Starting a phone screen repair buisness - any advice?

Last_Minute

I started to casually fix cracked/damaged mobile phone screens a few months back for friends and family members. I would find out the make and model of the phone and order the screen online from the likes of eBay or at times aliexpress depending on how fast i needed it and the cost. I have also replaced various other parts such as charger ports etc.

Recently quite a few people have been inquiring about getting their phone fixed, usually asking me through Facebook. There is no service for mobile repairs in my town and the nearest store that does offer mobile repairs in very expensive (i have dealt with them myself over years, before i knew how much a screen actually costs). I am toying with the idea of starting a local service fixing mobile phones - focusing primarily on screen repairs. Some of the initial things to come to mind are:

I can only fix a certain range of phones at the moment - mostly IPhone's, Samsung's, HTCs and a few of the more popular brands.

Most people want their phone fixed that day or the next, so i would have to stock a wide range of screens and a substantial initial investment as the newer screen can be pricey.

What if i was to really mess up a repair - to the point of ruining a phone? What/how can i reimburse a customer?


I know nothing about starting a business so I'm probably jumping the gun here but even to my untrained eye i can see a big gap here in my area for this service. I have friends who have started business's over the past few years and are doing extremely well - all started advertising through Facebook. Even if there was a small bit of money to be made it would be helpful these days.

Does anyone have any advice? Is it a bad idea?

Tails142

Yeah I'm not sure how you can manage the risk, get them to sign a waiver as part of collecting their details outlining that your not an authorised repairer and that you are effectively voiding their warranty and cant be held liable for any additional damage??

Sooner or later you are going to get an unreasonable customer with unrealistic expectations?

syntheticjunk

Actually its a good idea. My friend has the same business and he's doing very well.
You have to invest some money. Samsung's screens are expensive enough, but iPhone's owners will be your main customers. Have some spare cash to buy few phones that you going to damage yourself.
Then slowly expand range of your services - tablets, ipods and so on. Accessories can be good business as well. For example screen protectors - it will cost you 1 dollar and people are happy to pay 10 euros.

daviecronin

Hello Op,

Sounds like a good idea. I tried to fix my phone screen myself a while back and made a balls of it!! An absolute balls. How big is your area? I think my town had a shop like that before but it wasn't their long. And the town I'm in isn't small. You could think of unlocking phones too that's a big thing. I wanted to get my phone unlocked and was in cork city and all the Chinese phone places were quoting €40 euro. I'd be worried too if I was to mess up someones phone but asking them to sign some form might be a good idea!
How much were you thinking of charging? Also just incase you didn't know you can sell broken lcds to certain companys online for a few extra quid.

Best of luck with it!

Last_Minute

Thanks for the replies.

The answer a few questions:

I would be worried about an unhappy customer or if i was to mess up a job as i have little experience dealing with the people in this manner and how to go about resolving a complaint in a proper manner. With family members/friends/people i know there is sometimes a little bit of leeway but i don't expect this with the general public/customers.

Unlocking mobiles is something i know very little about but from what i have experienced it is quite expensive. I am not sure why this is but it is something i plan on researching and looking into.

The town i live in isn't that big but there are a lot of surrounding smaller towns and villages so there is quite a large population - the only screen repair service is located quite a distance away hence why i can see an opportunity.

I have been charging about 15 euro for a screen replacement so far. This coupled with the price of the screen is an awful lot cheaper than some of the quotes people have been getting to repair it and i think at times i could charge more even - its all depends on how cheap i can get a suitable screen for as i have been trying to just kinda let people know I'm doing it if that makes sense.


One thing that i have trouble figuring out is where to actually get a cheap, reliable source for screens. The Chinese sites are usually cheapest but it takes 3 weeks for them to arrive if not more. Ebay sell screens from all around the world but the prices are usually abit higher and even then it can take a week or so depending on where they are coming from. All i can think of is stocking plenty of screens for the more well known phones and hoping they sell - that way i can get the repair done quickly and everyone's happy - or maybe trying to find a service similar to Amazon Prime which as far as i know has extremely fast shipping, this is something i really have to research also.


