Talking to my brother about his side gig made me see profit margins in a new way

I was at a family cookout last weekend and my brother, who fixes phones in his spare time, mentioned he cleared about $800 last month. I asked how many phones that was, thinking maybe twenty or thirty. He said it was only seven. I was shocked because I always thought of phone repair as a low-margin, high-volume thing. He explained that he only takes on specific, tricky jobs like micro-soldering on water-damaged boards, which most shops won't touch, and he charges a premium. It made me realize I've been stuck thinking about business models in broad categories instead of looking for the specific, high-skill niche inside them. Why do we always default to the common wisdom about an industry instead of looking for the cracks where you can charge more for doing less volume? Has anyone else found a small, specific service like that in their field that totally changes the normal money math?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles7225d ago

Honestly, the "doing less volume" part is a bit off. He's not really doing less work, he's doing harder, more skilled work per job. That's why he can charge so much. The real lesson is finding the high-skill tasks most people avoid.

holly71325d ago

But isn't doing less volume exactly how he makes time for that harder work?

the_cameron17d ago

Exactly. That's the whole point. You cut out the easy, low pay stuff that eats your time. Then you have room for the hard jobs that pay way more. I stopped taking small fixes and only do full system setups now. It was scary at first but my income doubled. You have to be willing to turn down the easy money.