[Question/Advise] Thinking about opening a cellphone store

I too am interested in the answer to this question...

 

my asian brothers, just get a damn doughnut store.


daylight donuts in the house.

 

Hopefully it's not going to be a company that just advises and gives advice on cell phones....

 

I don't know all the ins and outs of it but my cousin has a cell phone store that is doing pretty well. Global Air Comm on Bellaire @ Wilcrest. He worked for 2 years in Cali at his friend's chain of stores over there of the same name. He said he learned alot because Cali Asians change out their phones alot more than over here, so he saw how the business was run at high speed.
I don't think you need any license. But you probably do need to contact the vendor and ask to resell their phones. But you need capital to purchase the phones ahead of time. Also, the commissions are on a couple month delay so you need to make sure you have money to hold you over the first few months when the money does not flow in.
He also says a storefront is so much better than those kiosks in the mall. Because people just come and look and ask a bunch of time wasting questions, but rarely buy.
I did ask him one time and he mentioned that he gets $100 each new activation.

 

I don't know whether its a good idea or bad idea, but here's a relevant quote from my buddy and comic Mark Saldana:

"There's no business like showbusiness". This is so true because there really is no business that has such a concentration of douchebags. Maybe the cellphone business."

 

that may be true, but many cell phone stores pay like 50 - 80 dollars per activation to their employees.

but i truly think they make most their profit off of the accesories and its 400% markup.

 

He has 1 full-time employee that he pays a salary. Like 12 bucks an hour or whatever. And he has 2-3 part-time people he pays $8-9. He says he does not like to pay commission because they fight over new customers and ignore 'paid' customers who come in with issues.
And yeah, I'm sure they make good margin on accessories.