Starting Cost Of A Repair Workshop
Back in 1996 my partner and I took out about RM2000 (USD667.00) to set up the small repair center (approx about 200 square feet). I used the money to buy fax machine, print invoices and D/O, rental, tables and chairs and also some repair tools and meters. This is the amount that I have spent during those day and reaping the benefits till now. Again it depends on how big you want the repair center to be. If you are setting up an Authorized Service center then it will surely cost more. If you just like me who wanted to start from a small place first then your initial investment should not be high.
Make sure you have some saving as starting a business is not that easy. You may take few months to recoup the money that you have spent. If your business is not good at least you could use the saving to temporarily pay off some of the expenses. Running a successful business takes perseverance, commitment and lots of your personal time. Ask any successful business man and they will tell you the same thing. No money will ever drop from sky and you have to sacrifice your sweat and time to achieve the success you want.
I heard that there are repairing center closing down but you need to know that NOT all repairing center closing down. There are many reasons why a repair center can close down:
- Not working hard enough
- Do not know how to manage business/money
- Never promote their business
- Too focus only on one particular equipment. In this kind of situation one has to repair few types of equipment in order to have a constant business coming in.
- Too cheap the equipment and customers chosen to throw it away than repair
- Good profit margin in other field
- Working too long in this field and wanted to venture and try on other type of business not related to repair
- Retired to enjoy life after many years in the repair field
- Can't cope up with the ever changing new technologies
- Better offer to work for someone-less headace to run a repair company
Don't be discourage of the 10 reasons above. If you are a persistent person and you like to improve yourself then there is no reason why you can't set your own company. This means if you do not know how to manage or promote a business then learn it, if you think that you work not hard enough then work harder and etc.
If you currently running a repair business and would like to give advice to those who wanted to set up their own business please do leve a comment below-thanks.
(17)Dislikes
(0)
27 Comments
Leave a Reply
Cancel reply
jojogreg
October 4, 2012 at 12:38 am
Hi Jestiine,
I like this post.As a beginner, like me,this is one's dream to settingup a repair workshop,not knowing the risk of running this kind of business but as you mention here it's about perseverance sacrafices,commitment and personal time.For me i have to experience this kind situation running a repair workshop but because of lack financial capabilities i have to wait for sometimes until i have enough to finance a small one..thanks anyway for sharing...more power..
Jestine Yong
October 4, 2012 at 12:51 am
Hi Jojo,
One of the happiest moment in my life is to able to set up my own repair center and becoming own boss.But running a business is not as easy as what other people think. It really requires your hardwork and never give up mind set to be successful in this trade.
Jestine
Comtech41
October 4, 2012 at 8:46 am
Hi Jestine,
I have my own repair shop and been a service center of Brother printer for several years now. still remember when I set up my repair business on 2003 and really need money to buy equipment and rent space. I invested on more equipment like oscilloscope, esr meter, fluke meter and bga repair machne since I also do laptop chip level repair. Always buy and read most of your ebooks so that my knowledge will still improve. Now my shop still doing well although many techinician are putting their own repair shops. To those who wish to put their own repair shop, just put in mind that always be true to your customer to gain their trust.
Jestine Yong
October 4, 2012 at 10:07 am
HI Adrian,
Thanks for your priceless advice! Do you repair other brand of printers?
Jestine
comtech41
October 4, 2012 at 4:59 pm
Hi Jestine,
Yes I also repair other brand of printers like HP, Canon and Epson. For these printers parts sourcing is not always easy unlike Brother printers.
Jestine Yong
October 4, 2012 at 5:55 pm
Hi Adrian,
Ok noted-thanks.
Jestine
jojogreg
October 6, 2012 at 5:30 am
Hi Jestine,
Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience in this kind of field.I feel confident i'm in right track because i have someone like you as a mentor.Thanks to you Jestine..
regards,
jojogreg
Nusleh Madarak
October 10, 2012 at 6:30 am
Hi. Jestine.
I remember when i was set up first business for repair computer...i read your are starting business and a lot of patience in the career journey ahead. Thanks for sharing experience.
