Despite Sales Awards, Printing Franchisee Opens Second Business, Plans Move

Twenty years since Mizerak signed a contract agreement to run an Allegra Print & Imaging franchise in Dulles, he is opting not to renew when his contract expires this year. Instead, the Purcellville resident is going out on his own with, Unity Business Solutions, a similar business he launched in January and plans to move to Leesburg in September.

When Mizerak signed the dotted line with Allegra, he said he “didn’t have any experience and normally a franchise gives you backing and cushioning. Franchises normally are successful when a lot [of startups] fail.”

Within about five years of running the franchise, Mizerak said he decided “you don’t need it anymore.” A franchise termination fee worth about $75,000 kept him with Michigan-based Allegra. While being a franchisee served him well during his first two years of business, in hindsight, Mizerak said, he probably would not have gone the franchise route because “it’s hard to be entrepreneurial because you have to stay focused on what the franchise dictates. I didn’t particularly care for that.”

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