EntrePinoys Atbp.

With roughly 30 percent of the entire population living on less than $1 a day, according to a July 2007 United Nations report, most Filipinos don’t have the disposable income to buy new cell phones when they break. So just as they do with broken air conditioners or clunky cars, they fix them. There is an entire section at the Greenhills Shopping Center in Manila dedicated to cell phone repair.

There is a growing demand for cellular phone repair. There are already millions of cellphones in the Philippines. The cellular industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world and in the Philippines, the repair industry grew over the past few years. There’s an increasing number of opportunities in the repair industry for people who have good understanding and know-how on cellphone repair.

Until recently, only the manufacturers undertook the cellular phone repair job. Opportunities now exist for entrepreneurial individuals to start their own lucrative business, either as an employee of a cellular phone repair shop, or having their own stand-alone cellular phone repair operation.

Don’t Overlook Competitors

Prior to launching a cell phone repair and installation business in your area, it’s worthwhile to find out how you will fit in the competitive landscape. Use the link below to generate a list of competitors in your area. After clicking on the link, type in your city, state and zip code to get a list of cell phone repair and installation businesses near you.

How tough is the competition in the market you are considering? If the competition is too tough, you may need to think about starting the business in a different area or even start a completely different business instead.

Studying the Market

As part of your due diligence on opening a cell phone repair and installation business, it’s a smart move to have a conversation with someone who is in the business. Local competitors are not going to give you the time of day, mind you. The last thing they want to do is help you to be a better competitor.

Thankfully, an owner of a a cell phone repair and installation business in a location that is not competitive to you may be more than happy to give you a few tips, given that you don’t compete with them in their area. In fact, they are often very willing to share startup advice with you. It can take a while to find an entrepreneur who is willing to talk, but it’s well worth the effort.

Operation

Nowadays, customers may bring in a faulty phone to any of the cellular phone repair centers. A Work Order Form will be issued, and a deposit towards the cellular phone repair service must be made. All cellular phones have a one-year manufacturer’s warranty. The cellular phone repair centers will repair or replace phones under warranty as long as the user did not cause any physical damage to the phone. If the warranty has expired, the cellular phone repair center might charge for repairs. Once the cellular phone repair job is over and the phone is returned by the relevant cellular phone repair center, the customer makes the final payment and receives the repaired unit. Sometimes it’s best to just purchase a new phone, because cellular phone repair costs can be as high as the cost of a new phone.

A cellular phone repair technician has several sophisticated tools and techniques available for the repair job, such as:

Cleaners – They are used in cellular phone repair since they are oxide dissolving contact cleaners. These equipments are used to clean dirty pins in the phone and thus aid in cellular phone repair.

Lamps – They are used while doing a cellular phone repair job to protect your eyes when you work. Table lamps come with high-frequency 4200Hz lamp without frequent sparking to avoid harmful effect to eyes, since a lot of work under deficient light at normal 50Hz/60Hz can cause short eyesight and many eye diseases. It is a very useful tool for people who are doing the cellular phone repair business.

Phone Open Tools – A cellular phone repair job requires opening up of cellular phones. Several tools such as screwdrivers made of magnetic alloy steel can be used for this part of the job.

Programmers – Cellular phone repair requires the cellular phone to be unlocked. Not all mobile phones can be unlocked with simple cable. Programming tools can be the only way to repair “death phones”, those that have stopped working. A 24xxx chip reader can read and write EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) in a phone without any problem. Power obtained from USB connection to computer port, serial port is used for reading/writing data during a cellular phone repair job. Programming tools are used in almost every cellular phone repair center.

Ultrasonic Cleaner – It is a device that transfers ultrasonic sound waves to a cleaning liquid or solvent that dislodges embedded dirt on objects immersed in it. The ultrasonic cleaner is used during cellular phone repair to clear the PCB board of cellular phones.

Other Tools

• Twister or tornando box
• Jaf for BB5 flashing
• SE Tool for Sony Ericsson, LG, Sharp
• Smart Clip for Motorola
• Infinity for China phone
• Ub for patching of Nokia
• Ns Pro for Samsung

Explore Franchising Options

Your chances of achieving the entrepreneurial goal of doing well with your venture are much greater if you decide to franchise and benefit from the prior work of others and their lessons learned.

Before opening a cell phone repair and installation business, a smart move is to assess whether franchise opportunities in your space might help you avoid common entrepreneurial mistakes.

MI3 Telecards and Cellular City is offering franchise.

For cellphone repair training and seminar, contact the training centers for their next available schedule.

sources: ezinearticles.com, gaebler.com, tapgsm.com.ph, photo from news.cnet.com

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