I could keep writing all day as i have so many questions and ideas but this is just a general view of what i have been thinking about. I also never knew that you could sell broken LCDs, thank you!

pedronomix

you are in small town with no competition which means you also have a rather small market opportunity. Try being different, procure a bunch of old phones and rent them to those whose phones you are fixing. Most people go crazy if they are off the air and this would bring business to you, take the time pressure to fix their own away and generate revenue. You would need to charge a decent deposit and get them to sign a consent that their phone becomes your property if they do not return and collect their own within say two weeks.

Graham

€15 per fix sounds very low (minimum wage for less than 2 hours), especially if you're planning to keep a stock of popular screens. How much would you have to spend on stock to cover the popular models? How often would you turn this stock over, you don't want all your cash tied up in spare screens. What happens when your stock becomes obsolete?

How do you plan on handling phones you can't fix, or phones you accidentally destroy during the attempted fix? One broken iPhone 5S could wipe out your potential profit for weeks/months.

Try to think of other ways to beat your competition, being the cheapest isn't the only way to sell your services. Ancillary services such as pedronomix suggested could be a fantastic way to increase your margins.

Last_Minute

Graham wrote: »

€15 per fix sounds very low (minimum wage for less than 2 hours), especially if you're planning to keep a stock of popular screens. How much would you have to spend on stock to cover the popular models? How often would you turn this stock over, you don't want all your cash tied up in spare screens. What happens when your stock becomes obsolete?

How do you plan on handling phones you can't fix, or phones you accidentally destroy during the attempted fix? One broken iPhone 5S could wipe out your potential profit for weeks/months.

Try to think of other ways to beat your competition, being the cheapest isn't the only way to sell your services. Ancillary services such as pedronomix suggested could be a fantastic way to increase your margins.

I have given thought to renting/loaning phones while the repair is being done as i understand how important phones are to people these days. I have a few spare phones as it is that i would happily give out on loan.

15 euro is very cheap, i agree. I could up the price and still be a lot cheaper then the competition. I only charged 15 as i wanted to make people happy with the price and get my name out there.

The stocking of screens is the hard part. I really need to try and get them as cheap as possible bulk buy maybe? In regards to not being able/breaking a customers phone - i am aware this could easily happen and i would have to replace the phone with a new one - and i am aware of how much some of the newer phones cost! As for the phones i cannot fix, maybe a 'no fix no fee' promise would be OK?

Just to elaborate, i would not need this to be my main source of income/job. As a side business even generating a small income is the idea i have in my head. A little something on the side as they say.

Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all.

Axwell

Is there a computer repair shop in your area? Maybe see if its an additional service they want to offer. They would already have guideline in place as regards what happens if they cant repair someones laptop or they damage it, its not collected etc. It might be an easier step to partner up with someone already up and running if you are unsure about setting up yourself.

Graham

Last_Minute wrote: »

i would not need this to be my main source of income/job. As a side business even generating a small income is the idea i have in my head. A little something on the side as they say.

Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all.

Nothing wrong with starting small and you appear to have your head screwed on enough to realise that this isn't going to be the direct path to ultimate wealth.

As for your pricing, have you checked out the competition, local and national. What are they charging, can you differentiate some other way (not price)? Collection and delivery maybe, while you wait repairs, same day/24 hour turnaround?

mrty

I don't know much about it myself, but I would say go for man if you've spotted a gap in the market then you're very lucky. I don't know what would happen if you wrecked someone phone, obviously you'd have to replace it but surely there's some kind of insurance for that. Any go for it, all the best I really hope it works out for you.

Last_Minute

Graham wrote: »

Nothing wrong with starting small and you appear to have your head screwed on enough to realise that this isn't going to be the direct path to ultimate wealth.

