I Started A Cell Phone Repair Business With No Experience. Here's What I Learned

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Жыл бұрын

Over the course of 2022, I ran a cellphone repair business on a college campus. Today I break down how I started repairing Apple iPhones as a business, what I needed to invest in to begin repairs and the lessons I took away from this business venture.
🕤Time Stamps
0:43 - Why Start iPhone Repairs
1:45 - Where to Acquire Skills to Repair
3:00 - Marketing
5:34 - First Repair
7:20 - Operating the Business
8:38 - Encountering Roadblocks
13:35 - Where The Business is Today
15:52 - Take Away Lessons
🔧 Why did I start an iPhone Repair Business as a Side Hustle:
Starting an iPhone repair business seemed obvious to me at the time. For one I was really passionate about repairing electronics as a hobby so naturally being able to do a side hustle that involved a hobby was exciting to me. If I would be able to generate $50-$100 a repair I could scale this up and generate a few hundred dollars a week which would be comparable to a part time job and I would be doing something that I really enjoyed
1️⃣ Gaining the skills required to do repairs:
I started with fixing up cracked, dented and shattered iPhone SE's and other older iPhone that I purchased on eBay. I would take these broken screens and swap them with working, new screens and then relist them back on Facebook Marketplace and eBay. This was a great way to first off gain confidence in fixing iPhones as well as practicing on iPhones where there were no high stakes if you completely break the phone.
2️⃣ Essential Tools, Equipment and Start up costs:
There are a lot of tools and start up costs that you need to consider before taking the plunge into running a business. Some of them are nice to haves but there are other tools and costs that are must-haves to preform a repair efficiently and effectively all depending on what direction you want to take your business.
3️⃣ Marketing and Attracting Customers:
Marketing can be done both online and offline, leveraging social media platforms like Facebook and KZfaq. But creating visuals like good posters, and presenting them to the community is also very important.
4️⃣ Pricing Strategies and Business Operations:
It's important to have a good setup/plan for where to meet up with your customers when it comes to repairs to ensure customer satisfaction. I wanted to market my services towards college students and wanted to offer cheap, fast, and reliable repairs. For that reason I wanted to meet up at a public location on campus like the library to do my repairs. I also tried to price my repairs in a way that college students would really be drawn to do business with me.
5️⃣ Lessons learned and working with customers:
When running a business you encounter many roadblocks and your will make mistakes. In the cell phone repair business that this is no different. You are sometimes forced to make stressful decisions in front of a customer and you need to resolve. These turn out to be lessons that last a lifetime.
#iPhoneRepairBusiness #SideHustleIdeas #StartingABusiness #EntrepreneurshipTips

Пікірлер: 57

@CallMeMilenko 3 ай бұрын

Great video bro. I've been doing repairs myself since 2015. The most important lesson I learned is to not try to always be the cheapest. You'll attract a lot of people that you won't want to deal with in the future. If you want to travel you can charge more for that. I have a full setup for electronics repair in my car. I use a 12v power inverter that has 2 outlets on it. I also have a cordless heatgun that I got from Harbor Freight. People loved that I could come to their home, job, etc. and do a repair in front of them. Also helped me gain more customers because people were watching me do these repairs.

@webhands7354 Ай бұрын

How much you make a year?

@user-qf5if5ci8q Ай бұрын

Very interesting idea...I thought of it too ...But how do you manage it when it comes to Spare Parts which are not in your car?

@JakubChambers1994 16 күн бұрын

@@user-qf5if5ci8qthe same thing you would do if the parts wasn’t in your shop..

@4Relax 7 ай бұрын

For every beginner i recommend when ever is possible to back up data first before opening the phone.

@eia2704 3 ай бұрын

I like the refurbishing phones idea. It actually helps build experience & confidence when having someone ask you to service a phone

@DrHyPer 11 ай бұрын

I was genuinely surprised when I saw that your most viewed video only has 4K and you only get hundereds of views and also when I went to subscribe I was expecting over 100K subscribers and not 300. You really are underrated 😢

@brokenrepairs 11 ай бұрын

I'm happy that there are people taking time out of there day to watch and even enjoy what I put out, thank you so much for your kind words!

