Build a Subscription Business Scanning People's Mail

Many people across the country prefer to have their US Mail scanned, opened, and serviced, by a third party operator. Guest, Helmy El-Mangoury, shares about the operator opportunity, as well as his company, PostScan Mail, that offers a turn key solution with minimal upfront investment.

Episode Highlights:

04:08 It's very simple, actually. To get qualified, all you have to do is go to the post office and you fill out a special form called the 1583 a form, and that will authorize you to become a commercial mail receiving agency or CMRA.

05:24 Anyone can do this. As long as you've got the address and you've got the CMRA approval from the post office, you can do it. And of course, there's certain equipment that's required.

10:32 We will do all the marketing for you. We'll list you on the Post Scan Mail website and we'll get the customers to sign up online for your mailing address.

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Helmy El-Mangoury (00:00):
One reason that I'm sure you've heard of is Porch Piracy. You know, where you get a package delivered to your home and then someone steals it off your porch. So by getting a Post Scan Mail address, you're receiving your package at a business that's secure, and then you can go in there at any time to pick up your package.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome to the Side Hustle Lounge. If you're looking for flexible ways to earn income, grow your mindset and live the lifestyle you've always dreamed of, you're in the right place. So lower the lights, grab your favorite beverage and join your host, founder of notarycoach.com and Amazon bestselling author of Sign And Thrive, how to make six figures as a mobile notary and loan signing agent, Bill Soroka.

Bill Soroka (00:52):
Cheers and welcome back to my guest, Helmy El-Mangoury. You might remember him. He is the CEO of Certifix Live Scan. He is also president and CEO of Post Scan Mail. Helmy that's what we're going to be talking about today. Welcome back.

Helmy El-Mangoury (01:11):
It's good to be back.

Bill Soroka (01:12):
Yeah. Love having you here. Thank you for sharing so much about the fingerprinting business. Now, how did that roll into this Post Scan Mail business?

Helmy El-Mangoury (01:23):
So with the fingerprinting business, we worked with a lot of mail centers and we were like, how can we add on to that? You know, how can we generate, how can we create another revenue add on? So we saw physical mailboxes and companies were starting to digitize, you know, mailbox services. So we thought, why not jump on that bandwagon? And that's how we created Post Scan Mail.

Bill Soroka (01:48):
Nice. So it adds more revenue for you as a company, but then also for your customers, it sounds like.

Helmy El-Mangoury (01:54):
It's exactly. Yup.

Bill Soroka (01:56):
So what is, what is, what exactly does this mean? What is Post Scan Mail? What do you do?

Helmy El-Mangoury (02:02):
So we basically scan people's mail, you know, so instead of receiving their mail at like a physical mailbox, or it just sits there, we actually scan the outside of the letter and we give it to them online.

Bill Soroka (02:17):
And then,

Helmy El-Mangoury (02:18):
Yeah, and it's a lot of people have heard about a USP, a service called informed delivery. It's a similar to informed delivery, except the differences with Post Scan Mail. We're giving you an actual address that you can use for your business. And you can then use that address to receive your mail. We scan it and then you could do different operations, like open and scan the letter forward it, recycle, shred, deposit a check.

Bill Soroka (02:49):
I love that. So you can actually, me as the consumer, I can have you open my mail, scan it over. So I don't have to go make a trip to a mailbox if it's not important, you guys can scan it in and then I can give you further direction?

Helmy El-Mangoury (03:04):
Exactly. Yeah. So it's it's a very popular that we have the mobile app, so you can access it through your phone, through your tablet. So you don't even need to have a physical office. You can be working remotely and you can still receive your postal mail.

Bill Soroka (03:20):
Wow. How does it, is there like a central operating center or how does it work?

Helmy El-Mangoury (03:27):
Yeah, there's well each, we have a partner program where people can sign up to be an operating center where they can give their mailing address for customers to use. So these would be like virtual mailbox customers.

Bill Soroka (03:43):
Got it. So is, is that the, the income opportunity that you provide for people, is becoming an operating operation center?

