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Do you have store signage that is easy to see? Portable street signage in front of your store and on street corners if applicable?
That was one of the main reasons I chose this location. My store is in the heart of a trendy area with lots of restaurants, shops, Starbucks, offices around. Very easy to see, I invested in a large simple sign and also had some large windows covered with decals of my store name.
Thank goodness for signage in some way, without that I don't think we would've received so many calls. Many will walk by, eating at a restaurant, see my store number and jot it down.
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Who did you send them to? When did you send them? What day did they arrive in mailboxes/on doors? What words did you use to tell them to come to your store?
Nothing too creative, normal standard fliers. I did use more expensive glossy paper than most. I distributed them mostly in my local area. Apartment buildings, inserts with newspapers, walked a few hours and placed some on windshields, bribed a few security guards and placed some inside condo, apartment mailboxes.
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Are you not carrying what they want at a price they are willing to pay? When you get them in the store are you telling them to buy your accessories?
Not sure of the answer, but nowadays iphone accessories are EVERYWHERE. Many already have what they need. My store is focused on repairs only, merchandise sales are just a bonus if we do move some product.
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You need to figure out your average ticket, the margin on it, and your costs. Back in to how many repairs you need to do in a month to make a good profit and see if there are enough people nearby to make that work.
Yes, certainly. At the moment, business is picking up but still very far from reaching its potential. I'm actually surprised at how many small transactions we do. Many come in for stuff that they can easily do at home, like restore and backup. Those are easy jobs with enormous profit margins, but volume is key with small transactions like these.
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I could give you fantastic advice to make a profitable iPhone/iPad repair franchise but I'd only do it over PM.
That'd be great, I will send you a PM.
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Look at the competitors and figure out what they are doing.
Take a drive to the competitor 40 min away and start figuring it out.
Do not try to pave your own way and reinvent the wheel. Someone already figured it out. Copy them.
I did that even before we opened up shop. Weird but I truly believe that we are doing things better, I'm not sure internally what the more experienced shops are doing but our priority is customer service at the moment. We are even doing free deliveries and pick ups, no others are doing that to my knowledge.
Must get better at observing and stealing the success formulas of others, as of now, I still do not see it that clear.
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You are wasting your money on a storefront.
I honestly thought the same before deciding to rent shop space, I have now changed my mind as having a nice physical location gives customers confidence in a legitimate business and walk ins are increasing (still not as many as I'd like)
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You are wasting your money on a storefront.
How should I be doing it? I have not spent any money on marketing for Nov and Dec 2012.
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There is little to no need for services in your area.
Not sure if I can agree, no other shops I think is due to the fact that the area is upper middle class and rent is expensive. That might be a reason there are no other Apple repair shops in my area.
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If word of mouth is your best avenue, you need to re-direct your marketing to concentrate solely on this.
True, any suggestions on how to set up a good marketing strategy for this?
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If there isnt local competition, try to buy broken iphones locally [craigslist, or whatever the local equivalent is for you] and then selling them online. Do this to keep your partner busy and to generate extra cash.
Yes, at the start this was one of my big aspirations. Problem is, I havent been able to find more broken iphones people want to sell. I must search harder. Where online can I sell them? Ebay and where else?
First week of January has been good, not great but satisfactory I suppose. With this pace, rent for the month should be covered in ten days of business. I rented out next door's window so I can place more signage, that should generate more calls and exposure. Profit will be around the corner, just doubting whether it'll be worth it for such a small number.