As for your pricing, have you checked out the competition, local and national. What are they charging, can you differentiate some other way (not price)? Collection and delivery maybe, while you wait repairs, same day/24 hour turnaround?

Yes i have given thought to these things:

I could collect and deliver within the local area, that would be no problem.

While you wait repairs - if i had the screens in stock, the time to do it and the repair itself didn't take to long then i could do this, although i would be working from home and if i could collect and deliver this could be enough?

As for pricing, i have looked online and have also got feedback of what the other shops in other towns charge and i could do it cheaper i reckon especially if i had a good source of screens - something i really have to look into.

Another thing that i have been thinking about is how often new models/phones come out these days, you blink and the IPhone 12 is out! I would have to spend time and maybe money researching how to repair these screens etc so there's another thing. There is so much to think about.

Thank you for advice!

Graham

Last_Minute wrote: »

and i could do it cheaper i reckon

You're obsessed with doing it cheaper. Stop it. :mad:



Seriously, be better/faster/easier/more convenient, not cheaper.

Last_Minute

Graham wrote: »

You're obsessed with doing it cheaper. Stop it. :mad:



Seriously, be better/faster/easier/more convenient, not cheaper.

Haha OK i apoligise!

I admit i know very little in the way of business. I have a lot to learn, i know.

I understand your point and can see what you mean. I'm trying to view it from my perspective - what would happen if my screen broke, what would i look for? If there was a service that was reasonably priced, fast and efficient that collected/delivered the phone then it would grab my interest.

daviecronin

Last_Minute wrote: »

Haha OK i apoligise!

I admit i know very little in the way of business. I have a lot to learn, i know.

I understand your point and can see what you mean. I'm trying to view it from my perspective - what would happen if my screen broke, what would i look for? If there was a service that was reasonably priced, fast and efficient that collected/delivered the phone then it would grab my interest.

Maybe it might be a good idea to just do it online? from home. I mean setting up a shop can be a massive outlay and a big loss. Maybe have a nice website and offer to collect in the area? As others said 15 is worringly cheap hahah. But the idea of setting up with an already established computer place is good. You could have a little desk on the side. Whatever you think is best go for it! You'll never know till you never try!

MRTULES

I talked to a guy who is doing this but charges way more. One of the reasons for his high price is the fact that every now and then he has to fork out a few hundred quid to replace a phone he just broke. Also he stopped doing a repair while you wait service as people felt ripped off if he fixed their phone in 20 mins and then charged 100 euro. Some were quiet happy to pay the 100 when it was a collect next day thing. Obviously they felt he was up till all hours fixing their phone but really it was still just taking 20 mins.
One problem is that its not scalable. But as a few quid and possible full time well paid job eventually, it's defo worth giving it a shot.
Just order one or two of the most popular screens for a very low out lay. Then replace them as they are sold. All you need is one screen in stock at a time, technically anyway.

Last_Minute

MRTULES wrote: »

I talked to a guy who is doing this but charges way more. One of the reasons for his high price is the fact that every now and then he has to fork out a few hundred quid to replace a phone he just broke. Also he stopped doing a repair while you wait service as people felt ripped off if he fixed their phone in 20 mins and then charged 100 euro. Some were quiet happy to pay the 100 when it was a collect next day thing. Obviously they felt he was up till all hours fixing their phone but really it was still just taking 20 mins.
One problem is that its not scalable. But as a few quid and possible full time well paid job eventually, it's defo worth giving it a shot.
Just order one or two of the most popular screens for a very low out lay. Then replace them as they are sold. All you need is one screen in stock at a time, technically anyway.

Good point regarding the 'fix while you wait' approach, i didn't think about that.

Yeah if i could just make a few pound every week/month it would still be worth it for me and i could take it from there if things were to take off. I don't have high hopes but even an extra 200-300 a month would be something, right?

Seems like all i have to do now is get some sort of plan in place and get on with it ie. the hard part!

Thank you i appreciate it.