Bud and Karen McCann
Allegra Marketing – Print – Mail | | 102 Waterman St., Providence
The pitch: Allegra Marketing – Print – Mail is a commercial printer that offers marketing collateral, such as mailing services and promotional items, as well as creating signs and banners.
Years in business: One
Employees: Six
Cost to obtain franchise: $200,000 required liquid capital, which includes franchise fee, training expenses, rent deposit, down payment on business, working capital, insurance, software and equipment, and other costs. Total investment for purchasing existing location $202,254-$558,027.
Before opening franchise: Bud McCann was the president for approximately 20 years of Gerber Scientific, a business in Tolland, Conn., that made equipment for the printing industry, before he purchased the Allegra location last year.
Reason for opening: The McCanns were “empty nesters,” plus Bud McCann had worked in the corporate world for more than three decades and the couple wanted to venture out on their own. As part of their operation, the McCanns established their FootPRINT Fund, in which they offer print and marketing services to nonprofit organizations. Recently, they awarded more than $2,000 in such services to eight nonprofits.
“The lesson I’ve learned is treating your customers well will get you rewarded back in kind. When you’re a small business and you’re doing business with other small businesses, they want to help you succeed and to treat them the same way that you want to be treated in return.”
“Almost 30 percent of our supply is for nonprofits. We’re going to add value to our relationships to the nonprofits by offering educational seminars … in order to help make their activities successful. We brought in experts to help them understand how to make their activities more successful.”
“[Rhode Island] is where I’m from. When my wife and I got married, we did the ‘corporate tour.’ We went to upstate New York, Pennsylvania, Chicago and, most recently, to Connecticut. After being away for almost 30 years, we decided to come back to family and friends.”
“We call [our foundation] the FootPRINT Fund because nonprofits leave a lasting footprint in their communities.”
