In February 2020, Dick Cassidy opened Image 212°, a full-service creative studio focused on visual communication solutions, and he couldn’t be happier to be his own boss. By Nancy E. Williams

In February 2020, Dick Cassidy opened Image 212°, a full-service creative studio focused on visual communication solutions, and he couldn’t be happier to be his own boss.

Cassidy spent 30 years working for large corporations and early-stage startups building brands and businesses. He had a wonderful experience and enjoyed a great career. However, after 2,700 nights in hotel rooms and 5 million miles in the air over 30 years, it was time to retire. Cassidy realized he was too young to stay at home, so he started exploring franchise ownership opportunities with a franchise consultant.

“One business that caught my eye was the sign and graphics business,” Cassidy says. “This was appealing because it gave me an opportunity to help other people build their brand and their business. I attended discovery days with five sign franchises and ultimately made the decision to join Signworld Business Partners. While Signworld is not a franchise, they do provide an infrastructure similar to a franchise, but the big difference was Signworld has no rules and no royalties. That was enough to ignite my passion to start my own business.”

Attending discovery days with multiple brands proved to be invaluable for Cassidy, and he highly recommends that others considering purchasing a franchise take advantage of these learning opportunities, which involve intensive discussions and time for questions about the business, processes, and expectations.

“By the time I finished attending all of those discovery days, I had a really good idea of the signage business,” he says. “I took what I learned and incorporated it into my business model. For instance, I decided to purchase certain equipment that was not required to start. This allowed me to be more competitive in the marketplace from the beginning.”

Cassidy’s decision clearly paid off, as Image 212° is one of the fastest growing sign companies in the U.S. – in only 10 months!

To learn more about Signworld, visit signworld.org.

– Nancy E. Williams