This month Business Minds interviews Cal Ridley of Show Us Your Crack. At only 26 years of age, Cal has been in business since 2012. He was a Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist at the Armidale Regional Business Awards for two years running and in 2018 won the Armidale Regional Youth Awards in the Business category.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I was born and raised in Armidale, and I have a lot of family here. I studied at Duval High School and then at UNE. I’m active in both rugby league and union.
When I was 21, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which is a bone marrow cancer and my treatments required me to live in Sydney. I had already started Show Us Your Crack and had plans to expand; however, growing the business had to wait until I had a balance with my health.
My mother and father owned Ridley Mini Skips, so I was brought up in and around running a business.
What does Show Us Your Crack do?
We repair phones and tablets, perform data recovery and offer accessory and pre-owned device sales. Forensic data recovery is our key offering. To date, we have successfully retrieved data from 200 cases of wet or damaged phones. A real challenge we successfully overcame was where a phone had been snapped in half.
We also have a mail-in service which mainly covers Moree, Inverell and Glen Innes.
We sell phones we have obtained direct from the telcos as A grade trade-ins, which are phones that have only had light use, and have never been either broken or repaired.
What led you to start Show Us Your Crack?
I was on the teaching track, and while on placement in Port Macquarie in 2012, I broke my phone. I couldn’t get it fixed – this industry didn’t exist. I didn’t have the money to buy another phone, so I did some research and discovered the parts were replaceable. I watched a YouTube video and repaired it myself!
At first, I fixed phones for family and friends. I’d order the parts in and then repair individual phones. I was working as a barman at the time, so it was very much a side hustle. Demand increased quickly, and I soon needed to keep parts in stock.
I started to get regular work, so I created a Facebook page where people could contact me directly. I was still running the business out of my house, which was becoming a bit of a problem, so I set up a van as a mobile workshop. I booked appointments to go to my clients, fixing their phone then and there. I also did emergency appointments. This allowed me to separate the business from my home.
That worked well for a few years. I was able to keep the overheads low. I was always busy, but the business had so much potential to do more.
Once my health allowed, I focused on finding the right spot for the right rent. The only downside to my location is eating too much Chinese food!
How did you come up with your business name?
I was at the St Kilda with friends playing with business names on a coaster (it’s framed and hanging in the shop). A friend did the original logo. The name and logo are memorable, so they work very well.
How has the shopfront done?
Setting up a shopfront has worked really well. The space allows us to do retail, selling cases and accessories and gives our clients somewhere to go. We are now doing triple the repairs, with up to 20 – 25 devices daily. I now have two full-time staff, as well as a casual.
Device sales are where we have really taken off — we sold over 300 phones last year.
What were your biggest challenges?
The biggest challenge was that, technically, this industry didn’t exist when I started in 2012. There are still no TAFE or university courses you can do. I had to teach myself how to fix each phone – lots of trial and error, troubleshooting, what works and what doesn’t. No “call a friend”. We’ve taught ourselves everything. You still can’t do a course in Australia – it’s a continuing challenge.
I also started a business without real training or support. I had to learn accounting, GST and payroll, and with 30 or 40 people coming in each day for sales and accessories, I’m still learning how to manage my time.
What would you advise a business just starting out?
Stick with it. The first year is probably going to be hard, but keep going. Have some financial backing, to begin with. Save money to put into the business.
What inspires you?
My parents and the business they created inspire me. My father was ahead of his time environmentally. He started a skip bin company and recycled timber and bricks, so they didn’t go to the landfill and constructed his own recycling plant. He supported me and gave me a lot of useful advice, and I really benefited from his entrepreneurial skills.
What’s next?
My plan is to take the retail business online, and I’m exploring franchising. It’s still an untapped market, especially with the quality of the device we can provide.
Sounds exciting! Thank you, Cal.
