Professionals Serendipity 
Phones: everybody has them, and everybody needs them, as more and more vital parts of our lives become accessible from the touch of a button. Tamborine Mountain is no exception to this, but when these vital accessories inevitably break down, it can be a hassle to get them fixed or replaced. Enter Xavier Guenter, owner and operator of Big X Repairs, the mountain’s premier phone sale and repair service. Despite only having graduated last year, Xavier has already made a name for himself as an entrepreneur in his field, and he’s more than happy to share the story of how he got here with us today.
by Kyle Hitchmough
How did you get started with Big X Repairs?
I was still in school, I only graduated last year, and I was playing soccer five days a week in the NPL which is very high level. I couldn’t get a job because I didn’t have time on the weekends or after school for one. I started looking up side hustles, chose one and started with it!
For those who might not be familiar, can you explain what it is you do?
It started off as just fixing phones, but now there’s more of an element of buying and reselling phones. I still do repairs, though.
What made you choose this business to pursue?
Everyone’s got phones! I did some research and everything about the business model made sense to me. People buy a phone from you, so that’s your first sale, and if they need any accessories they come back to you, if they need any repairs they come back to you, and if you have a family of five or six, if one person buys a phone from you, they all will and they’ll all get them fixed by you. The other thing is that there was nobody doing it on the mountain. It was perfect.
Where do you source your stock from?
Mostly online marketplaces, and I have a couple of wholesalers as well.
Do you focus on any particular brand of phone?
I only sell iPhones and Apple products. To buy an iPhone screen might be $50, but the equivalent for a Samsung screen might be $400. To replace the screen, it ends up costing you as much as buying a new phone. It’s a lot more expensive for me to keep everything in stock and for the customer.
What goes into the average day here for you?
I can work as little or as much as I want, really! There’s not really an ‘average’ day. It’s a lot of checking my sources to get the best deals for customers, and then people can come and pick up their phones. It’s very relaxed. If a purchase or a sale pops up, I will drop everything to deal with it.
Are there any most common repairs or faults that you find you are dealing with?
It’s mostly screens, cracked screens and batteries. Batteries get worse as they age, they won’t hold a charge. In your phone’s settings, you can check your battery health, and once it drops below 80% you get a service message. You should get them changed around then.
Have you noticed any particular trends in your clientele?
It’s a lot of parents buying phones for their kids, something cheap as they know it’s going to end up getting broken very quickly! That’s most of it, but that’s because I mainly focus on the lower-end phones. Percentage-wise, there’s a lot more margin in them. It’s just everyday people.
Are you a local? What’s your opinion on the Tamborine Mountain area and community?
I lived on the mountain since I was 3 up until a couple of months ago when I moved to Southport. I see the mountain as the typical small town like in the movies. Everyone knows everyone and word spreads quickly. It’s a very nice place.
What’s your favourite thing to do in the area?
I love the bushwalks. I like the one across the road from the Heritage Center, because it’s so quiet. You can go with someone, your brother or your girlfriend, and just walk and talk and there’s no-one else there.
Tamborine Mountain has a very eco-friendly and sustainability-conscious culture. Do you think your services help contribute to that?
Yes! It definitely helps prevent a lot of e-waste.
What do you think Big X Repairs really provides to the area?
It’s one of those essential services that nobody else is doing. Everyone’s got a phone, and everyone breaks them eventually. I am looking to teach my brother how to do it in order to be able to keep business on the mountain while I’m expanding it elsewhere, so that I don’t keep people waiting while I move back and forth.
What do you enjoy most about doing this?
I meet a lot of people, I deal with 4-5 brand new people every day when I’m buying or selling or fixing. You only talk to them for a few minutes, but it’s interesting to see all the different walks of life.
Big X Repairs
260 MAIN WESTERN RD, TAMBORINE MOUNTAIN QLD 4272
We are always looking for new topics for our blog. If there’s something you like to see more of, send your suggestions to: social@professionalsserendipity.com.au, or email the writer at kyle.hitchmough@hotmail.com.
