Running a Mobile Shop: Handset Stock, Accessories and Repairs

• 01Handsets are the biggest purchase and the thinnest margin, and old models are marked down late, so stock bought for one season is still on the shelf in the next.
• 02Accessories carry most of the margin but are bought in small lots from several suppliers. Nobody counts what sold, so the drawer fills with slow items while fast ones run out.
• 03Cashback, exchange and finance-scheme amounts are promised to customers on the day and arrive from the brand or lender later, and nobody tracks what is still due to the shop.
• 04Repair jobs are taken on a slip and parts are bought in a hurry from a nearby seller. The job is priced by feel, so some repairs earn well and others quietly lose.
• 05Two or three staff sell at the counter with their own discounts and no rule, so the same handset leaves at different prices on the same day.

• Handset stock days

  Handsets in stock divided by handsets sold per month, times 30, taken model by model for anything over a few units.

• Margin by category

  Sales less purchase cost for handsets, accessories and repairs separately, divided by that category sales.

• Scheme and cashback still due

  Total claimed from brands and lenders and not yet received, listed by age.

• Repair margin per job

  Price charged less parts and the technician time, averaged over jobs delivered in the month.

Handsets bring 75.9% of sales and 29.0% of margin. The mix, not the headline sales figure, decides what you keep.

• 01Buying for the launch rush without checking handset stock days, so models bought at the peak are still unsold when the next one arrives.
• 02Counting handsets and accessories together as one margin, which hides that accessories earn the profit and handsets mostly bring in footfall.
• 03Letting scheme and cashback receivables sit unrecorded, so the shop funds the customer offer for months without knowing the total.

• 01A handset stock sheet by model with purchase date, cost, selling price and days on the shelf.
• 02A margin view for handsets, accessories and repairs kept apart, so the thin line is not hidden by the thick one.
• 03A receivables list for scheme, cashback and finance amounts still due from brands and lenders.
• 04A repair job slip with parts cost, time and price, closed against a delivered date.
• 05A discount rule per staff member and a daily note of any exception.
• 06An accessory fast-mover list with a fixed reorder level for the top items.
• 07A launch-day buying rule that caps advance money against stock already held.
• 08A daily cash and stock count with the same five lines every evening.

1. List every handset in the shop with its cost and the date it came in. Sort by age and look at the oldest five.
2. Hypothetical example: 20 handsets cost ₹15,000 each, so ₹3,00,000 sits in stock. If you sell 8 a month, that is 2.5 months of stock, or 75 days. At a selling price of ₹15,900 you earn ₹900 a handset, so ₹7,200 a month on ₹3,00,000 of money tied up.
3. Write down every cashback, exchange or scheme amount a customer was promised and the brand has not yet paid you. Hypothetical example: ₹1,20,000 is due, of which ₹70,000 is under 30 days old, ₹30,000 is 30 to 60 days and ₹20,000 is older. The ₹50,000 past 30 days is 41.7% of what is owed.
4. Take one repair from last week and add up the part, the time and what the customer paid.

1. First call: you describe the business and the numbers you already track.
2. Your first sheet: the one described under What you get, built from your own books.
3. The rhythm: a regular review of handset stock days, margin by category, scheme and cashback still due, repair margin per job.
4. What you hold at the end: a written sheet and a named owner for each number.

• Financial Health Audit

  A management-level review of margin by product, the cash cycle, receivables and costs, ending in indicators you track monthly. Not a statutory audit.

• Business Audit

  Financial Health Audit is part of Business Audit. See the full service if the problem is wider than one piece.

• I cannot see how my business is really performing

  If you steer by bank balance and gut feel, you are driving blind. See how a few trusted numbers, a monthly report and a review meeting fix that.

• Cash is always tight, even when sales look good

  Full order book but an empty account? See how collections, stock, credit terms and timing gaps drain cash, and how a 13-week forecast eases the squeeze.

• How this differs from Electronics and appliance stores

  A mobile shop turns handsets quickly on thin margin and chases brand scheme money; an appliance store sells fewer, bigger items with delivery, installation and longer finance cycles.