How to Start an Appliance Repair Business

In these modern times, we are living in reliance on various appliances from our refrigerators to vacuum cleaners to washing machines, and yet we all know these appliances won’t always be 100% ready at all times.

Appliances can malfunction due to various issues from excessive usage, electrical shock, short circuit, and others, and so there’ll never be a shortage of demands for appliance repair businesses. In fact, the demands for appliance repair technicians are expected to grow significantly over the next decade.

If you have the right skills or can partner up with a technician, then starting an appliance repair business can be a very lucrative opportunity.

Appliance Repair Business: Requirements

An interesting thing about appliances is that anyone with various income levels can own at least one appliance. While richer people might not mind replacing a broken appliance with a brand new one, most people prefer to repair the appliances instead to save some money. Again, this will mean there’ll never be a shortage of demands for appliance repair, especially if you are located in a densely populated area like the city of Austin, TX.

Another important consideration is that you don’t need any special certifications/licensing or formal training to start an appliance repair business — which also means lower cost. An exception is if you are going to offer refrigerator repair, which in this case you will need to pass a test by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) if you are located in the US.

However, even if you aren’t legally required to get a certification, having vocational experience, or finishing an apprentice program will be a valuable competitive edge over your competitors. Customers will also appreciate certifications from reputable organizations like the International Society Certified Electronics (ISCET) and Professional Service Association (PSA), and they can be powerful promotional ‘tools’ for your business.

Appliance repair, however, can be physically demanding as you might be required to lift heavy appliances and tools, so you (or your employees) are required to be relatively fit. Also, you will need the be properly insured, as we will discuss below.

Insurance Requirements

If you are located in the US, you are legally required in most states to have appropriate insurance policies. However, even if you aren’t legally required, having these insurance policies can help protect your business so you don’t have to use your hard-earned money in any unfortunate accidents that might occur as you run the appliance repair business.

It is recommended to contact your nearest insurance agent/broker so you can work out the right insurance policies according to your needs. However, here are some basic insurance policies you should consider:

• General Liability Insurance
• Professional Liability Insurance
• Workers’ Compensation Insurance
• Business Owner’s Policy
• Health Insurance
• Property Insurance
• Overhead Expense Disability Insurance

How to Grow Your Appliance Repair Business: Tips and Tricks

1. Get the Foundation Right

You won’t be able to grow your business if you don’t get the basics right:

• Decide on a proper business name — make sure the name has a recall value. A professional logo will also help customers to recognize and remember your business.

• While you should work on building customer testimonials and referrals, experienced technicians and staff can significantly help in attracting customers in the early days of your business. Plan how you are going to hire qualified and experienced technicians/employees.

• Procure the right equipment and tools, including vehicles, according to your budget. Similar to the above, if you can get the latest state-of-the-art tools, it can be a competitive advantage in attracting your audience.

• Establish a supply chain for supplies and consumables. Build healthy relationships with vendors and suppliers for essential consumables. Always have a plan B for every item.

• Define your target audience, and carefully devise a marketing plan specific for this target audience.

Remember that no matter how good your service is, you won’t grow your business if you can’t attract customers. So, put extra attention on your marketing efforts.

2. Plan Your Finances

Arrange your finances up front. If necessary, secure a loan or funding until the business can fund itself.

It’s very important to note that the appliance repair industry is a very competitive niche, so having a clear-cut cash flow plan is required. How effectively you can manage cash will make or break your business’s growth. Consider:

• How you can lower costs for each appliance repair. This will help you stay competitive.

• Establish a systematic quote generation system before getting started.

• When quoting your prices, consider hidden costs such as transportation fees, taxes, depreciation, and other crucial factors on top of supplies/consumables, service charges, and labor costs.

• Always pay attention to your competitor’s rates as a benchmark. You can charge higher than your competitor if you can offer (and communicate) extra values. Undercutting your price all the time isn’t a sustainable strategy.

3. Grow in These Key Aspects

• Appliance repair experience and skills: pretty self-explanatory, the more skilled and experienced you (and your technicians) are, the more clients you’ll attract.

• Problem-solving: some cases might need you to be creative, including when you need to find rare and difficult spare parts, as well as other challenges.

• Scheduling: always deliver on your promises. Providing high-quality service is the best way in retaining and turning customers into advocates. Use appliance repair software and an app like fieldd to properly implement smart scheduling and workflow management for your appliance repair business to maximize your value.

• Customer service: remember that you are, in essence, a service business. Always maintain good conversation etiquette, and always stay calm during customer complaints. Your objective is to build healthy relationships with all your existing customers.

Conclusion

Appliance repair is a very lucrative business opportunity, but it is still very important to execute it properly to beat your competition. Proper planning will help you set up the appliance repair business to run smoothly and efficiently, so you can grow the business to attract more customers.

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