There are thousands of stories like that. To solve them, there are many subscriptions offered by brands such as Vanden Borre, Krëfel or Coolblue, but very often subject to drastic conditions to be able to benefit from the guarantee (device less than so many years old, irreproachable use, etc.) . On the side of independent repairers, bad experiences during a repair without a guarantee of result are unfortunately not uncommon. “A friend of mine hired a contractor to repair her family-size brand name dishwasher. We realized that he had stolen all the parts, and it was impossible to get them back”, says Guillaume Aubert once more. In addition, the requested cost often exceeds the actual cost of the repair: overvalued parts, tenfold labor rate…
7 devices in the basic package
This is why Mr. Aubert created Fix-it in October 2022 in Brussels, the very first start-up to offer a monthly subscription for the repair and maintenance of household appliances. The young shoot does not sell devices itself, and therefore has every interest in offering effective repairs. “For 30 euros per month, we offer to carry out the annual maintenance of seven household appliances of your choice, and to travel in the event of a breakdown of one of them. The objective is really to repair for a more circular economy and to avoid waste in nature. In case this is not possible, we buy back the device in the form of free subscription months”, details the manager of Fix-it. Repair, labor and parts are included in the package, as is education in good user practices and the loan of a replacement device within 24 to 48 hours while waiting for the repair. The subscription can also cover nine devices instead of seven for 40 euros per month.
Belgium has 52,000 circular businesses, 35% more than three years ago
”It is true that 360 euros per year for the basic subscription at 30 euros, it may seem expensiveconcedes Guillaume Aubert. But the repair of a single device by an independent very often exceeds 200 euros. And above all, the annual maintenance that we offer allows real energy savings to be made. By dusting off the fins at the back of the fridge and reorganizing its contents, you can, for example, reduce the consumption of this appliance by up to 30%. For all other equipment, this saving can reach 10 to 15%, and for the dryer 25%”. Note that it is possible to subscribe while already down, and to unsubscribe at any time. Subject to paying a difference if in his subscription time the customer has spent more than he has brought in. A sine qua non condition for the viability of Fix-it’s business model.
Objective 1,000 subscribers
The start-up was launched thanks to just under half a million euros raised from family&friends and a Belgian consulting company. The activity started on January 23, 2023 and the website fix-it.help launched at the end of February. The company aims to have 1,000 subscribers by the end of the year, and to increase to eight employees, all on permanent contracts, compared to two today.
For the moment, Fix-it is active in Brussels, in the near Flemish Brabant and in the near Walloon Brabant. Thanks to its unique concept, the young shoot hopes to expand its offer to all of Belgium in 2024 and then to other countries, in particular thanks to a second, more substantial fundraising.
