An easy way to make your tech repair business more successful

The One Simple Thing That Everyone in Tech Repair Needs To Do

If there is one thing our industry needs more than anything, it’s to…

If there is one thing your business needs more than anything, it’s to…

If our industry wants the OEMs to work with us and not against us, we need to…

BE MORE PROFESSIONAL

Do you want your business to grow? Do you want people to take you more serious? Do you want to provide a comfortable living for yourself and your family? The first step in accomplishing these things is to be BE MORE PROFESSIONAL!

A big part of what we do at the TECH CARE ASSOCIATION (TCA) is to advocate on your behalf — your membership helps pay for those efforts! We have spoken to Apple, Google and other OEMs to try and find solutions for you. Here is the harsh reality of those discussions. They don’t think you’re serious. Seriously, they don’t.

Why? Because when they look at our industry they don’t see many professional operations. Apple and Google our VERY professional companies that operate in VERY professional ways. They have standards. They have minimum expectations for companies they work with, and guess what? Most of you don’t even come close to what they expect!

Right to repair (if it ever passes – which BTW, the NY law looks like it might not become law) will NEVER solve that issue. They will have requirements for you to join. Professional requirements. Requirements you will be forced to achieve.

Getting our ads fully back onto Google AdWords is also an issue of professionalism. There is a simple solution staring us all in the face (work together in a trade association, like the TCA to set standards). Or you can keep “hacking” the system and paying others to help you with a “work around”. And dreaming that things will someday change. Or, take action now and work on becoming more professional.

The answer to many of our problems is simple: Become more professional! But hey, I get it some of you are not sure how to do that. So let’s answer the question:

How Do You Become More Professional?

I could make a long list of things to answer this question, but let’s start with something simple, free, and easy to setup. A LinkedIn profile for you AND your business.

Let me say first of all, LinkedIn isn’t just another social media site. It has become the de facto professional business directory for everyone. It can be a great business tool for you to be seen, find new partnerships, and do more business online. Anyone who is someone (big or small) uses LinkedIn every day. You should too!

FIRST: Sign Up to Join LinkedIn

Navigate to the LinkedIn sign up page.
Type an email & password (or use “Continue with Google”)
Click on Agree & join
Complete the additional steps as prompted

TIP: Here is a good tutorial on how to make a Good LinkedIn Profile.

PRO TIP: Immediately connect to as many people as you know! ESPECIALLY industry people, industry groups, and companies in the industry! Connecting to the TCA LinkedIn Page will help you establish credibility.

NEXT STEP: Create a LinkedIn Page for Your Business

Once you are logged into LinkedIn, click on the WORK icon in the upper-right corner of your homepage.
Scroll down and click Create a Company Page.
Complete all of the additional steps as prompted.

TIP: Here is a good tutorial on how to create LinkedIn business page.

PRO TIP: Be sure that your profile is connected to your business profile! Also, encourage your employees to join and connect with your company page!

Don’t Just Join LinkedIn – Be More Active On LinkedIn!

Once you have joined or gotten back into your LinkedIn profile I’d like to invite you to connect with me and follow the TCA. Here are the links to do both:

Rob Link LinkedIn Profile – I have thousands of industry connections and I’m happy to help you connect with others!

TECH CARE ASSOCIATION (TCA) Company Page – we have more than a thousand followers that are just like you! Follow our page to connect with others.

I am always happy to connect with any and all business owners. Industry connections immediately make you look more professional. Try to connect with as many as possible and encourage others to do the same.

Connecting to professional associations, like the TCA, can also boost your online presence. Being a member of an association or network of similar businesses tells the world that you are a serious business person and a professional!

Now engage with people on LinkedIn and ask them to follow your company page. Make connections and post information about your business. Like industry posts and help promote others.

More than anything, act like the professional that you are!

Very few have ever found success in this world on their own.

In our industry most of the very successful companies have started with at least two strong partners. UBIF and iCracked both started with two very strong entrepreneurs and went on to sell their companies for millions of dollars. I could name others that have had strong growth in our industry because they had partners to help their growth.

But not everyone has a partner, much less a strong one. My tech repair business is a great example. I launched it by myself after selling an AT&T dealership — where I had a business partner — thinking I could conquer the world by myself. And despite my success, I could only grow so far by myself. Looking back I wish I had a partner.

On the other hand some partnerships go bad. My first two businesses ended after a partner stole money from the company. I guess I’m too hardheaded to learn things the first time around. But I’ve seen similar partnerships in our industry. Trust is important, but so is checking the books and the bank account.

HAVING A BUSINESS PARTNER

Many of you are content with operating one shop that does a certain amount of business and that’s great. If you can operate a business, pay yourself, pay all of your bills and provide for your family awesome. If you can’t do those things you need a partner in some capacity to help.

If you want to expand your business beyond a single location then you have very little choice than to bring in a partner. Two or three locations sounds easy once you’ve mastered a single location but it’s not. Want grow? Find a partner!

Partnerships come in all different shapes and sizes. They should also bring different skills to the business. My partner in the AT&T business was a limited partner who didn’t participate in the day to day operations but handled our finances. This was a skill that I lacked. Know your weaknesses and plan accordingly.

OTHER TYPES OF PARTNERS

Not every partner will have a financial stake in your business but other types of partners should want to see you succeed. These are companies you do business with on a regular basis. It could be a parts supplier, a marketing company, or some type of business association (like the TCA).

These relationships are important to your business and will help determine your future success. If you, or the company you’re doing business with, treats these partnerships as a simple transaction then it is NOT A PARTNERSHIP. You should walk away from these type of relationships (good personal advice too!).

You should evaluate these partnerships on a regular basis. For instance if you are a repair company, who you buy parts from is critical to your companies success. Price is only one thing that you should evaluate when looking at these partnerships.

DO YOU WORK WELL WITH OTHERS

If you have kids you might have heard a teacher evaluate your child on how well they work with others. Why? Because this is a critical skill in life. It’s also a critical skill in our industry and very few grade out much higher than a ‘D’.

I get it. Their are a lot of scavengers in our industry. Knowing that I have even been too trusting myself in operating the TCA (reread the update from last week below). We need to work together to eliminate those people from our industry.

NEXT STEPS: Friends, if your business is not living up to what you need and/or expect it’s time to evaluate yourself. Here are three steps you should consider today:

1) Should my business continue (some need to simply close the doors)?
2) Do I need to find a business partner or explore a merger/acquisition?
3) How can I do a better job of working with people within the industry?

For some of you it’s too late. You need to count your losses and close up shop before it gets worse. A failed business is NOT the end of the world. For many it’s the beginning of a new world and more success. Or at least some stability in life.

Some of you suck at certain aspects of business and you need to find a partner to help you move forward. Owning 100% of a sinking ship means nothing. On the other hand having a stake in a business that allows you to pay yourself is priceless.

Lastly, and most importantly, how are you partnering with others in the industry?

Every single successful business in this country is connected in one way or another to other businesses in their industry. This is the core of an industry trade association (read more here about WHY you should belong to a business association).

Working with others is important to the success of anyone! Let’s all work together to help everyone succeed in our industry so that fewer of you have to think about question #1 above!