In 1995 46-year-old Kevin Olson was savoring a hot nacho appetizer at a Salt Lake City restaurant, and he wondered aloud why nacho snacks weren’t more easily available.

Some research showed that the U.S. snack-food industry was $15 billion a year. And Mexican food is particularly “hot,” with tortilla chips outselling potato chips in the Southwest and salsa sales outpacing ketchup nationwide.

But no national chain offered just Mexican snacks. Prompting Olson to see a market opening, believing, “If soft pretzels and cookies can stand on their own, why not nachos?”

Using some of his own money and $500,000 from confident friends, Olson assembled a team in 1996. For expert advice he bartered part ownership of the new company with a franchising expert and a local manufacturer/distributor.

The company is now owned by Corn Dog Factory (famous for corn dogs on a stick and their hand-squeezed, fresh lemonade).

Co-Venture Trades Make Excellent Business Sense!

Mail Boxes Etc. And Sandler Sales Institute Effort Reveals The Great Advantage Of Using One’s Assets.

Building and expanding your company’s wealth is done by using one’s assets (what you have) to get what you want…

A San Diego franchiser of business-service outlets, Mail Boxes Etc. opened their doors in 1980. In 1995 they busily focused their efforts on local marketing, after years of promoting the company with national advertising.

In an effort to attract new customers and build good-will, a barter arrangement was structured with Sandler Sales Institute, wherein Sandler supplied Mail Boxes with copies of a 226-page book on sales techniques, to give to potential clients.

It was a win-win trade for both parties. The Mail Boxes locations had a valuable gift for their clients, as they provided distribution, and greater awareness, for Sandler’s sales-training seminars.

In 2001 UPS bought Mail Boxes Etc when the franchise had 1,000 locations. Today the locations number 5,800 worldwide.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2007 at 3:26 pm and is filed under Best & Brightest Barter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.