Nusleh Madarak
Jestine Yong
October 10, 2012 at 8:36 pm
Hi Nusleh,
You are welcome and good to hear from you.
Jestine
philip odhiambo
October 12, 2012 at 2:34 pm
Thanks mr jestine,
I have one experience that i need to add.One needs to have a good knowledge approved by valid documents.I had to go home after failling to show my education and experience to my customers and relevant authorities.
We also need to look for security and insurance cover incase of theft and other lose incured.
Thanks.
Jestine Yong
October 12, 2012 at 9:02 pm
Hi Philip,
Thanks for the sharing. Those were the good points to add in.
Jestine
esau
October 16, 2012 at 10:23 pm
hola jestine.soy tecnico reparador desde hace 20 años e tenido logros y fracasos pero no me rindo a pesar de la crisis financiera mundial soy apasionado a la electronica y permanesere asta el ultimo momento saludos a todos los tenicos del mundo.
Jestine Yong
October 17, 2012 at 5:23 am
Hi Esau,
Yes you are right do not give up.
Jestine
Tonny Wijaya
October 23, 2012 at 11:36 pm
Hi Jestine,
I am interested in opening my own repair workshop business. Could you recommend the list of must have tools or equipments for me to start with? And if I were to open a computer shop, can you also recommend what parts I have to have in order to make a complete computer shop? I would really appreciate your help. Thank you.
Jestine Yong
October 24, 2012 at 12:12 am
Hi Tonny,
What type of repair equipment you are planning to service in your repair shop. Since i do not have experience in setting up computer shop I can't give any advice on this. i could only give advice on electronics repair shop.
Jestine
Tonny
October 24, 2012 at 10:48 am
Jestine,
What about repairing LCD TV or LED TV? Could you recommend the list of tools and equipments I need to have? Thank you.
Jestine Yong
October 24, 2012 at 9:33 pm
Hi Tonny,
You need
analog/digital multimeter
digital capacitance meter
Blue Ring Tester
Blue ESR meter
Oscilloscope (100MHZ)
Backlight tester
DC voltage regulator power supply
Smart Tweezers
There may be some other test equipment that is optional to get like Huntron tracker and etc.
Jestine
Tonny
October 25, 2012 at 6:44 am
Hi Jestine,
Could you recommend where I can purchase those items? Thanks
Jestine Yong
October 25, 2012 at 9:46 pm
Hi Tonny,
Most of the meters you can purchase from ebay.com
Jestine
Luis Rodriguez
November 8, 2012 at 10:03 am
Having the right equipment and education alone will not make you success. To be successful in this business you have to make the repair – “Affordable, Desirable, and Profitable.” I would like to see more articles and books on how just how to achieve this formula for success. I have been an Electronic repair Tech for over thirty years and always hope to open my own repair shop. However, the trouble with owning an Electronic repair shop today, at least in NYC, is the cost of replacement parts and getting customer to invest in repairing the item instead buying a completely new one. In many cases, boards have to be replaced because certain parts are not available. This makes the repair expenses as some boards can cost close to, if not more, to what it cost to buying a brand new one, and then there is the added cost of labor. For that reason, the average consumer has developed this,"Throw-it-away," mentality. Your Books are great, but without those three elements, owning your own repair business in today’s Throw-it-away market, is something best left to working part-time out of the basement. If you have any ideas on how to deal with these three issue I would love to hear them, I really do. Thanks
Jestine Yong
November 8, 2012 at 9:40 pm
Hi Luis,
It depends on few factors like the type of equipment you are repairing, the price of the equipment you are repairing, the mentality of an individual and the country you are in. If you are in the field where the cost of equipment is expensive then most likely they will repair it and you can make profit from there. In many countries like Philippines, Vietnam, India, Africa and etc they still even repair the CRT type of equipment. I know that many repair shop in USA already closed down because of the cheap price and the "Throw it away mentality". There is no doubt that if an equipment price is cheap then it is not worth to repair it. What you can do is to concentrate on the high end or expensive type of equipment. I just found an article about "One way to create American Jobs" check the link below:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/10/one-way-to-create-american-jobs-fix-our-5-million-tons-of-out-of-use-electronics/264351/
If Government could educate people to save money by repairing their equipment instead of throwing it away then there will be more jobs for us.
