Niall O'Brien fixed phones in Cork for 3 years — a part-time side hustle that generated €1,200–€1,800 per month. He was good at it and his customers loved him. But Cork's repair market, while consistent, was limited.
He looked at Dublin — specifically at the Silicon Docks, where Google, Meta, Airbnb, and Stripe had their European headquarters. He researched what those employees earned (average tech sector salary: €85,000–€120,000+), what devices they carried (all premium), and how many professional independent repair shops were nearby (almost none).
"The opportunity was obvious," he says. "I just needed to move and build."
The Move to Dublin
In 2024, Niall moved to Dublin and opened a shop in Grand Canal Dock — a 5-minute walk from Google Ireland and Meta's European headquarters. Investment: €18,000. RepairCoreX was set up before his first customer walked in.
"Tech workers are my customers," he says. "I know how they think. They evaluate services on systems and reliability, not just price. RepairCoreX's automated notifications, professional invoices, and job tracking are the signals they look for."
The First Week
His second customer was a Google software engineer with a cracked Pixel 9 Pro. Professional job ticket, same-day repair, automated notification, professional invoice with Niall's business registration number. The engineer's team of 8 all came that week.
"In tech culture, a recommendation within a team is worth 50 Google ad clicks," Niall says. "One satisfied Google engineer changed my first month."
Month 1 revenue: €32,000.
Month by Month
Three tech companies — a fintech, a gaming firm, and a logistics software company — now send all their staff devices exclusively to Niall. Monthly corporate revenue: €12,000–€18,000.
His Life Today
Niall earns €13,000–€15,000 monthly net. He has built what he describes as "the Ritz-Carlton of Dublin phone repair" — professional, quiet, premium.
"Dublin is a small city with extraordinary tech wealth concentrated in a few streets," he says. "RepairCoreX made me the professional shop that wealth was looking for."