Helmy El-Mangoury (03:53):
Exactly. Becoming an operating center receiving mail, scanning it, and then getting a monthly subscription fee from each of these virtual mailbox customers for handling their mail.

Bill Soroka (04:04):
What's the requirements to be a operating center.

Helmy El-Mangoury (04:08):
It's very simple, actually. All you have to do is go to the post office and you fill out a special form called the 1583 a form, and that will authorize you to become a commercial mail receiving agency or CMRA.

Bill Soroka (04:21):
That's it?

New Speaker (04:22):
That's it. You just, you just fill out the form at the post office. And as long as you've got a commercial mailing address you could become a CMRA.

Bill Soroka (04:31):
And is there any other requirements or suggestions for the, the actual facility that you have to succeed at this?

Helmy El-Mangoury (04:39):
Well, you know, some people will try to do it out of like a residential address and that may not look very good for the clients. So it's best to have a commercial office address. You know, something in a high, high image building is like the ideal scenario.

Bill Soroka (04:54):
Like an office building or a high rise or something like that. Right?

Helmy El-Mangoury (04:58):
Exactly. Or if you don't have that, even, even just the low rise, you know, single story office building would do.

Bill Soroka (05:05):
How much staffing is required for this?

Helmy El-Mangoury (05:09):
You could do it as a single operator, but we prefer that you have at least two people. So you kind of have a backup just in case you're not in. With the mail everything is very time sensitive. So you have to scan it on time.

Bill Soroka (05:22):
Can anybody do this Helmy?

Helmy El-Mangoury (05:24):
Yeah, pretty much. Anyone can do this as long as you've got the address, you've got the CMRA approval from the post office, you can do it. There's certain equipment that's required. Like you should definitely have like a phone or a tablet, so you could scan the mail. A document scanner would be great a shredder, so you could shred the mail, you know filing cabinets. So you could store the mail a printer. So you could print out shipping labels if someone wants to mail something out, that type of thing.

Bill Soroka (05:57):
Hmm. And then you mentioned also that they can deposit checks. How does that work?

Helmy El-Mangoury (06:03):
So the, the check deposit feature is, is a work in progress, but essentially we would electronically deposit the check into the customer's bank account using that scan that they're taking off the check.

Bill Soroka (06:18):
Incredible. So do you offer like a turnkey solution for this? So somebody can say, all right, this sounds great to me. I think I can do this. I already have a, an office location anyway, whether it's for a notary fingerprinting, D & V type work, those types of things. Do you offer just a full turnkey solution to get this business going?

Helmy El-Mangoury (06:45):
Exactly. Yeah. We will provide you with the software and the training. So we train you, we make sure you know, how to use the system. So, the front end of Post Scan Mail is called the Mailbox that's used by the customer, and the backend is called the Post Scan Mail Operator. So you're given access to the post-scan male operator system where you can manage the whole business using that.

Bill Soroka (07:07):
What kind of initial startup are people looking at as far as investment goes?

Helmy El-Mangoury (07:14):
So unlike the live scan fingerprinting, there's no capital investment here, aside from your basic, you know, printer, scanner, you know, phone tablet there's no other startup costs.

Bill Soroka (07:25):
Is there an investment into Post Scan Mail?

Helmy El-Mangoury (07:29):
No. The, what we do is we do a software license fee, so we do kind of like a revenue share.

Bill Soroka (07:35):
Oh, great.

Helmy El-Mangoury (07:36):
And so that's kind of how it works. As long as you're, you know, receiving the mail, scanning it, we'll split the revenues that are being generated from the service.

Bill Soroka (07:44):
And that service is a subscription model. I think I heard you say, right?

Helmy El-Mangoury (07:48):
Yeah. So the, the Post Scan Mail customers will spend, you know, the plans start as low as $15 a month, and then it goes up from there.

Bill Soroka (07:57):
That sounds really interesting. I love that you get my wheels turning every time my wheels are still spinning from our last conversation about fingerprinting. This is kind of exciting. How long have you been doing this?

