It’s the back half of my second year in the appliance repair business, and I am running at full capacity on service calls all day, every day. I have multiple commercial accounts, one of which is a 600 unit planned development complex that keeps me pretty busy all by itself. My wife now works full …
Trust Your Stuff
Let’s face it before you can know everything about repairing appliances, you will have to run service calls. Especially early in your career as an appliance repair technician, you will have gaps in your knowledge and encounter repair situations you’ve never seen before. All I wanted during this phase of startup was to do a …
Special Tools Needed for Appliance Repair
I’m going to insist that you need these tools on your appliance repair service calls, even though you may not think so. I would then ask you in a few months, after running your own service calls, if you still think some of these are not necessary. The good news is when I add up what I paid for everything …
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Multimeter Basics for True Beginners
A multimeter is an essential tool in appliance repair, so you’re going to have to learn to use one. The trouble is, if you don’t know ANYTHING about multimeters, you might not be able to even understand the books that tell you how to use them. Believe it or not, it’s really hard to find information on …
Appliance Repair – Good Business in a Bad Economy
Back when I first considered starting my appliance repair business not much more than a year ago, I couldn’t have accurately forecast what my experience would be. I only knew that it seemed like a good idea, although maybe a little daunting to get the proper training and compete with well-established businesses for a piece …
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What’s So Great About Appliance Repair?
OK, I have been in the appliance repair business for over a year now, successfully running service calls and making money, but it’s time to stop and think, do I really like it? I invested some time (3 months) and money (home study training, promotional materials, and inventory) into learning to be an appliance repair technician and starting my own …
Paid Leads – Chasing the Dragon
I was nervous when I first moved my business to the big city. How was I going to compete with all the other appliance repair service companies here? I got some of my customers to write reviews for me and worked my way up to the first page of Google, but my website still hadn’t …
The Customer is Always Wrong
A typical customer these days thinks they know a lot more than they do, but you can’t tell them that! They have access to the internet just like you do, which means DIY forums, manufacturer’s websites, and online parts, suppliers. They honestly start out thinking they don’t need an appliance repairman at all, and that …
Cherry Pick Til You Make It
If you want to start an appliance repair business on your own, there is really no way around the hands-on experience learning curve. I armed myself with good training to start with from Uncle Harry and relied heavily on his support system, but at the end of the day I still had to do the repairs …
Indian Head Gasket Shellac Changed My Life
Sometimes I do a repair precisely by the book, leaving absolutely no possibility for error. Then, at the moment of truth (i.e. testing the machine after reassembly), my heart sinks straight into my belly as I stare in disbelief when the appliance behaves just as if I never touched it. This recently happened to me …
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Country to City – Moving My Appliance Repair Business
Just as things were building up a head of steam in the remote rural town of 18,000 people where I successfully started my appliance repair business, my wife landed a job in a city with a metro area of 1.3 million people. So, I moved my business. Here I am in a completely new business situation, cashing in …
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My Ten Problem Call from Hell
Most of my posts are positive examples of overcoming challenges with victorious endings. I wish every call could go that way, but sometimes I get that call where nothing goes right, and in the interest of keeping it real, that’s just as important to write about as all the cool victories. The two-part customer complaint …