In 2007, Matt McCormick decided to leave his job as a programmer for Microsoft and to start his own company. Initially, he helped small businesses build and maintain their websites. To better understand his customers' needs, Matt decided to create his own e-commerce website. But doing what?
Shortly after starting out on his own, Matt broke the screen on his T-Mobile Dash. Like most people, he went to the dealership and was told he had to buy a new phone. So he did, and then a week later he stepped on that phone and broke the screen again.
This time Matt took the effort to figure out how to repair his own phone. First came the hours of online research to find a replacement screen and all the right tools. Then, after a week waiting for the supplies to arrive, an hour was spent getting the phone torn apart and another hour putting it back together. With a working phone in hand, the idea for Jet City Device Repair was born.
Armed with this new idea, the next task was to build a website. Initially the site offered one service: The repair of a broken T-Mobile Dash screen. After several months repairing a few phones a week, another phone was added: The AT&T Tilt. At the same time, Matt expanded his marketing efforts and soon 20+ phones a week were arriving.
Then, in December of 2008, he began offering the iPhone cracked screen repair service. The business exploded. It was at this time that Matt had to decide whether to continue his web development company or pursue the cell phone repair business full-time - it was no longer possible to do both.
After talking with a trusted friend, Tom Lorimor, Matt decided it was time to take Jet City Device Repair to the next level. He and Tom became business partners and began seriously upgrading the business. A new, much improved website was built, an actual retail space rented, and a full-blown marketing plan was launched. Soon they were fixing hundreds of phones a month.
Today, Jet City Device Repair has a retail location in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, has 2 employees, and, due to the doubling of their business in the past year, they have recently promoted one of their employees to a management position. And the business continues to grow.