Helmy El-Mangoury (08:09):
So I've been doing a Post Scan Mail since 2012. I started it in our office in Anaheim, and at the time I just started with the single location in Anaheim and it got popular, but one of the disadvantages of having a single location is, you know, people from New York and Washington and Florida want an address in their own state. So that's when we started the partner program, we said, well, we need more addresses. And you know, and that's how we started it. And once we did that, the business really took off because we had addresses in almost all 50 states.

Bill Soroka (08:47):
And do you have lots of room for more operators?

Helmy El-Mangoury (08:50):
Yeah, because with Post Scan Mail there's a feature called local pickup where the customers can actually come in and pick up their packages and their, their physical mail which is really great in the age of Amazon where everybody's doing their online shopping. And you know, people will use that local pickup feature for a variety of reasons. But one reason that I'm sure you've heard of is Porch Piracy, you know, where you get a package delivered to your home and then someone steals it off your porch. So by getting a Post Scan Mail address, you're receiving your package at a business that's secure, and then you can go in there at any time to pick up your package.

Bill Soroka (09:30):
I can see where that would be also the other major benefit for actually using a commercial address versus your home, because you don't want people coming to your home to pick up their mail or packages.

Helmy El-Mangoury (09:41):
Exactly.

Bill Soroka (09:42):
Yeah. A couple of questions for you on this; from your, based on your experience, it being running this thing since 2012, who's the ideal customer for a business or an ad-on business like this?

Helmy El-Mangoury (09:57):
So ideally it's it's someone that's already in the business of mailbox rental. So you'll see a lot of like local mail centers that started to offer this. But we've also seen, you know, co-working spaces, executive office suites offer the service and join the network. But we've also seen certain private operators that just, you know, rent an office or they have an existing office and they added on to some other service that they're already providing.

Bill Soroka (10:26):
Hmm. How do you market and grow a business like this?

Helmy El-Mangoury (10:32):
So we do all the, all the marketing for you. So we'll list you on the Post Scan Mail website and we'll get the customers to sign up online for your mailing address.

Bill Soroka (10:44):
And that sounds like a really good opportunity. Is there, is there a criteria for like the best location to be in? Is it definitely metropolitan areas? Are there opportunities in rural? How does it, what do you find works best?

Helmy El-Mangoury (11:04):
Metropolitan areas are definitely going to be busier because you have more people there. You have more, you have a larger pool of customers that may want to use the service. Where if you're out in some smaller city, you may not get as many signups.

Bill Soroka (11:19):
Do you see this again, based on just your experience, is this something somebody can do full time or is this truly a more of an add-on type business or a side hustle?

Helmy El-Mangoury (11:32):
It's a little bit of both. I mean, if you're in a smaller city, it's definitely a side hustle. I think if you're in a larger city it could become full-time based on the number of customers that are signing up.

Bill Soroka (11:46):
Is there a sweet spot on the number of customers that need to sign up?

Helmy El-Mangoury (11:52):
I mean, if you, if you're doing it as something on the side it doesn't, you know, you know, 50, 60 customers a month is great. I mean, if you're averaging, if you're averaging, you know, $10, $15 per customer, that's some extra revenue that you could add on to your business. And keep in mind that with Post Scan Mail, it's not just the $15 that you're charging them. You're also charging them for mail storage, packet, storage, local pickup fees. You're charging them to open and scan the letters, you know, so documents scanning, you're charging them for document shredding services. So there's all these add on services that add on to the monthly revenue that you're generating from each customer.

Bill Soroka (12:34):
That's fantastic. Now, I think I asked this of you with the fingerprint business too, but do you have, is there any client of yours and operating center that really stands out as doing something for the exceptional that you can share with us?

Helmy El-Mangoury (12:50):
I think, I think what's exceptional to me is being able to process all their requests within 24 hours. If, if you can do that and if your scan quality is good and if you're, you know, friendly with the customers, if you're contacting them and following up with them, seeing if they need anything, I th, that to me is exceptional. And that's what we're looking for.

Bill Soroka (13:12):
Good old fashioned customer service.

Helmy El-Mangoury (13:15):
Yes. And, and one of the things that you might actually find interesting is that in order for Post Scan Mail customers to fully activate their account, they have to fill out a USPS form 1583, which has to be notarized.

