How to Start an Appliance Repair Business? [Step-by-step Guide]

The appliance repairing industry has a bright future. The market will reach $763,451 million by 2025, at a CAGR of 5.4%. Now is the time to jump in if you have a dream of starting your appliance repairing business.

Whenever we start something new, there is a lot of confusion. “Where to start” That’s a question that comes to our mind a lot. Also, it feels anxious to go into uncharted territory.

For those who want to build an appliance repair startup, I can understand your feelings. “How to start an appliance repair business?” This must be a burning question for you.

Hence, I decided to write this blog. The purpose is to guide you and like-minded individuals that aspire to establish their business in the appliance repair industry.

What is an Appliance Repair Business

It’s hard to imagine life without these appliances. We depend heavily on washing machines, dishwashers, gas stoves, air conditioning equipment, and refrigerators. And appliances break down and need repairing often. The appliance repair industry provides repairing services for these appliances.

Their technicians will come to your house and repair appliances that need fixing.

Follow These 10 Steps For Starting an Appliance Repair Business

1. Come Up With a Business Plan

   Creating a plan is the first step for building a thriving appliance business. A business plan will cover essential information like:

   • Target market
   • Types of services that you will offer to your customers
   • What charges you will apply for the services
   • Your competition in the market
   • Marketing and sales
   • Business operations
   • Milestones and metrics
   • Company overview and its team
   • Financial forecast and how you will use funds, and it’s the source
   • Decide your own salary as the CEO
   • Profit and loss statement
   • Balance sheet
   • Cash flow statement

2. Pick a Name For Your Company and Register It

   Now it’s time to pick a name for your business. Whatever you choose should be catchy. It should not be hard to spell and should convey some meaning.

   Here are some resources available for brainstorming names:

   • VisualThesaurus. com (It gives you visual around keyword)
   • Shopify business name generator (generates business name ideas and checks domain availability simultaneously)
   • NameMesh.com (provides a startup company name generator)
   • Naminum.com (Let’s you generate names based on a theme)

     To register your appliance repair business, please visit this website.

3. Apply for Business License and Insurance

   You will need multiple licenses, permits, and registrations from federal, state, and local agencies as a corporation or as a limited liability company (LLC). Here I will share everything you need to operate your business legally.

   • Federal Licensing

     Federal law requires any repair technician working on refrigeration systems to be certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Most appliance repair businesses will need to obtain Type 1 certification. It is a small appliance classification where the refrigerant charge is under 5 pounds.

     Here is the section of the United State’s environmental protection agency that will explain the process required to get your technicians certified.

   • State Licensing

     There are only a few states that require licensing for appliance repair. Licensing is more common for commercial equipment, typically under a contractor or mechanical licensing.

     Here are a couple of states with licensing for appliance repair businesses:
     1. For installing appliances in Texas, one needs to have Texas Residential Appliance Installer License. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation issues it.

     2. The bureau of household goods and services regulates appliance repair businesses in California. There is no education or certification requirement. Although, they do charge a fee.

   • Local Licensing

     Licensing is more common for appliance repair at the city and county level than from the state. Nassau County, New York, requires a Home Appliance Repair License. You need to apply to the Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs to obtain this license. Also, bring your recent photograph, proof of residence, and business location when you apply there.

     Suffolk County Department of Labor, License & Consumer Affairs in Suffolk County, New York also requires a home appliance repair license to work on small household appliances.

     Some cities do not allow appliance repair shops to operate out of the home, like Turlock in California and Kaysville City in Utah. Please keep this in mind if you are from these cities.

   • Federal Employer Identification Number

     The Federal Employer Identification Number is a unique nine-digit number identifying a business with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They also get referred to as FEIN, EIN, Employer Identification Number, EIN, or Federal Tax ID Number.

     You will need to apply for an EIN if you plan to hire employees or establish a partnership with someone. Sole proprietors and single-owner LLCs without employees can use the owner’s social security number.

     Visit the IRS site to apply for an EIN. It takes only a few minutes to file, and you will receive a number within seconds. You can also apply by mail or fax by sending the SS-4 form. Also, it is possible to get an EIN over the phone.

   • Sales Tax Permit or Number

     You will need a state sales tax permit or tax ID number to sell products or offer specific services. This permit creates an account number with the state’s Department of Revenue or a similarly named state taxing agency.

     Hiring employees will also likely require a state tax number.

     Resale Certificate

     Your company can purchase repair parts for household appliances tax-free. For this, you will need a resale certificate, also known as a seller’s permit. It will allow your business to purchase inventory without having to pay sales tax to the vendor. Instead, they will charge sales tax to the end-user of the product.

     Remember, a resale certificate will only allow you to not pay sales taxes for items that are getting resold.

   • Certificate of Occupancy

     A business will need to have a certificate of occupancy before opening in many communities. You can get it from the city or county. It will allow your company to occupy and operate from a building, provided that it follows the zoning regulations, building codes, and any other local requirements.

     If you have a home-based business, then you will need a certificate of occupancy. Check out with the local zoning department to ensure that your company can legally operate out of chosen location.

   • Get Business Insurance

     Here is some general liability insurance that I recommend for your appliance repair business:

     • Commercial liability insurance: It will protect your business if a consumer gets injured due to your work. The liability insurance will cover resulting expenses like legal fees.
     • Commercial property insurance: It covers the cost of lost or damaged equipment.
     • Worker’s compensation insurance: It applies if your company hires staff. The insurance will cover expenses like medical bills if an employee gets injured while working.
     • Commercial auto insurance: It will cover your service business vehicle and offer protection in the case of an accident.

