The Way We All Succeed In Tech Repair

The tech repair industry is so much more than phones but that seems to be almost everyone’s focus. Fix more phones. Sell more phones. Get Apple & Samsung to give us better access to more phone repairs. Make Google easier to market our phone repair business to more people. Phones. Phones. Phones

Phones are the bright shiny object that every repair shop lusts over. Cracked screens are the low hanging fruit (pun intended) that gets everyone into this business.

So much so that Allstate Protection Plans recent Mobile Mythconceptions Survey declared it an $8.3billion market. Just for CRACKED SCREENS, the overall market is much bigger

But what if I told you that there is a better way?

The inspiration came to me over a year ago during a call with a major OEM (I mean a big one that sells a lot of phones). We were speaking to an influential contact that offered to help get us to the right person to get more repair work. He said to us, “have you ever considered small appliances. Because EVERYONE tries to get the phone business.”

Of course. Every repair related company in the world wants the phone business! And it’s nothing but a race to the bottom to offer the lowest prices. Whether you’re a repair shop fighting against 20 other shops in your area or a wholesaler trying to compete. Everyone wants the lowest price, which makes it tough to make any money at all.

Friends, the consumer electronics (CE) industry is a trillion dollar industry, and yes phones make up about half of it. So of course everyone’s attention is focused on phones. But think about it this way. If half of the CE industry can create a $40 billion phone repair industry (my estimate) what can the other half create?

You’ve heard me say it many times in the past. More and more products are becoming tech. That’s on display every year at CES. Workout equipment. Kitchens (pots & pans, cutting boards, small appliances, etc.), vacuums, pet products, and so much more! All of it needs to be repaired and serviced. Right now too much of it gets destroyed because it has to be shipped for service/repair.

This creates e-waste — which has become a global nightmare. If companies can get their products serviced easier, without shipping it, it’s more likely to stay in the market.

The consumer electronics industry is diversifying!

I wrote a very short piece back in July last year that got a ton of responses. A lot of repair people wanted to know how to diversify their business. I even noticed a few other people in the industry claim they had the answers. It’s an important question. Beyond that it is also an incredible opportunity.

An opportunity that one person or one company will never fully capitalize on. But one that a collaboration of companies will be able to seize. This is what I mean when I encourage the industry to work together — which some, unfortunately, never will. But that’s okay. They will just simply get left behind cleaning up the shards of glass in their shops.

Independent tech repair has all of the advantages to be able to service more diverse products. But no bigger advantage than it’s network of locations across the country (some estimate more than 25K locations). These are what I like to call community based tech care locations.

Two important points here on naming: 1) the word TECH is more ubiquitous (it covers more than phones), and 2) the word CARE includes repair but covers so much more. More means troubleshooting, support, diagnostics, setup, etc. We are the tech care industry, and tech repair is one of the biggest segments for us. AND we can be more!

Working Together – Staying In Our Lanes

We can ALL succeed if we ALL stay in our own lanes and appreciate what others do. It’s important too to have an attitude of win/win when working with partners. In other words, I win if you win. Meaning sometimes you have to give up something for someone else to win too.

For local TECH REPAIR BUSINESSES that means focusing on what you do best: Repairing tech. Advance your skills, stay focused on repair, and taking great care of customers. You are the frontline!

For ADVANCED TECH REPAIR that means opportunities to support more devices and create more solutions. Find ways to help OEMs fix their products that can scale. Fix things and post videos that help everyone learn how to do the work.

For national WHOLESALE/DISTRIBUTORS you play an important role here. Be ready to manage different parts and support more products. You are the lifeline for those in the tech repair business.

For REPAIR DEPOTS realize that your solution is a legacy one and not what customers want as a first option. There is still a lot of demand that can and will flow into your channel from the frontline.

For REFURBISHERS & RECYCLERS help design systems to pickup products from the frontline. Either using a regional hub model or a simple pickup and delivery system. Lots of opportunity for the companies that get it right.

Some of you just simply need to stay out the way. You don’t need to be a part of everything or pretend you know what you’re doing. It’s best if you ask yourself and others how can I help.

The strength here is THE NETWORK! It is all of the different segments of the industry working together to help lift up the industry. It is having a win/win attitude that is more focused on the greater good than selfish deeds.

For the TCA it means we are the glue that brings everyone together. Join us (literally become a member) and let’s all work together to make the tech care industry into what it can be!