Jestine
Francisco Delgado
November 6, 2013 at 11:15 am
Hi Jestine,
My field of development is repairing Espresso Coffee Machines Motherboards. I'm in the business for 7 years and have a lot to learn. Was very helpful in my business the books I bought to you recently. Thanks for share with us so much interesting knowledge and I encourage you don't give up never.
I want to know a little "about insulation" tester in order to check electronic capacitor, like what brand is advisable, how it works and so on. Thanks in advance. Francisco
Jestine Yong
November 6, 2013 at 11:37 am
HI Francisco,
Good ton hear about your repair niche in repairing coffee machines motherboards. As for the insulation tester you can get any brand. A cheap one you can see from this link:
https://www.jestineyong.com/review-of-the-dy294-digital-transistor-tester-part-1/
Jestine
ed
November 12, 2013 at 7:35 am
hi jestine. I agree with you 100 percent.i always entertained the thought of vintage radio and tv repair. I have been doing it as a hobby for about off and on for 25 years. and what I see in the internet, it seems to be a growing hobby for others as well. just look on you tube. when I started in the 80s, didn't have the internet and parts were hard to find. now you can find almost anything [yes including tubes!!] heck I even rebuilt my cap.checker, vac. tube voltmeter, and tube tester, and signal general gen. all from the late 40s to the early 50s, had ran a head to head comp. with modern test equipt. naturly, they are nor super accureate, but when your working on sets 50+ years old they are perfect!! just my 2 cents jestine!! I am learning from your posts about the new electrornics out there. never stop learning my friend thanks so much kind regards ed. ps let me know what you think. hats off to the younger guys who can see this stuff!!lol!!
Jestine Yong
November 12, 2013 at 9:59 am
Hi Ed,
You are welcome. Yes indeed the internet has contributed lots of good repair information to the field. I could imagine those tough years when there was no internet around especially in seeking technical details of certain devices an etc.
Jestine
Bernie Scott
December 19, 2013 at 11:26 pm
Great article. I started up my repair shop on a very very small budget..maybe a couple of hundred bucks..I did have some test gear which I had gathered up over the years while working for other companies but nothing outrageous.....(and it was all bought at very cheap prices)......When I had retired from my employer of 23 years, I was contacted by a local music store to do some small repairs for them...they liked it so much that they started to give me everything they carried, and also started to pass my name around to people who had equipment that they did not sell that needed to be repaired...Now I do everything from electric pianos to guitar amps, pa systems, lighting equipment, effects peddles, recording gear, etc...I also have people dropping off stereos,old radios,and other consumer equipment as well..and I repair control boards for printing presses for a local company.....(the only formal training I had was a 2 year electronics course in the early 1970's)...A friend of mine who is a mechanic has suggested that I get into repairing instrument clusters for automobiles as these cost hundreds of dollars to replace...If I just did one type of equipment I would have to go and work for somebody else. Because I am willing to take anything that either plugs into the ac outlet or runs on a battery, everybody is calling me and after 3 years of doing this, I am starting to get busy...However, I must work longer than 8 hours a day.....and more than 5 days a week...and I have equipment that takes me a long time to figure out but I would rather repair it than see it tossed in the garbage...because of this, I will not get rich but at least I will be able to make a living at something I love to do...and when a customer gets his equipment back it looks brand new...and when something is 30 or more years old, this is something that they do not expect......Impress you customer...Don't be too expensive but don't be too cheap either...(you don't want to sell yourself short)..Do good quality work, be honest...I tell everybody two weeks minimum before I can look at it....I will make an exception if it is an emergency but to be fair to the other customers ahead of the latest one, this is what I tell them and they respect me for it...and I do not see this slowing down anytime soon...and another good thing I have going for me is the fact that I do not have any competition in my general area....and we are talking about a 6 or 7 hundred mile area with all kinds of small towns..And thanks to sites like this one for tips and articles on electronic repairs...Keep up the good work Jestine...
Jestine Yong
December 21, 2013 at 1:51 am
Hi Bernie,
Thanks for sharing your life experience. It was really interesting.
Jestine