Light bulb moment resulted in successful phone repair start-up

These days, most people use a smart phone. We rely on them for everything from email to phone calls, taking photos to surfing the internet and even to check our bank balance! One of the down sides of these new, often expensive smart phones is that they break! While working at Royal Mail in Sherborne, a friend of Rosie Noorlander mentioned how up and coming Dorchester was.

Whilst out of work due to an injury, Rosie begun considering alternative ways that she could make an income, and remembered her friend’s comments and had a ‘light bulb moment’ to open a phone shop. Using her extra available time, Rosie conducted an initial market analysis of both Sherborne and Dorchester and realised that her idea could be more promising than she had thought, with shop space immediately available in Dorchester.

In addition to the existing demand of people needing their phones fixed, potential competitors in Dorchester didn’t provide much additional accessory choice – an addition that Rosie had identified as a lucrative revenue stream. The existing phone shops in Dorchester also offered quite restricted opening hours, and as we all know, if your phone is broken you want to get it fixed as soon as possible! Rosie’s friend Ryan Furneaux-Olford was prepared to work and run the shop in her absence while she was still working for Royal Mail.

Now, feeling more confident than ever about her business idea, Rosie contacted Business West to help take her idea to the next level. Working closely with business advisor Andrew Mercer, Rosie conducted further, in-depth research, created her business plan and completed her financial forecasts. Andrew also helped Rosie to understand the important work that goes on behind the scenes of a business, such as marketing and accounting. Through Business West, Rosie was able to receive a start-up loan of £7,100 from SWIG Finance, enabling her to rent business space, kit it out and purchase her initial stock. And so Fix-It Phones was born!

“The support from Business West was brilliant. I was given such an insight into the details of my business plan both in the background and forefront of the business.”
– Rosie Noorlander, Fix-It Phones

To further differentiate her business, from its competitors, Rosie thought smart and created an offer of a 24 hour turnaround on fixing phones. Fix-It Phones is also open 7 days a week, allowing Rosie to better capitalise on the constant demand. Since opening, surrounding competitors have increased their opening hours due to the success of Fix-It Phones. Rosie is a market leader!

When Rosie first opened the business, she networked extensively, fully aware of the benefits that working with partners could achieve. As a result of her efforts, Fix-It Phones is now recommended by local phone contract businesses such as Carphone Warehouse, who offer 10% discount to referral customers. Rosie also has a referral partnership with the local cafe and offers her customers coffee vouchers so that they can relax while they wait for their phone to be fixed.

Looking to the future, Rosie would love to open another Fix-It Phones but is currently focused on growing her new business. However, she is already to looking to expand her current product offering and will be purchasing a specialist type of printer which prints photos onto smart phone cases, creating personalised items. The team at Business West will be by Rosie’s side for the next three years, ensuring that she receives the support that she needs to guarantee Fix-It Phones continues it’s success.

Discover more about Fix-It Phones

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