Welcome to Money Talks, a series in which we interview people about their relationship with money, their relationship with each other, and how those relationships inform one another.
Money Talks: The mother-daughter duo who won’t let their franchise fail
These small-town biz owners are determined to stay connected to their customers.
Paige Vickers/Vox; Getty Images
Nicole Dieker Finley is a personal finance expert who’s been writing about money for over a decade. Her work has appeared in Bankrate, Lifehacker, Morning Brew, and Dwell. She answers reader questions for Vox’s On the Money column.
Jamie Parker is 45 and has owned a Cartridge World franchise in Christiansburg, Virginia, for 10 years. Ieshia Ahmed, her daughter, is 25 and describes herself as her “mother’s sidekick.” Together, the two of them have turned a franchise into a family business and are actively working to maintain in-person customer relationships in an increasingly online world.
Cartridge World, which provides office printing systems to small businesses and individuals, has approximately 100 franchises and makes over $20 million in sales.
The following conversation has been lightly condensed and edited.
Jamie: When I was about 25, maybe 27, my ex-husband and I were working at a chain restaurant called Country Cookin’. That’s when we started researching franchises. We thought about Chick-fil-A for a while, but we didn’t like restaurant work. We wanted something that we could do on our own, with minimal employees.
We opened our first Cartridge World in 2005. No one was doing cartridges or anything like that — no one had even heard of a refill cartridge at that time. I built that store from zero to 100 percent in the first year. Got it off the ground. We started with inkjets and lasers, got the bigger businesses — Roanoke County public schools and that type of thing.
We really chose Cartridge World because of the minimum staff. We liked the idea that we could run it by ourselves. With a restaurant, you need a minimum of 15 employees. We wanted something that we could do on our own, that we could grow and that would be successful.
Ieshia: It became the family business. All of the teachers at my school who had toners or cartridges that needed to be recycled would put them into a recycle box, and I would carry the box onto the school bus and take it home to Mom and Dad.
I’ve been in the business since I was 5 years old. Did I understand the mechanics behind it? Definitely not — but I remember carrying toners and cartridges that teachers wanted to recycle.
Right now I’m in school for law, and that’s my passion. That said, I took a hiatus during the pandemic. Covid ruined a lot of things, and going to college and trying to learn online — and paying for it! — didn’t make sense to me, so I stopped. My brother is autistic and nonverbal, and my mom needed to be home to help my brother throughout the summer. It was time for me to step in. Mom could help Bubby, and Sissy could work at Cartridge World.
If something ever happened and my mom needed to be at home full-time with my brother, she could be — because I know the material, and I know what I’m doing. I would never allow our family business to fail.
Jamie: You can tell which one of us is more extroverted and which one of us is more introverted. I’m more behind-the-scenes, I take orders, drop-ship, pay the bills, that type of thing. Ieshia is more up-front, with the customers. She’s really the face of the business. She has a beautiful face!
Ieshia: I’ve done pageants, and I’ve learned so much from them. I had no idea that I was going to win Miss Commonwealth Outstanding Teen — my family was so surprised that they dropped the camera, and you don’t actually see me getting crowned — but it made me who I am today. I was thrown into a chaotic environment, and my option was to thrive. I was doing appearances every single day, and I had to go out there and socialize. I had to wear my crown. I had to wear it up high and never let it tilt, and it’s been that way for my entire life.
“I know the material, and I know what I’m doing. I would never allow our family business to fail.”
When our customers come in through the door, they see us. They connect with us. We listen to them. If they’re having a bad day, and they just need a 63XL HP cartridge, they’re going to get it — but they’re also going to tell me what’s going on in their lives. They’re going to get human connection. That’s what you can’t get anywhere else. We’re not just selling cartridges, we’re selling a service. We’re part of the community.
Jamie: We were in Roanoke when I opened my first store with my ex-husband. Note the ex.
Ieshia: They got divorced!
Jamie: I left Cartridge World for about 10 years [during which she worked for Country Cookin’ and started a catering business] and then I dusted myself off and opened my own Cartridge World in Christiansburg.
Ieshia: The definition of girlboss. Literally.
Jamie: The Roanoke location closed in November, but I’m thriving. It’s difficult to get people from Roanoke in the Christiansburg store because they think, “Oh, I have to drive 45 minutes,” but I can drop-ship them cartridges online.
Ieshia: We don’t want to be an online-only business because our customers wouldn’t see us anymore. That’s also why we came up with things like Wiggle Wednesdays. Halfway through the week, we’re playing music at the store and it’s another way to connect. I have footage of customers, people with dogs, couples, everyone dancing to the music we put on, so they can get 10 percent off their order!
We always have business cards on us. I don’t care if I’m in Roanoke and I’m out to dinner — if I hear someone say they’re a business owner, I’m going to give them my business card. You never know where it’s going to go.
Jamie: I have my territory, but I can sell to anyone. I have a lot of customers in North Carolina, and I just picked up a customer in Washington state.
Cartridge World has told us multiple times that we should just go online, but that’s not how I choose to do things. I’d rather open my store and come here every day. I do it for my customers. My customers are my everything. I provide a service that’s more than ink and toner, if that makes sense at all.
Ieshia: Until you get here, you don’t understand how small our town is. For us to go online, we’d go out-of-sight, out-of-mind. We would drown.
Jamie: I’ve thought about starting my own business, and we have the kind of following now so that I probably could, but I truly believe in the Cartridge World name. I really do. I could very well go out and do my own thing, but I feel like Cartridge World is going to be much bigger than it is today, very soon.
Ieshia: We’re making a profit — if we weren’t, we wouldn’t be doing this, and I wouldn’t be on payroll — but I still need to save money for college. So I got a second job. I’m in management in the hospitality business, but I’m also working here, too. In today’s society, it’s not realistic to have just one job.
I’ve promised my mom that if she gets to the point that she can’t run it anymore — it’s a family business, and it’s been in my life since I was 5 years old — I’m not going to just let it go away. If something happens, and she can’t do it any more, I will put my law career goals on hold. I have my legal assistant, and I have my paralegal, and even if I’ve gotten my esquire, I will put it on pause and build up the business until I can step away and have other people work here. That’s always been my plan. My brother is going to need a source of income, so keeping the family business going is very important to me.
