not purchase more than 1 pint (450 ml) of each ink until your volume begins to move. After all, on some of the Canon cartridges, you only put 2 ml of ink into a cartridge. Some of the larger HP cartridges will use up to 60 ml of ink. Eventually, you will want to purchase in larger volumes to reduce your ink cost on your most common refills.
Black ink is more popular than color ink. However, as a refiller, you can make more profit refilling color cartridges.

Cartridges

This has always been the most difficult part of starting a refill business. You must get cartridges. There are several options:

• Become totally a service business. In this case, you collect cartridges, refill them, and return them to the same customer from whom you collected the cartridges in the first place. You charge them for the refilling service and the ink.
• Pay a bounty for old cartridges. This works particularly well as a fund-raising event for a school or church group. In essence, you agree to pay perhaps $1 to the group for every old cartridge which they bring to you. Be careful of the price you pay, since you'll likely get older cartridges.
• Create a conversion kit. This is the method used by the high volume people who have designed an insertable tank. For most small refillers, this is not a practical method.
• Purchase a generic cartridge. Generic cartridges are just becoming available for some of the most popular older models such as the HP 51625A. However, the printer manufacturers have recently served notice that they consider these generic cartridges to be patent infringers, which places this strategy in doubt.

• Cartridge Refill Machine

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  HP and Lexmark Inkjet Cartridge Refilling Machine
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Xyron 500 Permanent Refill Cartridge 5"x18' for Create-a-Sticker Machine AT1505

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  For more details:
  
  
  http://www.ebay.com/bhp/cartridge-refill-machine
  
  
  http://www.cartridgeworld.co.uk/cartridges/inkjet-cartridges
  
  
  http://www.renkser.com/
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Start a Rakhi Making Business

Start a Rakhi Making Business

 

We are all in the grip of festival fever with a slew of  major holidays and their regional variations crowding the calendar. 

For a business, this is also a good time to add some punch to their promotions and generate additional revenues in the process.

It is natural that a country such as India with her cultural, ethnic and religious diversity will have lots of Festivals.

Rakhi: The Thread of Love

Rakhi in India is one of the most important festival and is celebrated with faith and enthusiasm. Rakhi festival in India is essentially celebrated by brothers and sisters and intends to strengthen the eternal bond of love shared by themThe celebration of Rakhi, in India, is well known for its carnival spirit and strengthening the bond of love between brothers and sisters. In fact, India is globally known for its colorful festivals and ever-green tradition. Celebrated with different rituals, family get-together and sweets, Raksha Bandhan is about sentiments, love and enjoyment. Like any other festival, rakhi has its unique significance.

How to Make a Rakhi?

Rakhi is generally a decorated silk thread. It may be a simple thread or it may be decorated with beads or designer motifs, religious symbols or even studded with jewels. Here are a few tip on how you can create your own rakhi. 

Material required
1. Silk threads-multi-coloured
2. Cotton thread
3. Beads, sequins
4. Scissors
5. Glue

Take a bunch of silk threads, multicolored if you want a colorful rakhi. Red and yellow are considered auspicious colors. You can also use a strand or two of golden thread. The threads should be around 30" long. Fold the length of the thread bunch to half. Tie a tight knot at one fourth of the length using the cotton thread. Cut the loops of the folded thread and fluff the open ends with a hard brush.
Divide the longer part of the thread into two halves and plat them in desired way. Tie the ends with the cotton thread and fluff the open ends. These two strands will be used for the tying. 

Decorate the upper part with sequins, beads or religious motifs. If you are using multicolored threads arranged in some specific way, cut them short to a suitable length not more than ½".

 Material required 1. Strands of silk threads-2/3
2. A pair of scissors
3. Cotton thread to tie knots
4. Beads, sitaras, golden threads and sponge to decorate
5. Glue
A toothbrush with hard bristles.
Method:
Take 20-24 inches long silk thread strands in a bunch. If you want to make multi coloured rakhis take silk threads of different colours. 

Tie a tight knot with a cotton thread on the one-fourth part of the silken thread bunch. The one-fourth part will be made into a rakhi while the three-fourth will be the string to tie around the wrist. 

Now make sure the heads of the silk threads of the one-fourth part of the bunch do not remain in loops, in case they are, cut them with a pair of scissors.

Once they are independent of loops, with a toothbrush rub hard on these threads and brush them with strong strokes by holding tight on the knot. With repeated strokes the silk threads turns fluffy and soft.

