MBI International, Inc.: Solving Problems

Joe LoPresti calls himself a problem solver. The owner of Ipswich, Massachusetts-based MBI International, Inc., formerly Multi Brands Inc., has made his business buying and selling old and hard-to-find imaging supplies for 15 years.

Once the managing director of Multi Brands Inc., LoPresti purchased the company after the previous owner decided to retire last year. The name was changed and he effectively took over on July 1, 2015.

“Multi Brand Inc. was started in 1995,” explains LoPresti. “I joined the company in May of 2001. For 14 years I was pretty much the sole person responsible for sales and managing the business.”

Joe LoPresti, President

Joe LoPresti, President

LoPresti’s experience did not begin at Multi Brands however. He has been in the imaging supplies business since 1989, spending much of the 90s working for a large distributor, buying and selling the popular items of the day. At that time most of his customers were the big box retailers and wholesale distributors like Staples and Daisytek. Joining Multi Brands was his introduction to the business model that involved buying and reselling new and unused imaging supplies.

“It was interesting,” recalls LoPresti. “For much of the 2000s I was selling the same items that I was originally selling in the 90s because we were buying products that at that point were 10-15 years old.”

DSC03163Today MBI continues to buy and sell old and difficult-to-find items. Their 26,000 sq. ft. warehouse contains a large inventory of products that spans four decades of imaging supplies history. These include mostly supplies for fax machines, inkjet printers and laser printers. But they also carry MICR supplies and supplies for micrographic printers and other products.

“We sell a supply for any kind of device that creates an image and uses any type of ink,” says LoPresti. “Even ribbons. A lot of people call us for ribbons because, as I say, we’re a problem solver.”

OEM product accounts for the bulk of MBI’s business, but LoPresti says they added compatibles to meet customer requests. He points out that they have a relationship with a compatibles manufacturer and offer a full line of compatible toner.

“It’s not where we make our money, but it’s an added value product and we have a lot of customers who buy that line from us,” he says.

MBI’s customers include dealers, print shops, stationers, distributors, and wholesalers, but their primary customers are companies whose lease with the copier dealership has lapsed and who now need to source supplies on their own. Typically, these customers are more economically-minded because they’ve grown accustomed to a managed print services program. He cites technicians as well because they are placing supplies into machines and the condition of the box isn’t of critical importance to them. LoPresti has also leveraged the global relationships he developed from his distribution days and today they sell many items outside the United States.

For MBI, the ideal customer is somebody they can both sell to and buy from. Like most businesses they prefer to have many smaller customers, and LoPresti notes that in their case that’s really the only option because they typically don’t stock too many items anyway.

“If you need 10 of something I’m probably not your guy,” he cautions. “But if you need two or three you’re not going to find a better price.”

Market Approach

The market for imaging consumables has undergone considerable change in the last 10 years. For a niche transactional business like MBI, online competition presents the greatest challenge. Companies like Amazon and eBay represent the new “street price” and LoPresti admits that it is increasingly difficult to compete against it.

“My customers are very price conscious,” he says. “I could have 400 or a 1000 pieces of products online and I could be competing with Dave’s garage who found something in a storage locker. They don’t care what they sell it for. But that’s my competition. A customer will call me and say, ‘I see it online and it’s being sold for $20.’”

LoPresti cites his extensive product knowledge and the emphasis he places on customer satisfaction as a differentiating factor in retaining and growing business. He says that he doesn’t consider himself a salesman.

“My background is in customer service,” he states. “I want to help people. There are other companies that are certainly bigger in revenue and have more employees, but I don’t think any of them can offer the level of expertise that we can.”

LoPresti says that he will talk himself out of a sale if he doesn’t think the product is right for the customer.

Adapting to Ownership

Jeff Paru, Vice President

Jeff Paru, Vice President

For LoPresti, most of the challenges he has faced since transitioning to ownership have been completely unrelated to growing the business. In the past he was the primary commercial operator for the company, but new administrative responsibilities diverted his attention to other matters. To address this and refocus on growth, he brought in Jeff Paru to serve as Vice President. He has known Paru for over 30 years and says that he can trust him to fill the role.

“I’ve baptized him in fire,” he says. “I needed the time to call the customers and have the conversations that created the bonds.”

Service and Sales

LoPresti is now placing an even greater emphasis on increasing the company’s visibility, growing sales and expanding the purchasing end. He says that today they’re buying from a wide selection of sources, including dealers, corporate 500 companies, learning institutions and hospitals.

DSC03156Increasing sales will be accomplished by doing what they do best. For MBI, sales growth is highly dependent on customer service. LoPresti says that because they don’t manufacture or provide a service other than customer service, referrals are an important part of their pipeline. They have a dedicated group of buyers who sell to them and after every deal they ask for a reference.

“We ask if we did a good job and took care of a problem,” explains LoPresti. “If so, we ask if they know somebody else in the business. Most often, people have friends or relations in the business and they give us referrals.”

He also makes sure he maintains contact with all of his customers. LoPresti has a list of over 2000 names that he emails weekly. He says that some of the people call only once a year or even once every couple of years and that’s fine with him.

“As long as they know they have a relationship with me and they can call me whenever they need to,” he says.

To underscore the importance of building relationships, LoPresti recounts a story of a professor in Puerto Rico who contacted them looking for masters for a digital duplicator. The day they were preparing to ship the professor called and said he had to cancel the order. The school board had informed him that there was no money for it.

“I made a couple phone calls and talked to a couple of my suppliers and found a supplier who had a handful of partially used rolls of masters,” he recalls. “We took them and donated them to the school. We shipped it on our dime and it got down to Puerto Rico in three days. They were extraordinarily happy. As a matter of fact they just sent me a photo of the professor and his class down in Puerto Rico. They are not a big customer but it made us feel like we did the right thing at the right time.”

As for long term plans, LoPresti says he wants to maintain the current company size, but also to seek out additional product categories to offer.

“If I can continue to run this business by offering a good selection of products at fair, competitive prices, then I’ll consider it a success,” he says.

About the Author
Todd Turner is a contributing editor of ENX magazine. Todd has a background in marketing and a nearly 20-year history in the imaging industry. He can be reached at todd@enxmag.com