Every phone we re-home, we plant five trees to offset its lifetime CO2 emissions, so the device ends up carbon positive rather than just carbon neutral.

Yasmin Ahmed, Founder, Smart Cellular

How long have you worked in the refurbished industry?

Over 12 years now. I came into mobile phone refurbishment from the trading side of the industry and got interested in what happens to devices once people upgrade — there’s an enormous amount of value in handsets that get written off far too early. That pulled me further into refurbishment, and I’ve been in it ever since, building the business up as the market has matured.

Tell us about your tree planting customer offer?

Every phone we rehome, we plant five trees to offset its lifetime CO2 emissions, so the device ends up carbon positive rather than just carbon neutral. Refurbishment already avoids the bulk of a handset’s footprint, which sits in manufacturing — the tree planting is about going beyond that rather than stopping at “less bad”. It’s also something customers respond to, because it makes the benefit tangible.

You’re trading in 4 different regions; what differences are there in terms of customer attitudes and ease of doing business?

The biggest differences are in how established the second-hand market is and how much of the buying decision comes down to price versus brand. In some markets refurbished devices are completely mainstream and demand is strong and steady; in others there’s still work to do on trust and on explaining grading.

Logistics, import requirements and payment terms vary a lot too, so a lot of it comes down to building good relationships locally and being realistic about lead times. Once those relationships are in place, business tends to be straightforward.

What’s important for you to see in the applications? 

Clarity, mainly. Something well written and organised, with relevant supporting evidence, and a clear sense of what the applicant is actually trying to do and why. I’d much rather see a focused, honest application than one that overstates things.

What advice would you offer anyone looking to launch a business in the refurbishing industry? 

Understand your sourcing and your grading before anything else — that’s where the margin lives and where most people come unstuck. Be conservative with stock early on, build relationships with people you can rely on, and be straight with customers about what they’re buying. The market rewards consistency far more than it rewards growing quickly.