Why is now the best time to open a repair shop?

Because the demand already exists and the law has started to side with the people who repair. In the United States, 39% of people whose large appliance broke threw it away because they could not find anyone they were happy with to fix it (Consumer Reports, 2024 survey). That customer did not disappear: they are still looking for a shop.

What do the numbers say about people who want things repaired?

The Consumer Reports survey of 2,154 U.S. adults, conducted in the summer of 2024 and published that October, measures the gap clearly: of those who ended up replacing a large appliance, 26% tried to repair it first and could not. And of the repairs that did succeed, only 27% went through an independent shop.

With small appliances the gap is wider: 72% of the ones that broke were replaced without anyone trying to fix them. It is not that the customer does not want to fix it; it is that they cannot find anywhere to take it.

Phones, laptops, and other battery-powered devices show the same thing with the simplest part of all: in the same survey, 62% replace the whole device when the battery stops holding a charge. A battery is usually a one-hour repair for a shop that knows how to do it.

What changed in the law in favor of repair shops?

As of January 1, 2026, 25.75% of the U.S. population lives in a state with a right-to-repair law in effect, according to the December 26, 2025 count by U.S. PIRG, a consumer advocacy organization. When the Connecticut law takes effect in July and the Texas law in September 2026, that group rises to at least 35.5%.

Those laws require manufacturers to make parts, tools, and manuals available to independent shops and to owners, for the products each law covers. What only the manufacturer's authorized service could fix before can now be fixed by the shop around the corner.

In the European Union, Directive (EU) 2024/1799, adopted on June 13, 2024, applies from July 31, 2026: the manufacturer must repair at a reasonable price, sell spare parts at a reasonable price, and add one year of warranty to a product that is repaired instead of replaced. Every country has its nuances, so it is worth reading the law that governs where you work.

Does electronic waste count too?

Yes, and more every year. The UN Global E-waste Monitor 2024 (ITU and UNITAR) recorded 62 million metric tons of e-waste in 2022, and only 22.3% was collected and recycled in a documented way. For 2030 it projects 82 million metric tons.

Every device a shop hands back working is one that stays out of that pile. More and more customers weigh that when deciding where to take their things.

What does a new shop need to start well?

Less than it seems: a workbench, the tools of your trade, and organization from day one. What sinks a new shop is almost never a lack of customers; it is disorder: a device that cannot be found, a price that was only given verbally, a warranty nobody wrote down.

That is why every device should come in with its work order, its photos, the customer's contact info, and its status from minute one. Paradoxon Assistant was born in a repair shop to do exactly that, and the download is free at paradoxonllc.com.

Already have a shop? What changes for you?

The same demand reaches you: more people looking for someone to do the repair, and laws that give you access to parts you could not get before. The difference is trust, which is exactly what the customer in the survey could not find.

Trust is a written quote, a notice when the device is ready, a warranty printed on the receipt, and each device's history within reach. Paradoxon Assistant keeps the quotes, the customer notices, and the history by serial number, so none of that depends on anyone's memory.

What kind of shop should you open?

The kind that fixes what you already know how to fix. The data points to unmet demand in specific places: almost no one repairs small appliances, and phone and laptop batteries are swapped for new devices every day.

Starting with a short catalog and growing with what reaches the counter works better than opening with everything. A shop that fixes three things well becomes known for those three things.

Why now and not next year?

Because the laws are already in force this year, the demand measured in 2024 is still unmet, and in every town the first shop that is easy to find becomes the shop people recommend. Whoever repairs today tends to keep the customer, and that customer comes back with the next device.

Being organized from day one is the only thing that cannot be left for later. Everything else, from the catalog to the location, adjusts along the way.

Sources: Consumer Reports, "Cost Considerations Drive Consumer Repair Decisions," October 22, 2024 (survey of 2,154 U.S. adults, summer 2024) · U.S. PIRG, "More than one-quarter of Americans covered by Right to Repair come Jan. 1," December 26, 2025 · European Parliament and Council, Directive (EU) 2024/1799 on common rules promoting the repair of goods · ITU and UNITAR, Global E-waste Monitor 2024.