Business Skills for Technicians – JSS3 Computer Hardware & GSM Repair Lesson Note (Third Term)

Business skills are the habits and tools a technician uses to manage money and attract customers.

Behavioural objectives

1. Define bookkeeping, marketing and branding.
2. Keep a simple “In and Out” record book for a repair shop.
3. Calculate balance and profit from a set of transactions.
4. Describe three ways to market a repair shop.
5. Work out a fair price for a repair.

What are business skills and why do technicians need them?

Business skills are the money-management and customer-getting habits that keep a workshop running.

• Technical skill: the ability to repair phones and computers.
• Business skill: the ability to manage income, spending and customers.
• The problem: a technician may fix 10 phones a day and still fail to pay shop rent at month end.
• The cause: he has technical skill but no business skill.

The two most important business skills in this lesson are:

1. Bookkeeping: tracking every kobo that enters or leaves the business.
2. Marketing: telling people why they should bring their gadgets to you and not to someone else.

What is the technician’s mindset?

• Wrong thinking: “I have ₦5,000 in my pocket, so I am rich.”
• Right thinking: “I have ₦5,000. ₦3,000 is for a customer’s battery, ₦1,000 is for electricity, and only ₦1,000 is my profit.”
• Lesson: money in your hand is not always your own money.

What is bookkeeping?

Bookkeeping is the writing down of all money received and money spent in a business.

• You cannot rely on memory to hold every transaction.
• Use a record book to write each transaction when it happens.

Why should a technician keep books?

• Profit or loss: you know whether the shop is making money or losing it.
• Debts: you remember who has paid and who still owes you.
• Stock: you know which parts, such as screens or chargers, you need to buy more of.

What are the key money terms?

• Income: all the money you receive from your work or sales.
• Expense: money you spend to run the business, such as parts, transport and electricity.
• Profit: what is left after all expenses are taken from income.
• Loss: the amount by which expenses are more than income.
• Balance: the money you have after each entry is added or subtracted.
• Debtor: a customer who owes you money.

How do you use the simple “In and Out” method?

The “In and Out” method records every transaction in a notebook with five columns. No computer is needed.

1. Rule your page into five columns: Date, Description, Money IN (+), Money OUT (-) and Balance.
2. Write the date and a short description of the transaction.
3. Enter money received under Money IN, or money spent under Money OUT.
4. Add money IN to the last balance, or subtract money OUT from it.
5. Write the new figure in the Balance column.

• Feb 11: ₦5,000 – ₦1,200 = ₦3,800.
• Feb 12: ₦3,800 + ₦2,000 = ₦5,800.

Technician’s Rule: never spend from the “Balance” until you have set aside money for the shop’s needs.

What is marketing?

Marketing is making yourself visible so that people know what you do and choose you.

• If people do not know you can fix computers, they will go to the big shop in town, even if you are better.

What are the ways to market a repair shop?

1. The “Clean Shop” way: a neat shop shows customers you will handle their device with care. A dusty, messy table makes them doubt you with an expensive laptop.
2. Word of mouth: Nigerians trust friends more than adverts. A teacher whose phone you fix well may tell other teachers. One happy customer is worth more than 100 flyers.
3. Digital marketing: using phones and the internet to reach customers, as shown below.

Digital marketing tools

• WhatsApp Status: post photos of a broken screen and the fixed one, with a caption such as “Fixed in 30 mins! Bring yours today.”
• Google Maps: register your shop’s location so your name shows when people search “phone repair near me”.
• Flyers and business cards: printed papers with your name, services and phone number.

What is branding?

A brand is the reputation people link to you and your shop. Your logo is only one part of it.

• Time: do you return phones on the day you promised?
• Parts: do you use original parts or fake ones?
• Honesty: do you tell the truth when you cannot fix a device?
• Your brand is your promise: keeping it makes customers return and recommend you.

How should a technician price repairs?

A fair price covers the cost of parts, your time and a little extra for the growth of the shop.

• Formula: Fair price = cost of parts + your time + a little extra for the shop’s growth.
• Do not be the cheapest: a price that is too low may make customers doubt your skill.
• Profit formula: Profit = income – expenses.

Worked example

1. You buy a screen for ₦8,000 and charge the customer ₦12,000.
2. You spend ₦500 on transport.
3. Total expenses = ₦8,000 + ₦500 = ₦8,500.
4. Profit = ₦12,000 – ₦8,500 = ₦3,500.

How do bookkeeping, marketing and branding compare?

Bookkeeping protects your money, marketing brings in customers and branding makes them return. The table compares them.

Evaluation

1. What is the difference between “Income” and “Profit”?
2. Why is a WhatsApp Status a good tool for an ICT entrepreneur?
3. If you buy a screen for ₦10,000 and fix it for ₦15,000, but you spent ₦500 on transport, how much is your actual profit?
4. Mention two things that can spoil a technician’s brand or reputation.
5. List the five columns of the “In and Out” record book.

Assignment

Draw an “In and Out” record book page for a repair shop. Enter at least four transactions over three days, with both income and expenses. Work out the balance after each entry.