Comments on: Starting Cost Of A Repair Workshop

By: Jestine Yong

Jestine Yong — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 17:51:32 +0000

In reply to Bernie Scott.

Hi Bernie,

Thanks for sharing your life experience. It was really interesting.

Jestine

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By: Bernie Scott

Bernie Scott — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 15:26:16 +0000

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...

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By: Jestine Yong

Jestine Yong — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 01:59:39 +0000

In reply to ed.

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

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By: ed

ed — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 23:35:22 +0000

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!!

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By: Jestine Yong

Jestine Yong — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 03:37:50 +0000

In reply to Francisco Delgado.

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

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By: Francisco Delgado

Francisco Delgado — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 03:15:12 +0000

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

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By: Jestine Yong

Jestine Yong — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:40:05 +0000

In reply to Luis Rodriguez.

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

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By: Luis Rodriguez

Luis Rodriguez — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 02:03:56 +0000

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

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By: Jestine Yong

Jestine Yong — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 13:46:23 +0000

In reply to Tonny.

Hi Tonny,

Most of the meters you can purchase from ebay.com

Jestine

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By: Tonny

Tonny — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 22:44:51 +0000

Hi Jestine,
Could you recommend where I can purchase those items? Thanks

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