If you’ve been thinking about diving into business and doing “something for yourself”, but are not sure what business line to get into, this blog will discuss why a cell phone retail business is better than other retail business.

Specifically, we will discuss how cell phone retail:

a) is easier to start, b) is easier to maintain, c) offers great profit margins, and d) is less risky.

a)  Compared to other retail stores (such as dollar stores, clothing and shoe stores, grocery stores and others) cell phone stores are quite easier to start with very little financial investment.   A cell phone retail store can be started with as little as $20K with minimal square footage and hardly require any licenses or permits.  See our previous blog “The a-b-c-d of opening a wireless retail location” for further info.

b) Cell phone retail stores are easier to maintain and can be managed with minimal time commitment and supervision.  Many cell phone store owners often hold outside jobs or use the time and freedom to focus on expansions and growing the business.  Also, cell phone stores don’t have to have the thousands of items and products that other types of retail businesses demand and the items are non-perishable, so you don’t have to worry about your merchandise going bad.  There’s also hardly any customer returns or defective merchandise to deal with, which is easily returnable to the vendor if needed.  Cell phone retail locations can be run with as little as a couple of employees, which is easy on your payroll budget which can be the biggest expense for most businesses.

c) Despite the competition, cell phone retail still holds great margins both on the handsets as well as accessories.   Another great source of income is the topup revenue on bill payments which is a steady source of monthly income with minimal work or expense. A great cell phone store point-of-sale software like CellSmart POS can help you stay in touch with your customers via text-message and remind them to pay their bill at your location helping you increase your bill payment revenue. Many wireless carriers also offer valuable spiffs, commission and residual on phone activations to further boost your bottom line.

d) Because wireless retail locations require minimal space and small inventory, it also requires smaller investment compared to other types of retail businesses.  With smaller investment, easier maintenance, lower expenses and healthy margins, wireless retail offers quite a risk-free investment compared to many other retail operations which can take hundreds of thousands of dollars to start, require a ton of permits and licenses, and be time and energy demanding.

So, there we have it. Considering all of the above, we think cell phone retail store is a great business model for first-time entrepreneurs.

Be sure to read our other blogs for helpful tips of improving customer satisfaction and increasing sale.

Happy Selling!