The owner of a small household appliance repair shop talked about business during the war. Location: Ukraine, Kyiv Region, Brovary. The city is 15 km away. from Kyiv. During the offensive, the Russian troops were almost on the front line.
With the advent of the war, businesses in Ukraine experienced difficult times. At the beginning of the war, 60% of the population of the city of Brovary left for safer regions or abroad. While the fighting continued, the residents who remained were in their homes or in bomb shelters, going outside only for the most necessary: food and medicine. After the defeat of the Russian army near Kiev, and the withdrawal of the troops, the city began to revive, and the population gradually returned.
During this period, orders for the repair of washing machines, refrigerators, and other household appliances began to arrive.
An interesting fact: there were many appeals for refrigerators that were hit by shrapnel from shells and rockets.
The dollar exchange rate changed the cost of services
Since the beginning of the war, the Ukrainian hryvnia has depreciated, and the value of one dollar has increased from 25 UAH to 40.
To repair household appliances, spare parts are needed, which make up 50% of the repair cost. All these parts are purchased in the countries of the European Union. Therefore, the business was forced to raise prices by 30-40%, from those that were before the start of hostilities.
The beginning of blackouts
On October 10, 2022, the first massive missile attack on energy infrastructure took place. All over Ukraine, power outages began. In the most difficult times, there was no light for 3 days. Then the business was idle.
Repair of household appliances without electricity
The main activity of the workshop is the repair of washing machines and refrigerators at the customer's home. Repair of such equipment is difficult and requires inspection. In such conditions, orders were made only for the time when the electricity was to be according to the schedule provided by the energy company. In case of emergency shutdowns, all orders are postponed. The volume of orders has not changed, but the company's ability to perform repairs has significantly decreased. People had to wait several days or turn to other firms that were free at that moment. Under such conditions, income fell by 45%.
How the home appliance repair business works in Brovary
This type of activity is completely dependent on the availability of electricity. It is not possible to use the generator, because it is large, it is difficult to deliver it to the customer's home. Other storage devices cannot provide the necessary power to operate a washing machine or a refrigerator.
Due to the war, most Ukrainians have large stocks of food, including meat and fish, which are frozen for long-term storage. In this case, the refrigerator needs to be repaired in a few hours, in order to preserve stocks.
To improve the situation, a decision was made to change the schedule of the workshop, it worked when there was light. The departure of the masters began at 6:00 a.m. and ended at 9:00 p.m. Breaks for lunch and rest were during the period when the lights were turned off. Such a technique made it possible to fulfill the order within the set time.
What are the business prospects?
Since February 2023, the situation has improved, power outages have become less long, and later they did not occur at all. The home appliance repair business has started working as usual.
The home appliance repair business is of great importance. Repair of household appliances can lead to significant savings of money, which local residents feel the most now, and help restore household appliances to residents of Ukraine.
In conclusion:
I want to thank the ZSU for the opportunity to work freely in my city. And to the employees of DTEK who restore destroyed power lines every day.
Disclosure:
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies (including product offerings, regulatory plans and business plans) and may change without notice. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.
Original Source of the original story >> How the Home Appliance Repair Business Survives In Ukraine