With the increasing number of smartphones, the industry of cell phone repair shows a lot of promise and a good future. Obviously, as a businessman in this field, you stand to gain more than a mobile phone repair technician would. But, for people with less financial resources, it isn’t easy to start your own mobile phone repair center from scratch. The easiest way out is to start small, right in your house. In this post, we will tell you how to start a cell phone repair business from your home.
Before you open any business, it is important to consider the pros and cons. This will help you decide if you want to start your cell phone repair business at home or you want to start with a full-fledged service center directly. It is always better to take smaller risks rather than taking big leaps and at the same time be more successful in cell phone repair business.
Before proceeding further, lets go through the pros and cons of starting a cell phone repair business from home.
Advantages and disadvantages of running the business from your home
Advantages
1. Lower investment
For a full-fledged service center, you will need a lot more capital for furniture, electricity, shop lease, staff, etc. When you are working from home, you either already have these facilities or you don’t need them. Thus, you will be cutting down on expenditure to a great extent.
2. You are your own boss
When you start your business at home, you can choose flexible working hours, unlike a conventional store. If you are a nocturnal person, you can choose to work at night when you feel, and you don’t need to be responsible for anyone.
For more advantages of home based business, you should also read top 10 advantages of a home based business.
Disadvantages
1. Lower productivity
Working from your own home leads to a lot of distractions. Moreover, the atmosphere is a much more relaxed one which results in you working much less than you should actually. In business, a slower rate of work means you get to earn less as well.
2. Fewer customers
In your home, the number of technicians, space, and resources available will be limited. Your shop will also be tougher for customers to access when compared to a store on the road. This results in fewer number of customers that you would have originally preferred.
After going through the above pros and cons you need to decide which of them are more important to you. We would suggest that you can also start with a home based business before expanding into a complete service center if that is what you think may work for you. It helps you get a good sense and working experience which will result in fewer mistakes when you choose to go big.
If you have convinced yourself to start off on this path of home-based cell phone repair business, then read on to find out how to start your cell phone repair business from home.
How to start your cell phone repair business from home
1. Learn the business
The first step is to learn about mobile phone repair. You can learn cell phone repair at any technical institute also called cell phone repair school.
Since this business will only involve you doing most of the work, in the beginning, you should go to a training institute that covers not only technical education but teaches you everything about managing the mobile repair business as well. Technical institutes like Prizm institute can help you to learn cell phone repair, get certified and run this business from your home.
Additionally, you should visit these websites to learn mobile phone repair online for free!
We also recommend everyone entering this field to gain some hands on experience after completing the training to get more experience, expertise and confidence.
2. Make a workstation
The art of repairing smartphones is a delicate one. Thus, you will need to find a place in your home where you can quietly concentrate on your work without being disturbed. Moreover, you need to have access to a computer and plug points to use various electrical devices.
A table and chair of appropriate height are essential to help you work comfortably. Your garage or guest bedroom should be a great fit for this. Otherwise, you can use your own room and desk as well.
Read 20 Killer Tips To Be More Successful in Cell Phone Repair Business
The workstation should have all the necessary tools that are needed to fix hardware as well as software faults of smartphones and tablets.
3. Acquire spare parts
When it comes to hardware repair, you will always need spare parts to replace a few malfunctioning ones. These parts will vary from one model to the other. So it is important that you remember to categorize properly and store them carefully to avoid mixups.
I suggest you buy boxes of different sizes and label them meticulously. Your spare parts supplier should give you a good deal for your spare parts. To ensure this, ask different shops and suppliers and try bargaining a bit as well. It is necessary to get original/genuine spare parts of all popular smartphones from a trusted supplier or your business won’t be successful.
4. Create an identity
Every business needs an attractive company name. This should be accompanied by a great logo as well. Both of these should be easy to remember as well as something that makes an impact on people. Try asking your friends for a favor to help you with this. Take your time with this and don’t settle for anything you might not like.
Here is an excellent article to help you choose the best cell phone repair business names.
5. Check for legalities
Whenever you start a business, there are a lot of things that you need to do to ensure you aren’t doing anything illegal. For example, you will have to register your business with the related government department. Moreover, you will also need to take care of the taxes that you pay.
Thus all your repairs will need to be carefully documented. For this purpose, it is best to consult a related lawyer/consultant. That way you can ensure that you don’t face any legal problems later.
6. Figure out the logistics
In this business, there a lot of parts moving around. You will need to figure out how each of these is transported. For example, you could either collect the spare parts from the supplier, or they could deliver it to you. You could also offer pick-up and drop services for mobile phones to increase the appeal of your cell phone repair business.
7. Advertising
After setting up all the necessary things, you will need to find a way to reach and attract more customers. When you are working out of a store, then you can choose to have an attractive storefront to get more customers. However, if you are working out of your own home, this is not possible especially if you are living in an apartment complex.
You need to do more of advertising to get more customers and thereby get more profit in this mobile phone repairing business.
An attractive board on your door would not suffice.
You can also try to go for online advertisements. They are cheaper and more effective as well. If you advertise well enough, then you should be able to get the same number of customers that a full-fledged service center does.
For offline advertising, you can distribute flyers door to door in your neighborhood. Try to use small advertising banners or standees if possible. Also rely on your friends for word of mouth publicity.
Next is what?
Once all this is set up, you can think about employing others and increasing the services you offer. Starting your business from your home is always a good idea to minimize costs. But once you are set, you can move to a shop. You can start expanding your business and then there will be different challenges that arise.
If you have any more questions on the topic, feel free to ask us in the comments below. We welcome all your suggestions as well.
Read How to Learn Cell Phone Repair & Be a Certified Technician
Read How to Make More Profit in Mobile Phone Repairing Business
Image credit: http://brettscellphonerepair.com