Bill Soroka (13:31):
Oh yeah. Interesting. 1583, huh?

Helmy El-Mangoury (13:35):
Yeah. So not to be confused with the 1583A form, just the regular 1583 form. All customers have to fill that out to validate their identity and they have to get it notarized.

Bill Soroka (13:47):
Oh. Great to know. Yeah. I'm sure my audience love hearing that guys. And then a follow up question too; for people who might be listening and kind of intrigued by something like this, can we also, would you say there's a certain type of person or situation that is not a good fit for a business like this?

Helmy El-Mangoury (14:10):
If you're sharing an office with someone else, or if you don't have like a, a good solid landlord, you know, where your business might move? That to us is not ideal because, you know, whenever the address changes, that's not fun for anyone because now you've got, you know, 50 or 60 customers that have to also go through that change of address process, which is a big headache. So you really have to have a good, solid mailing address that you don't see changing for a long time.

Bill Soroka (14:41):
It never even occurred to me. So thank you for sharing that. Then that also brings up another question I have about security. Is there any particular security requirements for storing that mail or even criminal background checks from the operators who are scanning and even possibly opening the mail?

Helmy El-Mangoury (15:00):
So when our customers sign up, they agree to the Post Scan Mail terms and conditions. And also our operators are agreeing to our license agreement, which is tied into those terms and conditions and our privacy policy. So they really have to, you know, read everything that's in there so that they make sure that they're following all our rules and regulations.

Bill Soroka (15:21):
Yeah. Excellent. Excellent. Tell me, this sounds a very exciting, and I can see where it'd be a great opportunity for people, especially those who have the commercial office. Is there anything else that you'd like to share with us about this opportunity today?

Helmy El-Mangoury (15:37):
Yes, definitely. So, Post Scan Mail we have thousands of customers signing up and we're also looking for no, notaries that can help us to help those customers to notarize their 1583 forms. So that's actually something that we're working on. We're going to be using an online notary platform to help, to engage with a lot of our customers that are signing up. And we're looking for you know, a group of notaries that can help to notarize those documents for us.

Bill Soroka (16:08):
How how's that going to work? Do you need notaries to contact you? Do you have a signup form? Are you creating a directory or working with a current one?

Helmy El-Mangoury (16:18):
Right now they'll just have to contact Post Scan Mail. And we, we will provide them with a list of Post Scan Mail customers that need to come notarize their 1583 form.

Bill Soroka (16:31):
That's an awesome opportunity. Yeah.

Helmy El-Mangoury (16:34):
And then, but keep in mind that you'd have to be in one of those states that allows online notarization. So it's like Texas, Virginia, Florida, Minnesota. So there's certain states that allow online notaries to operate over webcam.

Bill Soroka (16:50):
So. Excellent. Okay. You're looking for a remote online notary.

Helmy El-Mangoury (16:54):
Yes.

New Speaker (16:55):
All right. To service your customers in all 50 states.

Helmy El-Mangoury (17:01):
Exactly. Yep.

Bill Soroka (17:02):
Yeah. Yeah, this remote online notarization thing has really taken off. I think there's, I think we're up to 26 states that now allow it. So that's tremendous opportunity for the notaries that are listening in right now.

Helmy El-Mangoury (17:14):
Yes. Definitely.

Bill Soroka (17:15):
Awesome. Helmy, thank you so much. I, I, again, I, I love these conversations because you get my wheels turn and then you make me really think about what I can do with these businesses. Thank you so much for joining us here again today.

Helmy El-Mangoury (17:30):
My pleasure. Thank you, Bill.

Bill Soroka (17:32):
And if you're listening and you're interested in learning more about Post Scan Mail or Certifix Live Scan, both of which are headed by Helmy El-Mangoury here, please visit www.sidehustlelounge.com/VIP. Become a VIP room member. It's completely free. You'll have access to the links over to Helmy's websites for Post Scan Mail, and you can learn more about this and the notarization opportunity as well.

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--- End of Transcription ---

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