I've owned a PC/Laptop repair store since 2001. After a couple of years of spending day in day out "trapped" in the store i realised i didn't want to spend my life stuck behind a counter for years on end. I started an online business as a sideline, primarily selling laptops online. Over the years that business has evolved and i now sell a range of products online mostly via Ebay and Amazon.
The online side of the business is based in the same location as the Repair Store. I have two full time employees for the online business and one full time employee for the retail store. At the moment 80% of the net profit comes from the online side. I lost interest in the Retail store a couple of years and i've basically left it to tick over (no advertising, word of mouth). I do however have to go in 1 day a week to book repair jobs to cover my one employee on his day off.
As with all Technology the repair side of the business has evolved from doing more PC's repairs then to Laptop repairs however these days people have Tablet's and Cell Phones they'd like repaired. My Repair Technician is a 61 year old retired Paramedic. Totally reliable, very rarely off sick and trustworthy (It's a cash based business so that is very important). However he's nearing the end of his working life and does not want to learn how to fix iphones, ipads tablets etc) He's happy plodding along with the laptop repairs etc. I did have an extra employee lined up to cover this workload but due to a family issue he can longer start work. (The business doesn't currently generate enough money for an extra staff member but i was hoping the income would increase with doing more types of repairs).
The Repair Side of the business is currently up for sale for $40,000. It's been 6 months and no interest. The other issue is that my Father owns my current business property and my Online business is based there. The Repair side basically covers Overheads for the premises and the staff member' salary. Not much more. It earns around Gross profit $4000 on a good month!
The only real reason I've kept the Repair side was as a fall back in case my online business failed. I'm now however seriously debating just closing the store and solely running the online side from there. I could replace the current repair Technician with someone who's can fix the extra products like tablets and Cell phones but they might not be reliable, i'd then also have to spend more time initially in the store with them to monitor them etc, it's a cash based business so very easy to steal from. It's not a road i want to go down. I found one new product for my online business a couple of months ago and it makes more profit a month than the Repair Side. One product.
As MJ explained in the book, the Repair Shop is not and never will be a fastlane business. Not unless i owned 100 shops like that anyway. It's profits are down from last year and it's a business i've lost passion for. I honestly dread when a customer comes into the store when i'm there.
Is it time to twist and close the repair side or shall i stick as is for now as it does contribue towards the Building costs and some make some profit although not much. Sorry for the long post!!
The online side of the business is based in the same location as the Repair Store. I have two full time employees for the online business and one full time employee for the retail store. At the moment 80% of the net profit comes from the online side. I lost interest in the Retail store a couple of years and i've basically left it to tick over (no advertising, word of mouth). I do however have to go in 1 day a week to book repair jobs to cover my one employee on his day off.
As with all Technology the repair side of the business has evolved from doing more PC's repairs then to Laptop repairs however these days people have Tablet's and Cell Phones they'd like repaired. My Repair Technician is a 61 year old retired Paramedic. Totally reliable, very rarely off sick and trustworthy (It's a cash based business so that is very important). However he's nearing the end of his working life and does not want to learn how to fix iphones, ipads tablets etc) He's happy plodding along with the laptop repairs etc. I did have an extra employee lined up to cover this workload but due to a family issue he can longer start work. (The business doesn't currently generate enough money for an extra staff member but i was hoping the income would increase with doing more types of repairs).
The Repair Side of the business is currently up for sale for $40,000. It's been 6 months and no interest. The other issue is that my Father owns my current business property and my Online business is based there. The Repair side basically covers Overheads for the premises and the staff member' salary. Not much more. It earns around Gross profit $4000 on a good month!
The only real reason I've kept the Repair side was as a fall back in case my online business failed. I'm now however seriously debating just closing the store and solely running the online side from there. I could replace the current repair Technician with someone who's can fix the extra products like tablets and Cell phones but they might not be reliable, i'd then also have to spend more time initially in the store with them to monitor them etc, it's a cash based business so very easy to steal from. It's not a road i want to go down. I found one new product for my online business a couple of months ago and it makes more profit a month than the Repair Side. One product.
As MJ explained in the book, the Repair Shop is not and never will be a fastlane business. Not unless i owned 100 shops like that anyway. It's profits are down from last year and it's a business i've lost passion for. I honestly dread when a customer comes into the store when i'm there.
Is it time to twist and close the repair side or shall i stick as is for now as it does contribue towards the Building costs and some make some profit although not much. Sorry for the long post!!
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