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New Life For Old Phones
Green Mobile started in 2004 basically as an eBay hobby, when 24-year-old founder and CEO Brian Laoruangroch realized he could buy old phones and resell them for a profit.
He soon built his own website to market refurbished phones; his brother Brett, like Brian a University of Missouri student, joined him and took charge of learning how to repair them.
They eventually opened a kiosk in a local mall, and then, last summer, Laoruangroch decided the business was large enough to support a retail storefront in Columbia.
He borrowed money from his parents and then landed a $50,000 bank loan backed by the Small Business Administration — no small feat for any business, let alone one run by an undergrad.
The company has passed the $500,000 mark in revenue, and Laoruangroch is learning about the difficulties of hiring and managing employees.
At one point, Green Mobile’s head count was up to 30, which Laoruangroch found too difficult to manage. He trimmed the staff by half. His new philosophy about managing: “You can get a lot more done with a staff of 14 who care than with 25 or 30 people who don’t.”
Photo by Green Mobile.
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Jaclyn on February 27th, 2009 11:16 am
Well that is a pretty good idea. i mean they are already starting or have been refurbishing computer equipment, printers, printer ink cartridges, and more…with all of the cell phone technology going on these day’s…they might as well start refurbishing those as well. maybe this way when you want a new feature you wouldn’t have to buy a whole new phone, you could just get your’s upgraded.
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