I had someone basically ask me, why did i start microsoldering. So here's my answer.

When I started doing phone repairs, I was just doing the basics, screens, charging ports, and batteries. But occasionally, I would get board issues.

I remember getting a 6 Plus with no touch. I tried 3 screens & was dumbfounded that no matter what, no touch. It was for a friend too and basically had to send him back as no fix.

Later, I had an iPhone 6 that had a backlight issue as well.

Then a 6S with no power.

After doing some digging online, I found Louis Rossmann's channel and was blown away that board level issues were fixable. I just assumed everything was so integrated, there was no way to just fix the existing board. My mind had just concluded that board issues just required a board replacement.

So I started watching all his Macbook repair videos. Then started watching other channels. And realized that all those board level issues that i ran into, were actually fixable & not just bad motherboards.

That really inspired me to learn it.

I had gone to ITT Tech for electronics & graduated with a Bachelor's degree. But never really learned to solder. We learned a lot about theory & such. But never really went in too deep into board level stuff once I got a job in the field.

I figured, I got some idea of how electronics work, now i just need to learn the soldering part, which didn't look too hard.

Also, I had found a local guy to do some b2b work for me, but it was a hassle. His shop was not too far from my job, so I would drop off usually in the morning on the way to work & pick it up after work.

But sometimes, it would take longer than was quoted. Plus taking a detour during rush hour traffic wasn't fun at all 😅

I just felt I'd be able to do all these repairs myself. I just needed the tools 😂

So I said, screw it! I bought all the tools I needed to get started on a credit card. I figured, I should be able to pay it off within the 30 day grace period, with the proceeds from the screen repair revenue.

Even if I didn't pay it all off, I'd pay off most of it & the interest fees would be minimal at that point.

I think I spent around $1500 for everything. Microscope, iron, hot air, workbench light, new pc monitor & table mount, and all the other random misc tools (tweezers, heat mat, flux, etc). I watched all the Rossmann videos where he goes over his tool setup, along with other videos. Clicked all the affiliate links in the video descriptions, read all the reviews, etc.

I bought a ton of stuff I thought I needed but never ended up using too! Ah, what a waste lol.

By this time, I had collected a few boards with board issues, including the iPhone 6 that had a blown backlight.

During this time, my wife was also going to leave for a few months to take care of some personal things. Since I was now married, I had to now stay home & work, instead of going out to party 😅.

She was watching me on the Life360 app 😂

I spent that whole summer of 2017, working from 6pm - 2am, practicing, trying to fix different board issues. (tbh, i still stay up late microsoldering 🙈)

I used Youtube videos, and the Introduction to Micro Soldering, Micro BGA & Component Level Diagnostics group. I would post every question on there, no matter how dumb it was. I wouldn't always get an answer, but for the most part, everyone was helpful.

A ton of people would walk me through how to measure for shorts, continuity, where to run jumpers to, all that good stuff.

I would also read every single post & the comment threads and basically try to understand what everyone was talking about. This truly helped me out, because I would run into an issue that I read about, so I would search for it & find the solution to solve it.

One thing that benefited me a lot, was posting all my work on social media, yelp, etc.. It was amazing for lead generation. This is also what got started getting me b2b leads. I basically got my first mail in repair about 6mo into this journey. Then they started recommending me to others & it just grew from there.

Once I started getting busy with board level repairs, I felt so basic when I would get screen repairs come in 🤣. It felt way to simple for me. Luckily, by then I had taught my wife how to replace screens. So she would often be the one doing the screen replacements, while I worked on my board level queue.

Fast forward to late 2020, we moved to Vegas & basically, I had to start all over. I didn't have any presence here in Las Vegas, so I had to solely rely on B2B Mail In Repairs. But I always had enough work that I no longer had to do screen repairs for the local customers.

I did get some screen repair leads locally, it is pretty rare.

By Spring 2021, I was finally able to quit my day job. I mostly kept it because we wouldn't been able to be approved for our first mortgage (and later, the pool loan) with just the business alone. It still took me 6mo to quit after getting the house, as it was super scary to do it.

But so glad I did. My queue was too long & I felt like I was losing money just sitting there on my work laptop, not doing repairs. it felt like 2-4 repairs or 1 data recovery would be basically my 8hr shift. The math didn't add up. I took the plunge and never looked back.

And now here we are. My current home office, at my new house, is almost as big as my old Montebello duplex. I have tons of room here now, so I was able to hire an employee 2.5 mo ago.

Sometimes I look back & amazed on how this all played out. I didn't necessarily plan this all out. I just got passionate about phone repair, because I always liked tech and saw how much money there was to be made.

I literally got obsessed & would spend hours just reading all the FB Group posts. Watch every youtube video I could. and all that good stuff.

I guess one question I didn't answer yet.. what was my previous career? First, I was doing tech support/project support for a GPS Manufacturer. Basically, GPS sensors, trackers, etc. I helped customers set them up, help with any issues, offer suggestions on ideal configurations, etc.

Then I moved on to a software company, basically doing the same thing, except for wireless IoT Sensors, door sensors, motion sensors, AC current sensors, temp sensors, etc.

I know it's a lot and I don't expect everyone to read all of this. But this is my story and I'm sure I left out a lot too 😅

(Let me know if you'd rather see a video of my story instead👀)