The Mobile Phone Industry: Should you get a piece of the action?

Written on 10/11/2008 12:10:00 AM by poison_ivy

If you’ve ever been to Asia, you’ll be amazed by how much the people here are using their mobile phones. Why, people from all walks of life carry one with them, it’s no wonder that the wireless carriers’ business in this region is booming. But because of the proliferation of mobile phones, it’s not only the wireless carriers and mobile phone manufacturers which are striking while the iron is hot, even small business owners are getting in on the action. Mobile phone franchises are probably one of the most profitable in this region considering that every person with a mobile phone is a potential customer.

One difference that Asian countries, especially the Philippines, have over European countries is that prepaid mobile phones are more popular than contract phones. That is why having an unlocked mobile phone is a must here. This is where the prepaid card franchise comes in. I’ve seen “reloading” stations in almost every corner, people selling the wireless carriers’ phone cards. You might wonder how this can be a profitable franchise when you can just as easily buy directly from the wireless carriers. Well, the sellers buy these prepaid cards at a huge discount from the wireless carriers and then they sell them at a discount too. A prepaid card worth 100 bucks can be sold for as low as 90 bucks, depending on your competition in the area.

Now this is where my question comes in: why can’t there be more franchise opportunities for the mobile phone business? I’ve gone over the franchises at franchisegator.co.uk and there’s not one single business which is related to mobile phones. Well, what business can be profitable if we’re not into prepaid phone cards in the UK?

Let’s see, there’s the mobile phone charger kiosk which you can put in malls. Someone going shopping who ran out of battery can easily go to one of these kiosks, drop some pence and have their mobile phone charged for a minute or so. Or you can offer these kiosks at restaurants or a place where there’ll be a LOT of waiting. There are also a lot of websites offering to unlock your mobile phone, well, why not have similar franchises? The list could go on: mobile phone repairs, accessories, etc. The point is, there’s a mobile phone revolution going on and there’s no sign of declining. Strike while the iron is hot and think up of businesses which would allow you to have a piece of the mobile phone industry.

*links in italics are sponsored links.