Our next guest blog comes from one of our office client’s at 155
North Wacker Drive, here in Chicago. She has been a tenant of ours for
years and is working as CEO of her start up business, Taylor Made
Business Solutions. Hope you enjoy!
When I am not buried in paperwork, I
often wonder—what do all these people do here!!! Fortunately, I sit in the brown (color of the
hall walls) hole with no windows so I can stay focused. On the off chance that your mind also
wanders, let me introduce myself. I am
Evonne Taylor, President and CEO of Taylor Made Business Solutions. I started this company in May 2011. My offices are at the end of the hall on the
north side of the kitchen.
We distribute office supplies, generic toner cartridges and
furniture. I am a dealer for United
Stationers and a Tier 1 minority partner with Staples. What does that mean? Essentially, I can get you nearly any office
product you like--most likely for less money than you currently pay. We offer all the major brands of office
supplies, janitorial and sanitation products and technology equipment. We also distribute furniture. We can assist you in the purchase of a desk
and chair or an entire building of furniture—design and all!
Generic toner cartridges???
Most of you know how terribly expensive printer toner cartridges
are. Most people use the brand name—like
Hewlett Packard. The industry calls them
OEMs or an Original Equipment Manufacture.
About 20 years ago an entire industry was born from the remanufacture of
these toner cartridges. Since then
nearly every product is remanufactured such as cell phones and automotive
parts. The remanufactured toner industry
has evolved significantly and now many remanufactured toner cartridges are
manufactured to the same standard as the OEM.
OEMs have about a 1-2% defective rate, and an end user can expect that
same performance from a remanufactured cartridge. End users can also expect to pay about 20%
less than the cost of the OEM. As
companies look to trim expenses, the use of remanufactured toner cartridges
provide savings that simply cannot be ignored.
Regarding Staples, it must seem odd that I partner with my
competitor. Many municipalities, such as
the City of Chicago have minority participation clauses that require large
companies to bring smaller/minority/women-owned businesses to the table. As you would imagine, larger companies like Staples
have a competitive advantage over smaller companies like Taylor Made. These same companies take their profits back
to their corporate headquarters and enrich that municipality or their
shareholders. Of course we don’t
begrudge that but given that the City, County and State all operate under
significant deficits, each must find ways to increase the velocity of the
dollar in their municipality. Local
companies hire locally and spend locally.
When local companies prosper, it helps both the revenue and expense side
of the local municipalities budget. So
buy from local companies—like Taylor Made!!
Through our dealership with United Stationers, we have
distribution centers all across the country and can ship next day. Currently, my largest clients are Northern
Trust and the University of Chicago Hospitals.
We provide phenomenal customer service and can handle the purchasing
demands of any company nationally. We
are rapidly expanding. I just purchased a sophisticated software
system that will essentially give me an “Amazon-like” store-front website. Conversion and implementation of this new
software will be completed by the end of the first quarter. Until that time, you can visit my current
website at TMBSLLC.com.
Personally, I am married.
My husband Stuart, also leases space here—let’s just say it is NOT the
brown hole!! We have two boys Stuart 15
and Marc 13. I was raised in Washington,
DC and have lived in Chicago for……22 years!!
Stop by and say hi!
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