Minuteman Press franchise, Quincy, MA Team Photo – L-R: Jennifer Moore, Graphic Designer; Scott Fitzgerald, Graphic Designer; Taylor Esser, Owner; Alfredo Flores, Press Operator; Frank Cromp, Production Manager; and Sarah Tolland, Account Executive.

BOSTON & QUINCY, Mass. – In August of 2023, Taylor Esser realized her dream of owning her own business. That is when she completed the purchase of 40-year printing business The Ink Spot, which is now operating as the Minuteman Press franchise in Quincy, MA. The full-service design, marketing, and printing center remains located at 40 Oval Road #1, Quincy, MA 02170.

Since buying the business, Taylor has certainly hit the ground running with Minuteman Press in Quincy. She talks about changing careers, buying the business, growing sales, and what life has been like since betting on herself and taking that leap of faith with the support of Minuteman Press.

From Finance to Business Owner

Taylor shares her background before franchising, saying, “I spent my entire career in finance prior to Minuteman Press. First, I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from UMass, and became licensed in trading stocks. For the past 15 years, I was working in retail wealth management. I absolutely loved my career, but I still had a boss. I needed more independence and was ready for a change.”

What made her want to be her own boss? She shares, “I’ve actually wanted to be a business owner for years. Working in finance was great but I was still being told to do things a certain way and I just felt like I needed to try and realize my own dream instead of working for others. As a single mom with a mortgage, I didn’t have the time to start a new business on my own. I then read a book about entrepreneurship by acquisition and realized that buying an established business was the way to go for me.”

For Taylor, buying an established business and joining Minuteman Press was the right opportunity at the right time. She says, “When I was researching various business models, I knew I needed to have a business that was Monday-Friday with 9-5 hours for my daughter and my own sanity. I was looking at the different businesses for sale and came across The Ink Spot / Minuteman Press on one of the websites. This business was well-established with customers already lined up including big clients like nationally-recognized non-profit organizations, law schools and universities. The price was right and I felt this checked off all of the boxes of what I was looking for when doing my research.”

She continues, “Through my conversations with Todd Golberg (Minuteman Press RVP for New England), everything just seemed very doable and the price very reasonable. By this point in my life, I just felt like I was ready. It took me a long time to figure out that if I didn’t make a change, I was always going to be running someone else’s business. I had already gained the confidence I needed to know it was time to trust and bet on myself, and this opportunity as well as some reassurance from Todd made the decision just a little bit easier.”

Taylor further explains, “I also bought this business because:

Coming from outside the industry, the training and support from Minuteman Press was huge.

The royalty cap is something I never saw with the other franchises I researched.

The staff at my center has been in place for a long time, with an average length of time of 5-10 years. I retained the entire staff and they have all been a huge asset to the business.

Minuteman Press FLEX software and their Internet marketing program make things easier to manage. It could be a lot harder to run the business without these pieces and the help from Todd and MPIHQ.”

She adds, “Todd Golberg has been incredible from the beginning. He’s been wonderful to work with both on the purchase of the business and now that I am running Minuteman Press in Quincy. He’s been great with advice and simply reinforcing the notion that ‘you’ll be great at this.’ It’s been a positive experience the whole way. The transition, training, and support have been fantastic. Anytime I call Todd or MPIHQ, there’s always someone to pick up right away. They know who I am, which I think speaks volumes about Minuteman Press being family-owned and treating me like part of their family regardless of how long I’ve been in business.”

Owning & Growing the Business

As she transitions to the role of business owner in the printing industry, Taylor is excited about the opportunities in front of her. She says, “Now that I’ve been here for a few months, I can say that with printing, you become hyper-aware of all of the tremendous business opportunities as you start to see all of the printing that surrounds you – signage, banners, shirts, promo items, just about everything. I was always an extrovert to begin with, so this has just been really fun for me just speaking with people and getting our brand and capabilities out there.”

She continues, “I live in the town next to Quincy and I love these opportunities to connect with the community here. It stimulates my imagination about what we can do to help other businesses and how we can create new revenue streams the previous owners didn’t have or explore before Minuteman Press.”

Taylor shares the top 3 ways she’s been marketing and growing the business:

“I joined ASI and utilized the Internet Marketing Program to gain promotional products business, which was non-existent with the previous owners.
I’ve extended into other key product areas such as apparel, working with clients like local schools for different shirts they need for various events and functions.
I love getting out there and marketing. I feel it’s important to tell everyone what you do as you never know what they need or how you might be able to help them.”

As for what she loves most about being a business owner vs. having a job, Taylor says, “Of course, it’s the freedom! I love having control over my own destiny and making those important business decisions. I like having the flexibility to make those decisions based on my own ideas and values. I also find it valuable to empower my staff when I have a meeting or appointment, knowing that everything can still run smoothly when I am out marketing. Coming from the finance world, I want to give my staff what they need to be happy, so I treat them right and strive to give them reasons to stay.”

Taylor concludes, “I am happy every single day with my decision to buy this business and join Minuteman Press. I have no regrets. In fact, everything has gone very smoothly, more so than I thought it would when I first took that leap of faith. Overall, I am so pleased and I have to give credit to Todd and the team at MPIHQ for all they’ve done to help guide me along the way.”

Minuteman Press in Quincy is located at 40 Oval Road #1, Quincy, MA 02170. For more information, visit https://minuteman.com/us/locations/ma/quincy/ 

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