3 MIN. READ

Small business in the electronics industry

The diversity of the high tech industry, combined with the enormous demand for its products, creates numerous small business opportunities in electronics. Broadly, these opportunities allow a small business to break into a seemingly impenetrable industry and carve out a sizable niche.

Opportunities in the electronics business can arise from products you develop or others’ products that you support. Here are a few examples of small business opportunities in electronics:

Developing a new product

The businesses that often receive all the glory are the businesses that invent a new product. Whether it is the iPhone, the Switch or the Echo, a business can build its name and reputation around a single hot product. By improving on your competitors’ products or filling a demand for a new product, your small business can establish itself as a worthy competitor and a successful company.

Do not assume that new product development is strictly for large multinational corporations. Small businesses produce 16 times more patents per employee than large businesses.

Repairing others’ products

For good or bad, all those new products break down. For example, an entire industry has grown up around cell phone repair. Electronics repair companies are in high demand because testing, troubleshooting and repairing equipment are all often cheaper than replacing it.

For example, large medical devices, like MRIs and CAT scanning equipment, can cost up to $2.1 million to replace with a new system. As a result, hospitals tend to repair and upgrade imaging equipment to squeeze as much service life as possible out of it. Small businesses can find a system with a long service life and carve out a niche by:

  • Manufacturing spare parts, like replacement printed circuit boards (PCBs).
  • Providing electronics maintenance and repair services.
  • Developing processes for upgrading and refurbishing outdated electronics.

Providing B2B support services

Designing and manufacturing products is a massive undertaking that often requires knowledge in many different areas. Businesses in specialty fields, like healthcare, often outsource or contract with other developers and engineers for their expertise in developing electronic parts. The reason for this partnership is while these businesses may be skilled in developing medical devices or heavy equipment, they may need outside assistance to design PCBs and other electronic components outside their area of expertise.

Similarly, product manufacturers may have designers and the assembly floor to mass-produce their products, but they may lack the capability for a small run of prototypes. Prototyping is critical to product development because it provides actualized products so that designs can be tested and refined before mass production. By producing prototypes, you may fill an important role in the product development process for these businesses.

Taking advantage of small business opportunities

Although it may seem intimidating – or even impossible – to start your small electronics business among the huge enterprises and corporations, there are various avenues you can take to establish yours. Whether developing, testing or repairing products, you can take advantage of the opportunities the electronics industry has to offer.

Huntron Inc. is a small business that provides PCB testing instruments to support businesses, small and large, in the electronics industry. Contact us to learn about our products or schedule a demo.



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.