To make the string, divide the three-fourth part of the silk thread in two equal parts and plait them separately. At the end tie a knot and brush the end again.

Once this is done decorate it with beads or sitaras. Stick them with glue. You can purchase sponge of a suitable colour, cut it into a star shape, decorate it with beads or sitaras. Golden threads can be entwined used for decoration. And then stick it with glue.

Following are the Different Variety of Rakhi

• Rakhi with cartoon characters, popular among kids
• Sandalwood Rakhi
• Musical Rakhi
• Floral Rakhi
• Zari Rakhi
• Reshami Rakhi
• Stones Rakhi
• Precious Stone Rakhi
• Gold/Silver/Diamond Rakhi
• Rakhi with Metal Chain
• BraceletRakhi etc.

Start a Organic Hair Care Products Business

Start a Organic Hair Care Products Business

Many health- and environment-conscious consumers are seeking organic products for all aspects of their lives, including their hair care products. As the organic hair care product industry continues to grow, so does the business potential.

If you have knowledge in organic hair care products, or if this is something you're interested in learning about, an organic hair care products small business can be an interesting career with good earning potential.

Pros

The benefits of starting an organic hair care product business include:

·         There is a growing demand for organic products.

·         Your business can be entirely home-based.

·         It's a good type of business to operate part-time.

·         You have several options for selling, including through retail markets, online, or directly to clients.

·         You have a wide variety of products to choose from to sell as a distributor.

·         There is a good growth potential because you can add products and services as they are developed.

Cons

Some of the potential challenges you may face if you start an organic hair care products business include:

·         Your startup costs can be high if you're developing and producing products on your own.

·         You will need to do significant research on products before starting your business.

·         The learning curve for developing products can be steep.

·         Your competition may be large distributors.

·         You need to have expert knowledge in beauty products.

·         You will need to learn about organic ingredients and how they interact with hair and skin types.

·         You will need space for development and production.

Making your own organic hair products at home is easy and saves money in the long run.

Oily Hair Pre-Shampoo Conditioner

This conditioner works to control excess oil 

while soothing the scalp and hair roots.

Ingredients

·         1 1/2 cup jojoba oil

·         ¾ cup lemon juice

·         3 teaspoons brown sugar

·         7 drops sage essential oil

·         7 drops tea tree essential oil

·         5 drops rosemary essential oil

Directions

1.     Combine all ingredients in a clean glass jar with a lid.

2.     Apply the mixture to dry, unwashed hair, beginning at the scalp and massaging into the roots. Rub the oil using downward strokes away from the scalp. This seals the hair follicle.

3.     Comb the hair through completely.

4.     Follow the treatment with a mild organic shampoo. Massage the shampoo into the hair, adding water slowly until all the oil dissolves. Lather well and rinse as usual.

5.     Towel dry your hair by scrunching, and style as usual.

6.     Use this mixture 2-3 times per week for best results.

Herbal Shampoo For All Hair Types

This is a suds-free hair wash that leaves hair soft, shiny and remarkably clean. Although you 

may not have heard of some of these ingredients, they are readily available online or at most 

natural health stores.

Ingredients

·         ¼ cup bhringaraj, powdered

·         ¼ cup gotu kola herb

·         ¼ cup powdered lavender buds

·         ¼, cup neem, powdered

·         Purified water

Directions

1.     Place first four ingredients in a resealable plastic bag and shake well.

2.     When ready to use, boil 1 cup of purified water and remove from heat.

3.     Add 2 teaspoons of the herb blend to the hot water.

4.     Cover mixture and allow it to sit for five minutes.

5.     Stir the mixture thoroughly.

6.     Wet hair completely.

7.     Poor ½ cup of the mixture on your head and massage the scalp for two minutes.

8.     Repeat with the remaining mixture and rinse well.

Leave-In Rosemary Conditioning Rinse

This simple fragrance rinse stimulates limp hair and leaves a 

lasting fresh fragrance. Be careful when using this rinse as it 

may stain light-colored towels.

Ingredients

·         4 cups of purified water

·         1 teaspoon borax

·         ½ cup dried rosemary

Directions

1.     Bring water to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan.

2.     Add the borax and the rosemary and stir well. Remove from heat.

3.     Cover and let steep for two hours.

4.     Pour 1 cup over head and massage into the scalp.

5.     Do not rinse out.

6.     Store in the refrigerator for seven days, and then throw away the unused portion.

Show Your Hair How Much You Care

When you make your own organic hair products, you will be nourishing your locks with natural goodness instead of draining them of life. Your hair will thank you by being shiny, soft and easy to style.

