Thinking about opening up Iphone repair shop?

[ibalde01]

Ok so I'm thinking about opening up my own phone repair shop of iphones. There is a certified apple repair shop around here called Megabyt but rarely known. The tough competitor is named The Phone Guys although the hispanic community here in NW Arkansas is amazing and there are no phone repair shops around here that speak spanish besides the people who fix the phones in their own homes. I'm just trying to get a little advice, I want to see if you all think its a good idea. Later on i'd like to open another one in another city thats right next to mine. I don't really like to deal with samsung galaxy phones because I can never get the loca glue on the screen right i screwed up about 2 and didn't wanna try no more is why I want to deal with iphones only.

Also does anyone know if theres a iphone part supplier or something on how to get prices for when i go to SBB.

[vangogh]

My first thought was you probably need to repair more than a single product. I searched for "iPhone repair" and did find one business in Denver that offers only iPhone repair. Most also fixed iPads and iPods and possibly soon the Watch. Some repaired Samsung and other phones and tablets as well. I can understand not wanting to work on a phone you don't think you can repair though. My guess is you'll do better if you repair more than iPhones, especially if this business is meant to last long term.

Being able to serve an underserved hispanic market should help you build the business quickly. I haven't been to NW Arkansas, but I'll guess that if you're the business that can help people who speak Spanish, that word of that will spread relatively quickly. You can also keep moving west and find large hispanic communities all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

As long as there is enough iPhone repair business in general in your area I'm thinking you'll do fine. Naturally I'm assuming you do good work and have good customers support and all the usual. The potential downside I see is being locked into a single product from a single company. As unrealistic as it sounds, what would become of your business if Apple moved on from the iPhone. I don't expect this to happen, but what happens if the Watch ultimately replaces the iPhone in a few years. Again I don't expect it to happen and it wouldn't be possible right now, but five years is a long time in tech time.

One other potential issue is how many people actually go to repair shops instead of Apple? I have an iPhone. Most of my family has iPhones. I have friends with iPhones. I don't think any of the have ever taken their iPhones to any location other than the nearest Apple store. Having said that I know people do take phones and other products into repair shops as opposed to taking them directly to Apple. Just another thought though, since Apple will always be a competitor in a sense.

Overall though it sounds like you have a good idea at a real business. I do think you'll want to diversify beyond the iPhone. I know I'd feel uncomfortable with that much reliance on one product from one company. I'd either offer repairs for more Apple products or include phones beyond the iPhone.

Hope that helps.

[Harold Mansfield]

I agree that you need to repair more than one brand of devices. Just from my own experience, I've bent and cracked 2 different Nexus 7's. If there were some place to take them for repairs I would have done that instead of buying new ones.

Assuming you already have repair skills and that's why you want to get into it, you have to do more than iPhones. Tablets, Laptops, and Android phones need repairs too.

[David Hunter]

My mastermind partner consults with an iPhone repair shop. It's www.TheiShop.co (http://theishop.co) (yes, it's .co).

He seems to be doing very well. He fixes anything apple and also sells accessories.

[LogansWalk]

As others stated above, I'd definitely service more than just iPhones. As long as there isn't an Apple store nearby, it sounds like a good idea, especially since you can cater to the Spanish-speaking community.

[ibalde01]

My first thought was you probably need to repair more than a single product. I searched for "iPhone repair" and did find one business in Denver that offers only iPhone repair. Most also fixed iPads and iPods and possibly soon the Watch. Some repaired Samsung and other phones and tablets as well. I can understand not wanting to work on a phone you don't think you can repair though. My guess is you'll do better if you repair more than iPhones, especially if this business is meant to last long term.

Being able to serve an underserved hispanic market should help you build the business quickly. I haven't been to NW Arkansas, but I'll guess that if you're the business that can help people who speak Spanish, that word of that will spread relatively quickly. You can also keep moving west and find large hispanic communities all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

As long as there is enough iPhone repair business in general in your area I'm thinking you'll do fine. Naturally I'm assuming you do good work and have good customers support and all the usual. The potential downside I see is being locked into a single product from a single company. As unrealistic as it sounds, what would become of your business if Apple moved on from the iPhone. I don't expect this to happen, but what happens if the Watch ultimately replaces the iPhone in a few years. Again I don't expect it to happen and it wouldn't be possible right now, but five years is a long time in tech time.

One other potential issue is how many people actually go to repair shops instead of Apple? I have an iPhone. Most of my family has iPhones. I have friends with iPhones. I don't think any of the have ever taken their iPhones to any location other than the nearest Apple store. Having said that I know people do take phones and other products into repair shops as opposed to taking them directly to Apple. Just another thought though, since Apple will always be a competitor in a sense.

Overall though it sounds like you have a good idea at a real business. I do think you'll want to diversify beyond the iPhone. I know I'd feel uncomfortable with that much reliance on one product from one company. I'd either offer repairs for more Apple products or include phones beyond the iPhone.

Hope that helps.





Thanks for the awesome write up and also to the other people who agreed with their opinions!!! I have repaired other phones such as galaxy s3/s4 galaxy tab charge port ipads ipod iphones I know the watch might be the next big hit but i'm willing to learn about those as well as I learned with iphones. I'm also taking into consideration about learning on fixing computers again. I used to fix computers my dad started teaching me since the age of 8 but the last time i've tinkled or built my own computer was since i was 18. (real life kicked in) I started fixing cars and working in auto parts stores so I'm a little rusty with computers but i love technology. I can take apart s3's and s4's and notes like nothing its the putting them together with loca glue that is the tricky part for me.

[M.Ehrmantraut]

Sounds like you could make a go of this, then - brush-up your computer repair skills and make a nice little business for yourself!

[ibalde01]

Sounds like you could make a go of this, then - brush-up your computer repair skills and make a nice little business for yourself!

Thanks for your input sir! Do You guys know if it takes some good credit to start one or something? And would you guys recommend me going through SBA or bank?