Elevator Pitch: Fone King

Elevator Pitch is a regular feature on Lifehacker where we profile startups and new companies and pick their brains for entrepreneurial advice. This week, we’re talking with Abraham Mikhail, founder of Fone King.

In 128 words or less, explain your business idea

Fone King was founded to give Australians a one-stop shop for high quality phone repairs and much-needed data recovery. Whilst many companies offer phone repairs, Fone King stands out by only offering trained and qualified phone technicians that not only specialise in data recovery, but also offer the best repair services, using quality – not used – parts. With every technician abiding to a confidentiality contract, customers can truly trust Fone King with their phone.

What strategies are you using to grow and finance your idea?

Firstly, being driven to provide the best customer service, to ensure each and every customer love our services, staff and the overall Fone King in-store experience. Happy customers mean more customers and now we have come to the stage that we are franchising and expanding our national footprint which is very exciting. We chose to use the franchisee model in the way of a reward schedule, inviting for example ten-year staffers the opportunity to become a franchisee.

How do you differentiate your business from your competitors?

We saw a gap in the retail market to provide an exceptional phone repair and data recovery service that others can’t. We knew people in general were having bad experiences when it came to their phone – breaking it and not being able to get it fixed on the spot, getting a new part for that only to break, and being ripped off with low quality products. Furthermore, not feeling comfortable with handing over their phones or passwords.

I believe we differ from other competitors with the in-store customer service we provide, the quality of the products we sell, the expertise and trustworthiness of our staff, and the education we offer to caring for your phone. We understand the value a phone has – and all that it holds – in a person’s life and the importance of protecting it!

We take time and care and personalise the experience. Everyone leaves Fone King with something; a smile, a repaired phone, recovered data, and/or a bag of goodies.

What’s the biggest challenge facing your business?

1. Other dodgy repair outlets that leave customers unhappy and taint the reputation of our industry.
2. Phones that have been attempted to be repaired either by DIY tips from the internet or other phone repair stores. Often customers come in and see us as their last resort, when they have done more damage than good! We can save them money – and time – if they come to us first!
3. We also need to diversify – the quality of our phone repair service and the phone protection products we offer means less people need to fix their phones less often!

What one phone, tablet or PC application could you not live without?

I cannot live without Siri. Due to my dyslexia Siri helps me a lot.

What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve ever received?

Follow the dream, not the competition!

Want to see your startup featured in Elevator Pitch? Get in touch using our contact form.