Students now have an alternative to paying exorbitant fees for fixing their cracked smartphone screens.
ICare Smartphone Repair, located in the SouthGate Centre just south of Archer Road and 34th Street, is a locally owned business opened by Boyd Brown, 22, a UF advertising alumnus.
"For students, I’m pretty much the best price in Gainesville," Brown said.
Brown buys, repairs and trades phones. The iPhone 4 models are repaired for $50, while the iPhone 5 models are repaired for $80. It takes about 15 minutes to fix a phone.
Brown said he offers everything the big businesses offer, including a 90-day guarantee.
He said he makes sure he is knowledgeable about whatever smartphone a customer brings in.
"I’ll probably go get a (an iPhone) 6 as soon as it comes out, and just come back here and take it apart," Brown said. "I’d rather break my own first before somebody else’s."
The services aren’t limited to iPhones. Brown fixes Samsung Galaxy phones and iPads. He also sells off-contract phones and prepaid phone plans starting at $50 a month.
This business idea actually started as a hobby.
Brown said during his freshman year, he and a friend repaired some phones they had laying around and sold them on Craigslist. They sold really fast, he said.
That’s when inspiration hit.
Repairing phones was a way to cover expenses without taking out loans, Brown said. The only difference between now and then is a storefront.
Brown said he always planned on staying in Gainesville after graduation, but he decided to start his business because he didn’t find any jobs that he was interested in.
"I always wanted to start my own business," he said. "I didn’t think it would be so fast."
In the future, Brown said he plans on getting involved in a program that donates some money to charity for every dollar he makes.
He also plans on expanding his business.
This entrepreneurial mind is nothing new for Brown, as it runs in the family. His mother owns a dance studio, and his father owns a tire company.
"We as a family absolutely knew that one day he would own his own business and we’re very proud of him," said Cindy Brown, Brown’s mother. "He certainly worked hard to get his first store open."
Brown said there are always rough patches when a business is getting started, but he is optimistic about the future.
"Even though there’s not a whole lot of jobs in the market, there’s jobs to be made yourself," he said. "You can always find something to do."
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 8/5/2014 under the headline "UF alumnus turns small jobs into big local business"]