       The costs of insurance policies can vary based on factors like the value of the equipment and the business location. You can request quotes from different companies to get an accurate idea of insurance costs. Compare those quotes and pay attention to how their premiums, deductibles, coverage limits, and exclusions vary.
       And as soon as you get the licenses, open a business bank account to keep track of your personal and professional expenses separately. This helps you to get your accounting system organized.

4. Choose a List of Services That You Will Offer to Customers

   Choosing which services you will offer to consumers is a challenging task.

   The standard services that you can include in your appliance repair business involve cleaning:

   • Refrigerators
   • Freezers
   • Ovens
   • Dishwashers
   • Microwaves
   • Washers and dryers

     Whatever the service you select, you need to ensure that either you or the technician are well-trained to fix the problem of various appliances.

5. Purchase Required Tools and Equipment

   To start a new appliance repair business, you need to purchase appliance repair tools and equipment to repair the appliances of consumers’ homes.

   Without tools and equipment, it’s almost impossible for you to run your appliance repair business. So, it becomes mandatory to invest in purchasing the necessary tools required to fix appliances.

   If you don’t have such tools, you will need to spend at least a few thousand dollars. An alternate option is to opt for business loans to buy tools for your new business.

   As a new business owner, you must have some amount in your hand to purchase essential things before starting your new business. A significant portion of the investment goes into buying the tools and equipment.

   Just make sure that whatever the essential tools you purchase, they quickly deal with repairing almost all appliances. However, some of the standard tools that help both basic as well as specific repairs are mentioned below:

   • Screwdrivers
   • Nut drivers
   • Multimeter
   • Putty knife
   • Needle nose pliers
   • Gloves
   • Glasses

   So, the best idea is to keep the stock of the tools used to repair home appliances.

6. Get a Vehicle to Transport Tools and Appliances

   For providing the services to your customers, having a business vehicle is the most important thing to consider. A vehicle can be either a truck carrying extensive equipment or a van for small equipment.

   Such vehicles play an essential role in transporting the equipment from one location to another, whether in the same city or a different city.

   Also, you need to include a closed-packed car to complete the work by visiting the customers’ location. A truck or a van must be included in your business that helps your supply chain to a large extent.

   On an initial level, you can initiate purchasing a rental or used truck for your company rather than a new one. Once your business grows well, you can buy a new truck or a van for your business.

7. Create a Marketing Strategy for Your Business

   Now, it’s time to highlight your business by using top-rated marketing strategies. It entirely depends on how you showcase your business to the homeowners in your city or town.

   Here is how you can put your marketing plan in place:

   • Get a Service Chatbot: They will deliver 24×7 automated customer support. It will boost customer engagement and also save a significant amount of time.
   • Go for Email Marketing: It is a cost-effective solution that empowers you to contact customers in their inboxes. Email marketing is an effective means for communicating with the core consumers.
   • Request online reviews and testimonials from your satisfied customers: Use quote testimonials, social media testimonials, before and after pictures, customer reviews, blog post reviews, case studies, video testimonials, documentary series, and media coverage to attract more customers.
   • Offer personalized solutions to your customers: It shows that you care about your consumers. You can give a casual discount to your loyal customers to entice them to continue using your repair services. It will boost engagement and also forge a personal connection with them. Your consumers will feel valued as a result. Building trust will ensure their loyalty for a long time.

   Moreover, this is a great opportunity to repeat customers by responding and taking action on the reviews and suggestions.

   • Define your target customers: Carefully devise a marketing plan specific to 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 and work on offline marketing too, such as distributing business cards and word of mouth.

8. Develop a Simple Website

   In this technologically advanced world, a website with a professional web design is a powerful weapon to showcase your business to the customers. Nowadays, you need to just Google the words “appliance repair business,” and multiple options of appliance repair businesses in their nearby location will be available.

   It becomes mandatory for you to be on top of such Google results. The first thing you need to perform is purchasing a domain name for your business and developing a website. The website includes the essential information related to your business, service offering, charges for different services, and contact information.

   So, the prospects intending to take your service will make phone calls to you by looking at your website. You can also include a page where customer testimonials are available, and the users can get the overall idea of your services.

   An appliance repair business doesn’t need to have a large workspace or rent an office space to work. You can quickly initiate from your home as well.

   An appliance repair business provides on-site services by visiting customers’ homes and apartments. For this business, you just need a van to transport tools and equipment.

   These are the standard steps that help you start your appliance repair business and provide the best services of appliance repairs to your potential customers.

9. Seek Out an Ideal Workspace

   You will need a place to take the service call and meetings and do paperwork. Set up a work area in your home for major repairs. Any minor appliance repairs can be done on-site.

10. Hire Employees

    When hiring employees for your appliance repair business, you should publish social media posts that notify people about the opportunity. Share details regarding the position along with your contact information. You can post it on your social media accounts and request your network to share it with anyone who might be an ideal fit.

    You can also share your post in groups where the potential candidates are most active. It will help you connect with a large audience of people who might be interested in the job. Even if they are not, these people can share it with someone who might be your ideal candidate.
    Once you hire the employees, you need to make sure you provide them with appliance repair training and sessions for enhancing customer service skills.

Pros and Cons of Starting an Appliance Repair Business

Conclusion
You will be able to build a thriving business by following this guide. But wait! there’s more. Here is my final piece of advice. Automating and streamlining your appliance repair business will be the best decision as you can manage your business by phone from the comfort of anywhere.

So, adopting FSM software like FieldCamp will help you automate and streamline your business operations. Seamlessly assign jobs to your technicians, track their current tasks, share comprehensive work details, and much more. With our software, your profits will skyrocket. So, visit our website and book a demo today!