Have you been running the whole show all by yourself? The amount of work getting way too much for you? Looks like you have reached the stage of scaling your small business to a bigger repair venture by hiring employees.
You need to build a workforce for your repair business that can take care of all the repairs while you manage the sales. In case you’re new to this journey or just want to learn the best way to manage your repair store, we have got some expert advice to help you find the right directions.Â
Find the right people
When hiring employees to work with you at your cell phone and computer repair shop, you gotta make sure they have genuine interest in technology. You need people who relate to your passion and are not just looking for a day-time job.Â
So the right people for your business are the ones who have a knack for cell phone and computer repairs. Of course beginner level knowledge and skills count, but the key factor here is passion. Â
The best approach is hiring employees on a trial week and watching them closely. Don’t freak out if you don’t find the right person right away. Just tell them they are not the right fit for your business and move on to finding better ones.Â
Get their word on legal documents
When you do find the best fitting employee, you need to get their signatures on three important documents before making them your right hand. Better safe than sorry, right?
1. New Employee Form
This document will officially declare the person as your new employee. It will record all their personal and other information, as well as define their role in your business. By signing this piece of paper, your new recruit will accept their responsibilities as a part of your team.
2. Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
Once your new employee starts working with you at your repair store, they will have the access to confidential information that you cannot risk letting other people know. This is stuff like, say, your daily sales, marketing ideas and strategies, vendors’ details etc.Â
Sometimes, a customer walks into your store and, in a friendly tone, starts asking your employees questions like ‘how many repairs do you do a week or a month?’ or ‘what are your most popular repairs?’. Any expert businessman can tell that they are not your customers, but instead, potential competitors. So you need to warn your new employees to avoid such trouble-makers and not accidentally let slip the answers.
Hence, you must have them sign the non-disclosure agreement so they don’t give your sensitive information away to anyone, not even by accident.Â
3. Non-Competent Agreement
Many cell phone and computer repair stores have encountered new employees who get all the training from the store owner and then open their own repair business. They not only waste the owner’s time, but also challenge their business by opening a store next door.
If you want to save yourself from such misadventures while hiring employees, make sure you get their signature on the non-competent agreement.
The RepairDesk employee handbook covers all the above three sections and you can download it for free to get your new recruits on board.
Train them in phases
Now that they are officially your new employees, it’s time to get their hands on the repairs. But you gotta train them first.
Try training them in phases, starting with basics and ramping up with time. At first, you will only be paying them to learn, so start with a low hourly pay.Â
Then when they are confident enough to work the front office phones, increase hourly.Â
When they start repairing phones, increase some more. And more, when they can finally do it all (cell phones, tablets, and computers).
How soon your new employees get these raises depends on their abilities. Let them breathe, make mistakes, share their queries, seek your help, and reach the point where they no longer need your hand.
Manage their activities with a POS software
As soon as your new employees get the hang of repairs and basic store operations, set up their accounts on your repair shop software. It will make your life so much easier with its awesome employee management features. Don’t have one? Try RepairDesk for free.
Sign Up for a 14-day FREE Trial
With the best computer repair shop software in place, your employees will be able to create instant repair tickets and invoices and update the status of their repair jobs. So you can track their daily, weekly, and monthly performances and reward them accordingly. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!Â
Final Words
If you want to take charge of your business and grab all the opportunities, take the first step of hiring employees. It will certainly take you sometime to find the right people and train them, but it will all be worth your while. We have a free employee handbook and an all-in-one repair shop software for you to get the best out of your employees. So what is stopping you? Hire away, fellas!
