What to Repair at Your Shop

Employing other Engineers

You obviously had some form of experience in electrical repairs before deciding to open your shop. Will you be using your own skills or employing other engineers to repair goods in your shop? With the skills of several engineers you may find that you can cover the repairs of lots of different items and attract a wider customer base. Perhaps you will be able to cover television, videos and other brown goods repairs as well as electrical appliance repairs as well.

Knowing What to Charge

You must know what the correct charges are for the repairs undertaken in your business. These can differ depending on whether you repair items in the customer’s home or in your workshop. Try to find out what the local rate is for labour charges as you need to be competitive without charging so little that you cannot earn a decent wage. Materials and parts used will have to be added to the labour charge as well as VAT if you are registered.

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Don't Forget to Allow for Overheads

Remember that when you own a shop you will have overheads to pay for. These will includes rent or mortgage costs, electricity, telephone and labour costs. Add to this materials, advertising, vehicle running costs and you can see that your bill charges to customers have got to cover quite a considerable number of items before you make a profit.

Employing Qualified Staff

Remember also that your engineers and staff must have qualifications in whatever repairs they work on. Engineers working on electrical appliance repairs will be qualified in a different way to audio engineers or indeed household electricians. Be wary of anyone who tells you that they are able to repair any form of electrical item as it is unlikely that they are skilled in all these items.

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Reconditioned Goods

Apart from repairs in your shop you may find that it helps to sell items to add to your turnover. This could be reconditioned televisions, radios and hifi’s or perhaps washing machines and other white goods. You must be sure that these items are fit to be sold and that any repairs to the items have been carried out correctly.

Sometimes you may find that customers request electrical appliance repairs and then decide they do not want the item repaired or cannot pay for the repairs. You will then have a perfectly good reconditioned item that can be sold in your shop to recoup the costs of the repairs.

What to Sell in your Shop

As you have a shop front consider selling smaller new goods that will bring in passing trade. Batteries, cables, car aerials and light bulbs are such items. Perhaps nearer Christmas small battery and electrical toys would make a festive display in your window and attract further customers who would then use your services for their electrical repairs when needed.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Electrical Business Startup Cost Calculator lets you work out what it really costs to set up as an electrician: tools, van, test equipment, certification, insurance and registration, so you know how much you need to start. Try it now →