Archive for the 'Partnerships' category

To educate students about the different challenges and opportunities associated with small-business ownership, PostNet, America’s first Neighborhood Business Center, has strategically partnered with DECA, the international organization dedicated to preparing emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

Through the partnership, the around 300 PostNet franchise locations across the US will have the opportunity to work with DECA’s local chapters to develop a curriculum to educate high school and college students about what it takes to succeed in an entrepreneurial endeavor, particularly in franchising. PostNet will sponsor and judge competitive events among students and PostNet’s co-founders will also participate in the Executive Mentorship Program.

“Working with DECA to invest in today’s students provides us with a unique opportunity to further our mission of fostering small-business growth in America,” said Steve Greenbaum, CEO of PostNet. “We’re also providing our franchisees with a tremendous opportunity to work with driven, business-minded individuals to problem-solve, reach new customers, and achieve greater business objectives.”  

Greenbaum, along with PostNet co-founder, Brian Spindel, are fully aware of the unique challenges entrepreneurs face when launching and growing a small business – they’ve lived it for nearly 30 years. Greenbaum and Spindel opened their first pack-and-ship store in 1983 when shipping options in the growing market were sparse, and, by 1992, had helped hundreds of entrepreneurs start their own, independent mail and parcel businesses. In 1991 they began the development of the PostNet business and communication center concept and began franchising PostNet in July of 1993.

Today, PostNet has evolved with technology to meet the changing needs of small-business owners and busy consumers as America’s first Neighborhood Business Center. The company attributes its success to constant innovation and working closely with each client to identify their objectives, build upon their ideas, and develop the best solution to meet their needs. This could include anything from designing and printing custom invitations or signage for an important company event, to helping create a brand image for a new or existing business looking to re-invent itself. (PostNet also offers freedom of choice for the customer as a multi-carrier of shipping services including FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service).

“One of the key measurements to our programs success is the ability to connect our teachers and students with businesses and truly provide them with real world knowledge and experiences to achieve college and world readiness,” said John Fistolera, assistant executive director of corporate and external affairs with DECA. “PostNet’s interest in connecting with the schools in the communities where they do business is in direct alignment with our mission and PostNet’s corporate interests.”

BoeFly, the premier online marketplace connecting small business borrowers with lenders and a strategic ally of the International Franchise Association (IFA) to expand credit access within the franchise community, announced today that PostNet, America’s Neighborhood Business Center, has selected BoeFly to assist its franchisees in obtaining bank financing.

According to a recent IFA survey of its members, nearly half (49.2 percent) identified financing/access to credit as the main issue hampering their franchise organizations. In response to this concern, and bolstered by BoeFly’s success in helping individual franchisees obtain financing, the company created a portfolio of services geared specifically for the franchisor market. Through the PostNet Financing Center powered by BoeFly, PostNet provides franchisees with access to a network of lenders through BoeFly’s Internet-based loan exchange, assistance in creating an effective loan request, and support managing lender inquiries.

“BoeFly’s proprietary matching technology allows us to efficiently connect aspiring entrepreneurs with lenders who can work with their parameters, and ultimately help them realize their dreams of business ownership,” said Brian Spindel, COO and President of PostNet. 

In addition to helping prospective franchise owners gain the capital they need to start their businesses, the arrangements with BoeFly will help existing PostNet locations invest in new equipment, expand their staffs, and better serve a growing pool of entrepreneurs looking for the resources to grow their own businesses. PostNet franchisees and their staffs work with business owners to identify their objectives, build upon their ideas, and develop the best solution to meet their needs. This could include anything from designing and printing custom invitations or signage for an important company event, to helping create a brand image for a new or existing business looking to re-invent itself. PostNet also offers freedom of choice for the customer as an authorized shipping outlet for all of the major carriers, including FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service.

“Today, even top franchisors like PostNet face the challenges of converting otherwise qualified franchisee candidates because of the difficulty in accessing capital,” said Mike Rozman, Co-president of BoeFly. “Franchise lending has been down by as much as 40% in the past two years due in part to the inefficiencies in the lending process that have been exposed by the financial crisis. BoeFly eliminates these inefficiencies by connecting franchisees with banks that are ready and willing to lend.”

About PostNet

Founded in 1993, Denver-based PostNet has more than 700 locations worldwide, including several hundred U.S. locations. Each locally owned and operated PostNet Neighborhood Business Center specializes in meeting the design, printing, copying and shipping needs of businesses and busy consumers, with a focus on exceptional, personal customer service. PostNet centers offer full-service digital printing; full- and self-service copying; document binding and finishing; and services like graphic design, computer rental stations, private mailbox rentals and more. They also offer expert packaging services and shipping with UPS, FedEx, DHL and the U.S. Postal Service. To learn more, visit www.postnet.com.

About BoeFly

BoeFly makes it easier to obtain small business loans (http://www.boefly.com/) by reducing the time, cost, complexity, inefficiency and frustration associated with small business lending.  Its online proprietary matching technology connects small business borrowers with multiple lenders from among its over 1500 participating banks, based on the lending profiles provided by the banks and the information provided in the borrower’s loan request.

Borrowers build a complete decision-ready loan request online using BoeFly’s exclusive “SmartForm” technology which, when completed, provides the information that  over 1500 lenders nationwide indicated to BoeFly they want to see before moving forward with a loan request. The SmartForm is easy to use and guides borrowers through the process. Once BoeFly’s matching technology identifies compatible lenders, borrowers then have complete control over which lenders can instantly access their loan request.  Using BoeFly, borrowers can connect with multiple lenders quickly and easily, providing a greater probability of obtaining a loan, as well as more favorable loan terms resulting from the creation of a competitive marketplace.   Lenders benefit by being presented with only those loan requests that fit their lending profile, dramatically lowering their cost and time of origination.   BoeFly is not a broker.  Borrowers pay a small one-time fee and lenders pay an ongoing subscription fee; BoeFly never charges transaction or referral fees.