Start a Blog Consulting Business

Blog Consulting Business

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A blog (also called a weblog or web log) is a website consisting of entries (also called posts) , usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video appearing in reverse chronological order with the most recent entry appearing first (similar in format to a daily journal).

 Blogs typically include features such as comments and linksto increase user interactivity. Blogs are created using specific publishing software.

Variations of the term blog:

•       Blogging: The act of writing a post for a blog
•       Blogger: A person who writes content for a blog
•      Blogosphere: The online community of blogs and bloggers

Blogs Today:

As the Internet has become more social, blogs have gained in popularity. Today, there are over 100 million blogs with more entering the blogosphere everyday. Blogs have become more than online diaries. In fact, blogging has become an important part of the online and offline worlds with popular bloggers impacting the worlds of politics, business and society with their words.

The Future of Blogs:

It seems inevitable that blogging will become even more powerful in the future with more people and businesses recognizing the power of bloggers as online influencers. Anyone can start a blog thanks to the simple (and often free) tools readily available online. The question will likely become not, "Why should I start a blog?" but rather, "Why shouldn't I start a blog?"

Blogs are one of the most common ways for both individuals and businesses to create a distinctive "voice" online. In fact, there are over 27 million blog that use the WordPress platform alone.

The popularity of blogging brings regular changes and improvements to the technology, and for the novice user, this can create a sense of overwhelm and an inability to use the tools to their maximum potential.

If you are a blogging expert, you can create a very lucrative business by providing blog consulting support to all types of bloggers.

The Pros

Some of the reasons you may want to consider starting a blog consulting business include:

·         Startup costs are minimal.

·         You can offer support in any or all areas of blogging including, setup, customization, marketing and content writing.

·         You can tap into your creative passions while helping your clients.

·         You have a broad target market at your disposal, including personal bloggers, small business blogs, corporate blogs, etc.

·         Your business can be entirely home-based.

·         You can work as much as you want, whenever you want.

·         You can offer ongoing services to your clients, creating steady income.

The Cons

Some of the potential challenges of starting a blog consulting business include:

·         You must have expert skill, knowledge and experience with all types of blogs and blog platforms.

·         You have to be able to explain technical processes in non-technical terms.

·         You may have to include an element of education about why blogs are beneficial in your sales pitch.

·         The competition may be stiff, depending on your target market.

·         It can take a while to establish a solid client base.

5 Elements to Start a Blog Successfully

 

When you make the decision to start a blog, it's likely that you want people to visit it. In other words, you want to start a blog that has a good chance of being successful. Even your mother won't visit your blog if it's boring. Follow the 5 elements of successful blogs below to ensure you're on the right track from the moment you create a blog.

1. Personality

Your blog should reflect your personality and who you are. If it reads like dull news, it's unlikely that people will want to return again and again. Inject your personality into yourblog posts. Write like you speak. Make your blog posts conversational. Use your unique voice to tell your story in each and every blog post. Your unique voice is what makes your blog personable and interesting.

2. Opinion

One of the key components of your personality and unique voice is your opinion on topics related to your blog's overall subject matter. Don't be afraid to inject your personal opinions into your blog posts. Without your opinions, your blog posts will read like news stories. What make a blog interesting is the personal opinions of the blogger behind it.

3. Participation

Don't just publish a blog post and forget about it. The strength of a blog comes from the community that evolves around it. In order to grow the community on your blog, your readers need to feel like they are participating in a 2-way conversation. If someone leaves a comment, respond to it. If a reader emails you directly with a legitimate question or comment, respond to that person. Make your readers feel important by talking with them, not just at them.

4. Value

Your blog needs to bring something useful or interesting to readers or there is no point in their visiting. In other words, your blog needs to add value to readers' lives for them to take the time to read what you have to say. You can add value by publishing posts that provide more than just news recaps or a list of links to other websites and blogs. Your blog posts need to actually say something unique in your own voice, with your own opinions, and in a conversational manner.

5. Availability

Don't publish a blog post and then disappear for a week or month. Successful blogs are updated frequently Readers grow to rely on them for the useful information, valuable commentary, or engaging conversations that happen on your blog. If readers can't rely on you to be there when they visit with new content or conversations, they'll look elsewhere.

Start a Mushroom Farming Business

MUSHROOM FARMING

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source.

