How to Price Phone Repairs in Kenya Without Guessing
Most repair shops price by feel. A screen replacement is "around KES 3,500" because that's roughly what it was last time, give or take how busy the day is. That works, until it doesn't — until a client compares your quote to the shop next door, or until you realize at the end of the month that your "profitable" repairs barely covered the parts.
Start from the part, not the guess
Every repair has a real, known part cost — a screen, a battery, a charging port flex cable. That number doesn't move with how your day is going. Write it down before you quote anything.
Add your actual labor time, not a flat fee
A screen swap on a common Android model and a screen swap on a phone with a fused digitizer are not the same job, even if the part costs the same. Track how long repairs actually take, by device, and let that shape your labor charge — not a single flat "repair fee" applied to everything.
Decide your margin before you're standing at the counter
Pick a target margin — many shops land somewhere between 30–50% over parts and labor cost — and apply it consistently. A client who gets a different price than their friend got last week for the "same" repair loses trust fast, even if there was a good reason for the difference.
Track what a repair actually cost you, after the fact
The real test isn't the quote — it's what happened. Did the repair need a second part? Did it take twice as long because of a stripped screw? A system that shows you real cost against real revenue, per repair, is the only way to know if your pricing is actually working, rather than just feeling right.
This is exactly why RepairMatrix separates quoted price from actual part cost automatically — so your profit reports show reality, not the quote you happened to write.