“All you have to do is to give us a call and our executive will be at your doorstep to collect your phone/laptop that needs repairs,” says Shaad Rahman, Co-founder and CEO, Phixman.
Tell us everything about your startup, what does it do? What were the challenges of setting up and scale? How did you overcome them?
You break – We Collect – We Phix
As the phrase states we are a startup in fixing every kind of gadgets. In today’s tech savvy world, gadgets are an integral part of life. Like every machine fails, gadgets also fail and here is when we enter. Phixman.com incepted with an idea to make Smartphone repair a breeze and this is the area we excel at! If you’re Smartphone or Laptop has a damaged screen, parts missing, or any problem that is making it work erratically, we will ‘Phix’ it for you. We are not just limited to Smartphones; we also repair tablets as well. The best bet with Phixman is we take care of every brand of Smartphone and Laptop that is available in Indian market right now, with rates and quality that is second to none.
All you have to do is to give us a call and our executive will be right at your door step to collect your phone or laptop that needs repairing. Unlike other repairing shops, where you have to wait for 2-3 days to get your phone or laptop fixed, we Phix it for you in a day and that is too under warranty; and this includes major brands like Apple and Samsung flagships. There is nothing we can’t take of when it comes to Smartphones & Laptops.
We believe, facing challenges is the way to premium success. Whenever we start a business we face lot of challenges like funding, hiring technicians, competition and giving the best service. Likewise, we also faced lot of challenges while starting up the business and due to our commitment and focus, we succeeded in overcoming the challenges and establishing a business. Being a service sector business, our aim is to provide the best man power and services to the clients. It requires a lot of technical knowledge in repairing business so we had to hire best repairing engineers. We overcame all our loopholes and established this business.
How did you come up with the idea and what was the Eureka moment?
The idea of establishing this business came with my personal experience and an approach to solving bigger problems of this particular Industry with latest technologies available worldwide. As today people have become dependent on gadgets like laptop and mobile, all of their data is stored in that so we make sure that their data is secure and is in safe hands. We majorly focused on enhancing customer experience.
What has been Revenue, traction and growth from the date of inception till now?
It has been a great journey which started from Indore with a single outlet and steadily we grew nationally in 15 states having 25 exclusive stores. Our turnover till date has grown up to 10 Cr and with new approaches of expansion both nationally and internationally we would grow by almost 5 times in the coming financial year.
What is the one thing that sets you apart from your competitors and what’s your revenue model?
One thing that sets us apart from our competitors is our guaranteed service. We guarantee 24 hour repair, home picking of gadget, safety of data and most importantly payment after customer satisfaction. We charge after we deliver the gadget to the client and they are satisfied for the fact that their device is completely repaired with all the data in it. Also we have dedicated exclusive stores that are looking forward to customers who want personal assistance care and understanding. Revenue model works on services to customers on their online and offline bookings.
Who are your key clients? How much do you charge them?
Phixman has its exclusive stores offering very premium retails for electronic accessories & and post retail services for electronic Items like smartphone, Laptops, Computers & Gaming console.
On service we charge much better prices than service centers almost 25% less than the price of competitors available for every gadget that is available in Indian market.
What are the unit economics and margins for a business like this and how does the model work?
We have transformed the industry but putting services online for sale and people choosing what they actually want that too at a fixed price. In the same way with which Flipkart and amazon works for retail.
In 2018 Phixman has received a lot of traffic over sale of services online and catered above 10 Lakh customers nationally.
How are you funded?
We are a boot strapped company, we are totally self-funded and we have no financial liability. Our profit making is such in this industry that all our all business expenses are met adequately. But as we plan to expand our business, we are looking out to raise Series A funding in the near future.
How does the platform work?
Phixman is one of its own kind idea because users are free to shop services online and experience great hospitality at Phixman offline stores nationally. We provide our services in 4 easy steps, first the customer books repair online adding all the details about the problem in the device then we send our delivery boy to pick up the device in the next step. We diagnose the device and repair it and send it back to the customer safe and solid with all their data intact.
What are the costs of building something like this (approximately)? How long does it take?
In Building up the whole channel with 25 stores as of now with such a strong network will be INR 70 million – INR 80 million with assets and all. But if we grow double the size the calculation is estimated to grow in the same proportion in 2019 and same would be the turnover.
What are the Future plans?
Future plans, we would say there is a common future plan for every business and company which is to grow and get worldwide presence and make goodwill in the market. We would say we want to set a benchmark in repairing industry in such a way that Phixman should be the name whenever someone needs gadgets repairing whether in India or internationally and for this we intend to launch 500 stores worldwide very soon. We are working to create awareness among Electronics brands in Indian and International market who is working hard for post retails services for achieving customer loyalty. To all those brands Phixman is a complete end to end solution for them ready with service and retail channels.
