YEO Mentor Rob Dube

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Thursday, November 6 at 1 p.m. Eastern

JA and the EO present:
Rob Dube
President
Image One Corporation

Rob’s journey began in ninth grade when he and his life-long friend, Joel Pearlman, launched their first business – selling blow pop candy out of their school lockers. From blow pops they moved on to other endeavors, such as selling t-shirts and detailing cars.

Although building a multi-million dollar company that helps businesses make their laser printers more productive and cost-effective is far from child’s play, Rob and his partner always knew the key to their success, regardless of their company’s size: If you provide consistent, reliable service and the highest quality products, you will be rewarded with your customers’ loyalty.

It’s with this in mind that Rob directs Image One’s financial, operations, customer service and technical service areas.

Today, under Rob’s leadership, Image One employs 27 people and serves more than 2,000 clients, including St. John Health Systems, Borders Group, Volkswagen/Audi North America, DTE Energy and Quicken Loans.

Rob is a board member and past President of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization, Member of Birmingham Country Club, and a member of Operations (OPS) and Printer Service Network (PSN), industry groups that allow for exchange of best practices.

Outside of work, Rob enjoys snowboarding, basketball, vacationing “up north” and spending time with his family.

ja_moderator	Hello everyone, and thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome Rob Dube, President of Image One Corp. to today’s discussion! Mr. Dube and business partner Joel Pearlman established Image One in 1991, and the company today serves more than 2,000 customers with imaging equipment, supplies and services. The discussion will begin shortly. Please begin submitting your questions to Mr. Dube at anytime. When he provides answers, they will appear, along with your question, right here! We hope you all learn a little bit about what it takes to start and run your own business…
m3	<Q>Hello. I hope it's ok to ask now, but I was wondering what it is that your business produces/sells?
rob_dube	<A>Thank you for your question and it's a good one. Image One manages laser printer environments for large companies such as Border's Book Store chain and Volkswagen, and Audi.
Sue_Vincent	<Q>Rob, How did you discover a need for your product? How did you know there would be a market? Or did you know?
rob_dube	<A>We read about remanufacturing laser toner cartridges in 1991 after graduating college. That is how we started the business although we have evolved into a different type of company. To answer your question about knowing there would be a market, the honest answer is all we knew was that more and more companies were using laser printers in their businesses -- it wasn't any more scientific than that.
titans	<Q>Your bio says you started a business at a very young age, why?
rob_dube	<A>I always had an entrepreneurial spirit -- so I followed it.
Bizzies	<Q>How many people do you employ?
rob_dube	<A>27
Sue_Vincent	<Q>So this is more a service you provide than a product?
rob_dube	<A>Actually, it's both. We provide supplies and services for laser printers.
econ	<Q>Why did you choose to sell those particular products?
rob_dube	<A>At the time we started the business, it was a relatively new product. We decided to take a chance and see where it could take us.
Sue_Vincent	<Q>Did you need capital to get started? And if so, how did you get it?
rob_dube	<A>We needed $14,000 to start the business and our families lent us the money.
m3	<Q>Your bio says you started selling candy. Was that lucrative?
rob_dube	<A>Yes, but we didn't make a lot of money, here is why, we sold blow pops out of our locker in the 9th grade. So, unfortunately our business hours was limited to one hour. We would purchase the blow pops for 5 cents each and sell then for 25 cents. That is a 500% profit--Not Bad, Huh?
Sue_Vincent	<Q>What did you use that initial capital for?
rob_dube	<A>To learn the process of remanufacturing toner cartridges. We kept costs down by working out of our basement!
Bizzies	<Q>Did you pay them back yet?
rob_dube	<A>We paid them back within 12 months. It was a great feeling!
Sue_Vincent	<Q>Did some one teach you the process, or did you just figure it out? Did you eventually have to build a manufacturing facility?
rob_dube	<A>We were trained by a company in Austin, TX and eventually we did have a facility with 12 employees. We made a decision 5 years ago to outsource our production, and it was a great decision!
BCLASS	<Q>Cool Did the teachers have a problem with you running a business out of your locker?
rob_dube	<A>They didn't love the idea because blow pops have gum in the middle, and the gum usually ended up underneath the desks. The principal eventually shut us down!
kellysH	<Q>Did you ever have JA classes when you were in school?
rob_dube	<A>No, but I wish I did. It is a great program.
kellysH	<Q>What is the extent of your involvement with the EO?
rob_dube	<A>I have been on the Executive Board for 4 years and served as it's President last year. I am also in a group of business owners under 40 that meets monthly to discuss our challenges. That is the great thing about EO.
ja_moderator	If you’ve just joined us, please begin to submit questions at your leisure. When Mr. Dube provides an answer, they will appear right here on screen. Thanks!
RomiesHS	<Q>Were you scared to start your own business?
rob_dube	<A>I wasn't really scared. I did know it was going to take a lot of hard work which has been very true. It's worth it though!
Sue_Vincent	<Q>What do you mean by you outsourced production? Do you have to buy the product from someone now?
rob_dube	<A>Yes. We closed our facility because it wasn't a strength of our company. Focusing on your strength is what will make you a great company. We outsource it now to a company in Los Angeles, CA, and that is their strength.
titans	<Q>What kind of hours do you work?
rob_dube	<A>It's a hard question to answer. What I can tell you is that we have been fortunate to experience good growth this has led to many hours of work. I am very passionate about what I do therefore it doesn't seem like work. it is actually fun!
BCLASS	<Q>Do you have any advice for young people wanting to start a business?
rob_dube	<A>Find something you can have a passion for, you will be great at, and that you can make money doing. If you put these 3 things together you are on the right track.
RomiesHS	<Q>Do you have a Web site?
rob_dube	<A>Yes. We have three. www.imageonecorp.com, www.printerrepair.com, and www.imageoneordering.com
Sue_Vincent	<Q>What did you think was your strength?
rob_dube	<A>When I started the business, it was pure entrepreneurial spirit.
RomiesHS	<Q>Nice Is online where people do most of their ordering? Is it the only way?
rob_dube	<A>30% of our customers order online, and 70% order over the phone
Sue_Vincent	<Q>It sounds like maybe you were good at sales. Did you have lots of business contacts? How did you get them?
rob_dube	<A>Actually, sales is not my strength, but when you start a business you have to go outside your comfort zone to make business happen. I did not have a lot of contacts. it took getting involved in the community to build a good list of contacts.
m3	<Q>What are your future plans with your business?
rob_dube	<A>To build a great company and be surrounded by great people!
Sue_Vincent	<Q>Rob, Thanks for your time. I have to sign off but will tell others about this JA format, particularly high school friends.
rob_dube	<A>Good luck to you and great questions!
ja_moderator	Thank you all for participating today! Mr. Dube will now be logging off, please feel free to do so as well. Check back to this page soon, as we will have a transcript of today’s discussion session posted.