Start an Appliance Repair Business

Truck Stock Starter List

Companion to the lessons "Your Lean Toolkit Under $1,000," "Model Numbers and Parts Logistics," and "Your First 30 Days."

The rule

Stock only the fast movers. Everything else gets bought per job after diagnosis, using the model number you collect at booking. That single decision is what makes this an under-$1,000 startup instead of a five-figure one: full-guide estimates of $2,500-8,500 in tools and equipment cover a fully stocked operation.

Starter list by appliance family

Seed from the course's starter stock: fuses, a couple of common lid switches, igniters, drain pumps for the machine families common in your area. Fit quantities to your own invoice history each month.

Family	Fast movers (edit to your route)	Qty on truck	Reorder at
Washer	Lid switches; drain pumps (common local models)
Dryer	Thermal fuses; igniters (gas)
Range / oven	Igniters; fuses
Dishwasher
Refrigerator	(sealed-system parts sit behind the EPA Type I line; stock only what your cert and menu support)
All families	Wire connectors, fuses, screws and clips picked up per job

Reorder triggers

☐ Used a stocked part on a job: reorder it the same week.
☐ Same model failure seen twice in a month (your pattern library): consider adding the part to stock.
☐ Part sat on the truck 60+ days without a use: pull it from stock; it is cash sitting on a shelf.

Monthly review (tie to invoice history)

Month	Parts bought per job (count / $)	Sold from truck (count / $)	Stock change made

Month-end discipline: adjust one thing, the fee, the routing, or the truck stock, not five things.

Do not stock. Refrigerant gauges and a recovery machine (sealed-system work sits behind the certification line; until you cross it deliberately, that equipment is a sunk cost). No four-figure parts inventory. Specialized diagnostic interfaces, an oscilloscope, and a brake-fast toolbox solve problems you do not have in your first fifty jobs.