@lennoxfamily4304 9 ай бұрын

thanks bro just thought of starting this side hustle and I can say your video comes in handy

@LeviStolba 6 ай бұрын

Hoping to see this series continue

@KIINGVVOLR 3 ай бұрын

Thanks for the motivation 😊

@Kwepso. 12 күн бұрын

Thank you for the info:) great vid

@LandoCalani 7 ай бұрын

That intro killed me. 😂 So freaking relatable.

@itzsage7919 11 ай бұрын

Im agreeing with that, here in South Arica its quite easy buying and selling iphones but it requires capital which is hard on itself

@brokenrepairs 11 ай бұрын

Yeah raising the capital and getting a business to set roots at the start is such a hard task. I never realized how much capital I needed until I actually got into the business.

@swbd4079 8 ай бұрын

You just earned yourself a subscriber

@loqmanboukemoum 2 ай бұрын

I appreciate the experiences that you're sharing with us. I have a good background with refurb and repairs and I don't know where to start the mobile repair things. If anyone pass this period please share your experience how did you manage to marketing and getting client.

@hmj8469 4 ай бұрын

Nice post. I'm considering this as a side hustle as I am nearing retirement. I will have some capital to invest in training, tools, parts, etc so I'd like to ask how you educated yourself on screen repair and if you purchased special tools to replace screens, batteries, etc.

@BROADWAYCONSULTANCYSERVI-ul7ew 9 ай бұрын

Great job

@iamados 7 ай бұрын

This is what Im doing now. I do buy iPhones, fixing backglass, changing screen and battery. I could not do it without my friend who has been doint it for almost 10 years, so he is my «teacher» lol. What I do like is that I am only focused on reparing and fix iPhones, and iPhones only. Maybe one day in the future I am thinking of starting my own business. Right now, buying, fixing them and selling. I also think this is the best way to do it, untill you’re really really good and experienced.

@gittaerfurth9907 2 ай бұрын

You'd have to ask the customers to have a current backup of their phone before you touch it and have them accept a waiver that you may lose data repairing it. Pricing in the occasional fuckup in your service fee should keep you going. After all, nearly instant service has its price, you should also have a look at the pricing of the competition. Without a shop and as a side hustle, you have a lot less fixed cost, so you should be able to offer competetively priced high-end service and still make some serious profit.

@slimsunny9994 7 ай бұрын

I didn’t invest around that much I’m doing this now and making good cash just gotta be sure you get quality parts to sattisfy your customer

@joewisor736 10 ай бұрын

Great video very encouraging. One question i am starting to do phone repairs also. What should I keep stocked up for repais? So i dont have to wait for shipment of the parts.

@brokenrepairs 9 ай бұрын

When I was running the repair business, screen repairs where more common than battery repairs. As for models I was working on iPhone 11's the most (base, pro and pro max), keep in mind this was all done over a year ago so I suspect iPhone 12/13 might be the model that would be the most common today. How I would approach this is to just buy a few parts to have on hand, maybe like 3-5 screens and 1-3 batteries and as you go you are able to gauge what models/repairs are the most popular in your area and adjust your inventory as you go. Also if you are able to book/organize appointments I would say that helped me out a lot. I had the benefit of being able to book an appointment with a customer so even if I didn't have the part on hand at the moment, I would be able to order it and book the repair 5 days out to ensure I did have the part when it came time to repair. Wishing you luck with your operations!

@suncity1702 5 ай бұрын

Is good as a man to experience of failure while he were young than old age, although deep learning is very important in everything, keep it up very soon you will become phone technician wizard ❤

@eoleol4750 4 ай бұрын

This is so true. He may not know as a young man, those failures are going to make him a very successful person in the future.

@julhizantwo2277 2 ай бұрын

That goo gone is going somewhere

@markj811 5 ай бұрын

Where do you purchase high quality replacement iPhone screens?