Mushroom farming  takes a knack and careful attention to important cultural details. Whether you’re considering building a large commercial Agaricus facility or growing a few Shiitake logs in the barn, profitable mushroom farming, like raising any farm crop, is a just a matter of hard work and careful procedures.

Organisms that support the mushroom bloom must be made to grow, and those that can spoil crops must be halted. Successful mushroom farming on any level is about establishing the procedures that ensure the right balance of control.

Even the seasonal mushroom growers who do not use climate-controlled environments have to maintain a strict adherence to bed preparation and mycelial growth procedures.

One key to any new mushroom-growing operation is good record keeping. As new growers experiment with different techniques in an effort to find the most productive methods for their farm, good records will allow them to more easily duplicate their most successful attempts

Create a Mushroom Growing Medium 
The mushrooms we see on top of the surface are the fruits of plants made up of thin, thread like cells called mycelium. Just as tomatoes are the fruit of tomato plants, mushrooms are the fruit of organisms that spend most of their lives in the form of a mycelium.

The basis of any mushroom-growing operation is the growing medium that supports this mycelium.

Mushroom fungi are saprophytic, which means that they eat dead plants rather than produce chlorophyll to trap energy from the sun like common green plants. They do not grow well in regular soil, but prefer more fiber-filled environments.

There are two basic categories of cultivated mushrooms: 

• those that prefer composted materials, like Agaricus (button mushrooms), and
• those that prefer woody or straw-type mediums, like Pleurotis (oyster mushrooms) and Shiitake mushrooms.

Types of Growing Mediums

Most U.S. commercial growers produce button mushrooms in tiered beds of compost that are housed in climate-controlled rooms. A fair amount of European farmers grow crops on hay bales in darkened greenhouses. Many Asian farmers grow their crops in rooms full of thousands of glass jars filled with spent barley husks. Tall plastic bags of straw are hung from the ceiling in some other facilities.

Many growers are now growing their crops on cut tree logs, either inside or in outdoor, open sheds. Probably the most popular new method is to grow mushrooms in plastic bags filled with sawdust. New growers can take their choice of designing a system that fits their situation, or following the methods of an established grower.

The basic requirements are the same: Growers must provide a controlled medium on which the mycelial growth can spread.

It’s no surprise then that a grower’s ability to locate a steady supply of the base materials they use to prepare their growing medium is a key point.

A nearby dairy farm, a field-crop refuse supply, or a relatively inexpensive source such as animal fodder or processing waste, are all possible material sources. Smaller growers may weigh the cost of slightly more expensive materials such as stove pellets or feed cubes.

Have You Developed a Marketing Plan?

Market research, potential customer interviews and the design of product packaging systems should all occur before the first crop is inoculated.

New growers will have a difficult time competing against established outfits. Instead, new growers must find a niche market, which is likely to be the small local grocer or farmer’s market. New growers may also be able to find a spot in the value-added marketplace by incorporating their mushrooms into a cooked food product.

The demand for specialty mushrooms is booming these days. Portobellos are particularly hot right now, but that’s a difficult type to grow if you don’t already have a large compost-type facility. There’s no doubt that mushrooms are popular with consumers. 

Historically, mushrooms were considered a food for the aristocrats, and both the Romans and Egyptians considered them the “food of the gods.” Since the first large-scale European mushroom cultivation in the limestone caves near Paris in the 18th century, mushrooms have been growing in popularity, and today U.S. mushroom consumption is around 750 million pounds per year.

Mushroom-growing industries are springing up in many countries around the world including Mexico and Bolivia. Huge quantities of mushrooms are grown for the Asian market, which is the largest in the world. Asian consumers also are devout believers in the medicinal value of mushrooms—over 50 different species are regularly prescribed by Chinese doctors.

Understanding Commercial Mushroom Varieties

There are two main types of mushrooms: mycelial and mycorrhizzal. Essentially all the cultivated types are mycelial and can grow wherever there is an appropriate growing medium.

Mycorrhizzal types need to grow in association with the roots of a living plant or tree. Morels, chanterelles and truffles are examples of mycorrhizzal types. There are some efforts to develop systems for growing truffles and morels, but essentially all of the commercially cultivated mushrooms are of the mycelial type.


If the idea of mushroom farming appeals to you, there’s no better time to get started. A bit of research, a little Yankee ingenuity, and you’ll be ready to start producing delicious mushrooms.

Some great Sites

Ø  www.gmushrooms.com

Ø  www.mushroommadventures.com

Ø  www.naturalmushrooms.com