Lessons Learnt from a Repair Store.
I love learning new things serendipitously. This morning, I stumbled upon a blog about starting a phone repair business. As a person aspiring to open a retail store in the future, I was having a hard time resisting the temptation to read this blog. In the end I did not resist, so here are the lessons learnt from a phone repair business.
Do What You Love Doing.
You need to love what you do. Starting a business is a long process and it takes even longer to establish it and eventually exit. In addition to that, you will run into many obstacles on your way, making the whole experience even more gruesome. If you do not love your business, what will prevent you from quitting at those times?
The amount of money, time, and energy you will sink into it is hard to quantify, and it might still not work out in the end. The blog has been up for almost a year and the store is still not open. Looking back, do you want to be able to say you enjoyed building your business or will you feel like you wasted your time?
Being Honest Pays Off.
It was an absolute pleasure reading about the process behind building a repair store. This was not because I am super excited about phone repairs, but the author made the story so simple to follow and obfuscated only the most sensitive data.
I have spoken to many people in the past who would budge at the first inquiry about their business operations. Not surprisingly, none of them held unique patent rights or run a Fortune 500 company. If there are already thousands of new businesses spawning every day in your industry, why worry about helping create another one? At least you could have a new ally in such competitive environment.
Being Honest Does Not Pay Off.
As always, apply every advice with caution. It is fine to talk about your headache with coworkers, but think twice before bringing up the visual appearance of your private parts (lesson learnt in the past).
The same applies in here. The author mentions parking his car a block away before going to see the place he was interested in leasing. When people see you jumping out of a fancy car, they make assumptions. We cannot help it, that's the way we are programmed.
The author also paid special attention not to come across as too interested in the property. Otherwise, the owner would have the upper hand in the negotiation. If you choose to be absolutely honest, you should be prepared to face the consequences.
Hardware Is Expensive.
It is so cheap to start a software business, one can start thinking every business is just as cheap to start. The reality is that other industries have smaller margins and higher costs. Reading about the phone repair store was a good reminder of the work required to open a real-world equivalent of a landing page. So far, the author has spent about $15,000 and the store is not even open yet.
You Need a Team.
That being said, you need an amazing team to push through the obstacles on your way. In this case, they are the people who supply you with products, outfit the store, do the maintenance, and work in the store. There are also accountants, lawyers, and other people you need in almost every business. Pay them well and pay them on time.
Conclusion
If you are interested, you can read the original blog about starting a phone repair business too. Let me know if you learn any more lessons from it!
Thank you for reading.