@erixksmith 9 ай бұрын

Bro the iPhone 7 could have been fixed you needed to try other parts like charger port or battery or top flex cable or all 3 and could have charged him to fix those too or did you try ?

@dwae5975 13 күн бұрын

Where did you get your screens from?

@dannysanchxz 5 ай бұрын

hey man seeing if you can fix a iphone 11 stuck in reboot mode, had this issues in the past some how enough tries bypassed the issues, its everytime i change the screen, have a feeling its the ram chip, can we talk business?

@ttyrell2885 5 ай бұрын

Hey bro where can I get fully unlocked motherboards for my iPhones for an affordable price apart from eBay and or Amazon?

@user-mw5nk8ov1e 2 ай бұрын

I cant start by refurbishing phones because of where i live does it make sense to start by fixing family members and friends phones immediately

@TheNoobPube 11 ай бұрын

Where did you find was the best place to buy phone screens? eBay seems a bit hit or miss to me

@brokenrepairs 11 ай бұрын

I absolutely agree with that, I tend to steer away from eBay/Amazon due to quality being so inconsistent. For sourcing screens I use Injured Gadgets as my supplier. They offer a wide selection of different screens ranging in price points and even have refurbished OEM panels if that’s what a customer wants. If you are interested in learning more about screen vendors, I did upload a video yesterday on the topic. I go into depth about Injured Gadgets along with other vendors. Thanks for the great question!

@edmondmakgaretsa9792 3 ай бұрын

Hi Bro, can you please teach me the basics of fixing iphones. I don’t mind paying, I’m in South Africa

@baj12493 3 ай бұрын

On that i7 plus it could’ve been a bad screen! That happens plenty of times. That phone gone boot up every time if the screen good. But I definitely don’t like the older phones with the HOME button. Sometimes they don’t work once the screen is replaced! 🤦🏽‍♂️

@TheWizardBen 26 күн бұрын

Just curious, did you not ever keep a log of expenses/profits (profit/loss account)? This is the most basic requirement of running a small business, so just curious about how you navigated the waters without doing this - must be strange to not know whether you made or lost money on a business venture that you spent a lot of time on.

@redneckson 4 ай бұрын

doing it rn, bro

@favourjohn4681 3 ай бұрын

Im upcoming technician thank u

@joani2732 9 ай бұрын

I became pretty good fixing iPhone and Samsung my issues is I cannot afford a place to rent so I've been doing it off my car only but my dream is to get a place one day.

@petrosantoniou-cd5fp 8 ай бұрын

i wish you to get it bro

@rokrok27 11 күн бұрын

How is your iPhone business going

@seleciahanson 3 ай бұрын

Bro, how can I get in contact with you?

@elitejule2304 9 ай бұрын

im a 15 year old gonna start buying cheap iphones in my area with only back panel and front screen shatters, where should i start, what supplier should i use for these 2 parts and any advice? And Material list like do i need a heat gun.

@Void-xy9nb 2 ай бұрын

Yo have you started anything yet

@moisestheentrepreneur637 3 ай бұрын

that iPhone 7 probably never worked those iphones 7 had bad i.c that the iphones wouldnt turn on so he probably got you on saying you messed up his phone when it was probably already messed up. Of course unless you saw it on the home screen with the broken screen.

@matadd5803 10 ай бұрын

How can I make my self know to every one sice I live in London and I want to start a repair phone shop form my house room

@brokenrepairs 10 ай бұрын

My best advice would be to start with family/friends it's a great way to get experience dealing with customers. After your done with the repair make sure to let them know you are open for further business. Word of mouth is a really powerful way to start growing that doesn't need any sort of advertising budget. All you need to do is make sure you repairs are done with care and quality and that should act as a good starting point! Wishing you luck with your business venture!

@bobweiram6321 9 ай бұрын

The only reason why people make money fixing iPhones is because they're incredibly expensive to replace. Refurbishing was once profitable when you can sell refurbished and used Apple equipment.