Having access to these professional services can have a profound impact on the success of small businesses.

By providing cost-efficiency or support programs for small business owners, these business-to-business franchise concepts deliver benefits and results that allow owners to save money and time. And that in turn creates an attractive market that franchisors are very happy to serve.

"It is astounding how often billing errors occur in telecommunications services," said Dennis Schooley, CEO and managing partner of Schooley Mitchell TelecomConsultants

"Telecommunications is confusing and frustrating for the business person who needs to concentrate on core business services. That's where our services are so valuable," he said.

Schooley Mitchell, begun as a chartered accountancy (CPA) practice in 1980 in Ontario, developed software to analyze its own telecom services and discovered that it was frequently being billed incorrectly. "Like most businesses, we did the old 'weigh it and pay it' method. If our bill weighs about the same as last month's, we'll pay it," said Schooley.

"By uncovering significant errors, we realized that if we were being overcharged so often, other businesses needed to examine their telecom services," Schooley said. "Offering this analysis service to others seemed like a logical extension." The firm, led by Schooley and founding partners Kelvin Martin and Ken Reid, is the largest independent telecommunications consulting company in North America, with more than 150 offices.

Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants are rare in that they are not affiliated in any way with telecom suppliers. They examine a client's telecom services and invoices, analyze costs, make unbiased recommendations and accept payment only if their suggested changes are implemented.

"The most attractive part of our service is that our customers pay us only out of the savings we create for them," said Schooley. "We can never decrease your bottom line, we can only increase your revenue by finding savings as a result of billing errors," he added. Since many businesses overpay as much as 40 percent on telecom services, utilizing an independent "watchdog" like Schooley Mitchell can be an important source of potential savings.

To help small businesses save money on business supplies and services, SaveItNow! Franchising Systems, LLC provides group-purchasing power. Founded in 1986, the organization concentrates the buying power of more than 4,000 companies across the nation to negotiate Fortune 500® volume discounted prices and service guarantees with major national vendors.

President Tom Jackson explained the advantages of leveraging this purchasing muscle. "Any one of our products may not be a significant enough source of savings on its own, but when combined with savings on other products and services, we are able to save our customers ten to forty percent in these areas," he said.

Products such as computer supplies, furniture, office supplies, janitorial supplies as well as services such as air express shipping, telecom and printing are available through a single point of contact through SaveItNow!'s online procurement solution provider (PSP) application.

"We're bundling products and services so that whether your business has ten employees or 2,000 employees, you can achieve significant bottom-line savings," said Jackson. A SaveItNow! consultant first conducts an audit to analyze existing purchasing practices.

"We also can help you automate purchasing, resulting in soft-cost savings," said Jackson. "The process of how you are buying can be as important as what you are buying," he added.

"We do all the billing in our back office so that a customer can order directly from our web site," said Jackson. "We've got a huge investment in our call center, web site and infrastructure so that making purchases is streamlined and requires less manpower for our customers," he said.

Recognizing that small businesses are struggling and need to save money in as many areas as possible, Cartridge World helps by saving business owners fifty to sixty percent off retail by refilling printer cartridges.

This is a great time for us because we can help businesses save money and we can be environmentally responsible," said Burt Yarkin, CEO of Cartridge World North America.

Cartridge World, headquartered in Adelaide, South Australia, has 300 retail stores worldwide. In the United States, Cartridge World has locations in California and Texas and is expanding into Florida, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.

Customers bring their cartridges to Cartridge World to have them refilled with premium grade inks. "We use high performance inks that have the same chemical and physical properties as the original inks," said Yarkin. A typical refill takes five to ten minutes, depending on the type. "We try to provide 'while you wait' service when possible and our service includes thorough testing of the cartridge and ultrasonic cleaning of the printheads."

While business owners search for ways to save money on products and services, many also seek ways to become more productive and efficient.

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