BoeFly, now a strategic ally of the International Franchise Association to expand credit access within the franchise community (http://www.boefly.com/ifa.cfm), offers aFranchise Solution brings these benefits to the large and growing small business franchisee community and is the choice of over 90 brands including Dunkin’ Donuts, Carl’s Jr., Express Personnel and Kiddie Academy, among many others.

BoeFly’s Affiliate Solution is the financing exchange chosen by the Association of Small Business Development Centers, representing approximately 1,000 centers nationwide, which are funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, to serve small businesses, and Franchise Gator, the leading site for information on franchise opportunities.

Media Contacts:

Fishman Public Relations
Monica Rutkowski
847.945.1300
mrutkowski@fishmanpr.com

Keating Co.
Bill Fallon
212.925.6900
bfallon@keatingco.com

Denver, CO (November 10, 2011) – Recognizing that the unemployment rate for U.S. military veterans is nearly double that of the general population, Denver-based PostNet has committed to being one of the first franchise systems to the Veterans Job Bank – a new hiring database announced today by First Lady Michelle Obama and supported by the International Franchise Association (IFA).

The Veterans Job Bank, a technology collaboration between the Administration and Schema.org coalition (google, Microsoft, yahoo), is a new online search tool that allows veterans to easily find jobs in their communities. Through the technology, companies like PostNet can add a few specific tags to their existing job posting preferences that will automatically import the postings into the national Veteran’s Job Bank.

PostNet has already begun to add the technical tags on their new job boards for career opportunities at the company headquarters in Denver and at PostNet’s 300+ franchise locations across the United States.

In addition, to further support job creation, PostNet has committed to hiring 100 military veterans with a stretch goal of 150 by 2014,part of a national hiring plan called Operation Enduring Opportunity, which is being backed by the White House Joining Forces Initiative and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“As tens of thousands of service men and women return from deployment in Afghanistan and Southwest Asia this year, we are committed to doing our part to help America's heroes in their transition to civilian life,” said Steve Greenbaum, co-founder and CEO of PostNet. “Our support of job creation for veterans goes hand in hand with our company’s efforts to advance small business growth in the communities we serve and to contribute to the U.S. economic recovery.”

This holiday season, PostNet locations across the country will also show their appreciation to service members stationed in the U.S. and overseas through a new partnership with Military Moms, a nonprofit created to support families of military personnel. Known to consumers as the Neighborhood Business Center, local PostNet franchises will provide customers with postcards, free of charge, where they’ll be encouraged to write thoughtful messages to soldiers stationed far from home this holiday season. By December 3, 2011, PostNet will send the holiday cards to Military Moms, which will distribute the cards to soldiers in time for the Holidays.

About PostNet

Founded in 1993, Denver-based PostNet has more than 700 locations worldwide, including several hundred U.S. locations. Each locally owned and operated PostNet Neighborhood Business Center specializes in meeting the design, printing, copying and shipping needs of businesses and busy consumers, with a focus on exceptional, personal customer service. PostNet centers offer full-service digital printing; full- and self-service copying; document binding and finishing; and services like graphic design, computer rental stations, private mailbox rentals and more. They also offer expert packaging services and shipping with UPS, FedEx, DHL and the U.S. Postal Service. To learn more, visit www.postnet.com.

PostNet International Franchise Corp., a global postal, copy, design and print service shop, has sign Epicor as its CRM provider. Epicor has been charged with helping PostNet develop a long-term CRM strategy, improving upon its previous in-house CRM work, which focused largely on point-of-sale efforts. PostNet’s plans with Epicor also include the development of an improved customer loyalty program and deeper analysis of PostNet’s existing customer database. “We have a relatively sophisticated point of sale system that captures a pretty decent amount of customer data, and we’ve been using that to make decisions on where and how to drive business,” explained Steve Greenbaum, CEO, PostNet. “But the more we learned, the more we realized we didn’t know, so we started trying to identify the best solution to capture, analyze, interpret and act on customer data.” PostNet ended up looking at the top five companies in the CRM space and chose Epicor for what Greenbaum called its “diverse background and broad understanding of both traditional and non-traditional retail concepts.” He was also impressed with Epicor’s understanding of the dynamics of a franchise business, like PostNet. The companies’ first task together will be to better understand the PostNet’s existing data collection capabilities and then determine if it needs to collect more or different information on its customers. The next step will be to analyze the existing data against PostNet’s business goals and then develop a new CRM strategy and build new loyalty programs. Following the data gathering stage, PostNet will start implementing the Epicor system in September. Greenbaum expects the system to be fully operational by end of year. The end goal is to increase the amount of time customers spend in PostNet locations, the frequency with which they return and the amount they spend. “We don’t yet have a really good understanding of what other opportunities may exist to cross-sell, up-sell or suggest a sell or what is it about our customers’ habits that we might be able to modify,” Greenbaum said. “That’s really at the heart and soul of what Epicor is helping us accomplish.” Epicor is also helping PostNet develop loyalty programs that make better use of its customer data. Right now, PostNet’s loyalty programs are volume-based, rather than making offers based on individual shopping habits and motivations. Many PostNet clients are SMBs, ranging from 4-40 employees, though the company also works to attract general consumers. PostNet uses direct mail and e-mail to direct market to clients and prospects. Originally published in DM News, June 12, 2009