Save the Intern |

Think you know a little bit about ipods? Do what this guy does. We all know how busy New Yorkers are, and spending an hour or two in an Apple store to get their 2 years old iPod fixed probably isn’t realistic. Thats where Demetrios Leontaris, the New York City “iPod doctor”, steps in.

Leontaris isn’t a former iStore employee who decided to start his own gig, and he isn’t an electronics graduate from a technical college. He seems like a normal guy with a decent business sense and steady enough hands to disconnect and reconnect an iPod LCD or hard drive in his Pontiac Aztec.

The NYC Ipod Doctor is capitalizing on the ridiculous amount of money that iPod owners have to pay to get their out of warranty iPods repaired, but I would guess that the price of gas and hassle of putting up with impatient iPod owners who are pissed off about their headsets not working or who can’t figure out why there is a huge crack in their screen after they dropped it 3 stories out a window may be a bit stressful. But nobody said it was going to be easy.

There are four generations of regular ipods along with nanos, shuffles, touches, and iphones. There seem to basically be the following parts for each: batteries, LCD screens, hard drives, headset jacks, motherboards, housings, touchwheels, etc.

So with there really only being 10-15 parts per model and with all of the parts being available on eBay, domestic websites and web sites overseas, this seems like a business that almost anyone could make successful with a little bit of customer service skills, a few bucks to spend, and a Craigslist account.

His company doesn’t only make money from servicing ipods. Sales and trade-ins also generate income, and recycling parts and being extra organized seems to be where he is able to make this business a success.

While it is true that Leontaris’ company now services Macbook, Imacs, and PDA’s on top of MP3 players, it seems like anyone with a bit of common sense and the ability to work with their hands could make this work from the beginning.  His company also seems to benefit from increased exposure after being featured on ABC News, CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, and it would seem as if he knows how to market himself and his company.

Well done Mr Leontaris, but your profit margin might be higher if you make the switch to a Hybrid.