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Toner Charge Inc.
Visualize-
Over 1200 product SKU’S
Toner Charge Inc., the ONE
source for all of your compatible needs.
If you’ve seen the brilliantly
colored Toner Charge Inc. ads, you know that they have a large
selection of toners as well as fax and inkjet cartridges. The
ads show a wide array of their products in great detail, displaying
a perfect cross section of their more than twelve-hundred SKU’s,
including the solid ink, Tektronix cartridges.
Toner Charge’s product line includes
cartridges compatible for Fuji, Xerox, HP, Minolta, Panafax,
Okidata, Pitney Bowes, Brother, Canon, Lexmark, IBM, Samsung and
Sharp. “We manufacture all the products we sell in house,”
Dan Ahmed, founder CEO of Toner Charge Inc. Their diversity in
products is almost unseen in the industry. If you have a hard
to find toner order, Toner Charge Inc is your one source.
“We offer a wide line of after market
products, like remanufactured laser toner cartridges that others do
not offer or even get involved with. We carry not only the
‘bread and butter’ HP products, but also the niche products that are
more difficult to locate. That’s what really differentiates us
from other suppliers,” says Dan.
Toner Charge also offers their
dealers frequent buyer rewards through their e-commerce store and
online deals. Their website also offers printer tips,
customized product flyers, a copy of their manufacturing processes,
and other pertinent information such as warranties, terms and
conditions, and service policies. Toner Charge also sells used
equipment - copiers, printers, and faxes. And with every order you
will receive excellent customer service.
Early Bird Beginnings
It all started with a pinch of his
dad’s entrepreneur spirit and the chance of seeing an article about
the toner remanufacturing industry in a magazine. Dan describes his
experience:
“I worked in marketing with a Fortune
500 company and back then laser printers were just hitting the
market. The prices of laser cartridges were so high that many of my
friends and associates were complaining about the cost and
consistently searching for alternative products. At that
time I was looking for an opportunity to start a business, and so
evolved an opportunity. I noticed how high the costs were and
decided to create an alternative source that would offer a quality
product at a substantial savings. I researched in industry trade
publications, toner vendors, and other industry professionals. And
just like anything else, it’s a long steady process.”
“My role model is my dad. He
was an entrepreneur himself and he is the one who encouraged me to
start creating a business for myself. I grew up with an
entrepreneurial spirit and I think that’s probably what drove me to
take the risk. His philosophy was ‘put the customer first’,
and I took that from him and still practice by that today.”
Dan Ahmed started his toner
manufacturing operation 15 years ago in the late 80's, and because
of his spirit and philosophy that has been practiced and instilled
in his company, enabled him to build some very strong customer
relationships over the years.
“One of my largest customers, my
local dealer, was one of my first customers and they are still with
us today,” Dan said. He went on to tell a holiday story he had in
years past, “A few years ago, I will never forget, someone called me
on the eve of Thanksgiving and wanted me to have some product
delivered the next day. They were going to be open on
Thanksgiving Day. So I decided to cancel my Thanksgiving plans and
deliver this order personally to my customer.
When I arrived to their business with
the order, they were closed.
They had decided at the last minute to close, and although my
Thanksgiving incident was not the best, this particular customer
sure ended up being one of my best for many years after that.”
This illustrates the example of commitment that Dan makes to his
customers and their needs.
While
the business was started out of Dan’s home, it is far from that now.
He has two locations: a 70,000 sq ft warehouse in Virginia (the
Toner Charge headquarters); and a 20,000 sq ft distribution facility
in California. And when it began with one person, now he has a
work force of over 150 people.
“We
have two distribution centers strategically located to help save
time and money for our customers. Our east coast location based in
Lorton, Virginia and our west coast Division is located in Ontario,
California. W can cover eighty-percent of the US with less than two
days of shipping time,” Dan went on to say, “Many customers call us
their ‘one stop shop’ for after market or remanufactured products.”
“Currently I have about 150
employees,” Dan said, “We all come from different backgrounds, from
engineers, to cooks, you name it. For production we hire
people that have not worked in our industry. This is so we can train
them just the way
we want them to be trained. We provide them with a 90 day
training program then we put them to work. I’ve had employees
that have been with me for 9, 11, and even 12 years. If they
stay here for the first 4 months, they’ll most likely be here for
many years.”
Looking Forward in Color
Toner Charge will soon launch a new
line of color HP products and a new Samsung Line. Some new SKU’s
will include: Canon-FX 7, HP 4300, HP 1300, HP 2500, HP 4600, HP
8500, Panafax UG5510, Panafax UG5520, and they already launched HP
9000 and HP 4200.
“We plan to focus on new and
different products. This will allow us to be more diversified. And
of course we will never compromise our instilled quality of service
to our current and future customers to come,” said Dan, “We will
keep up with all the technological changes that are being thrown at
us every day which demands us to really focus.”
We
would also like to congratulate Mr. Ahmed for receiving the 2003
Reader’s Choice Award for Individual Leadership Special Recognition
at the Recharger World Expo this past September.
When asked how his marketing
background got him to this point, Dan had this to say, “It helps me
to understand the needs of customers, and it also helps me to come
up with programs and products to better meet their needs.
Marketing is something that you’ve got to continue doing. And
if I did not have that knowledge and foundation, I may not have
taken the steps to help me bring Toner Charge to where it is today.
To me, marketing is the core to any business, it has been the core
of my business then, as it is now, and of course for the many years
to come.”
To visit Toner Charge on the web:
www.tonerchargeusa.com
For more information on Toner Charge
please call:
Toll Free 800-301-9298
Virginia Headquarters
T 703-690-2300
F 703-690-9635
California
T 909-773-1996
F 909-947-0666
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