AC and refrigerator servicing
Servicing and repairing air conditioners and refrigerators at the customer's address. March to June is overloaded and winter is near dead, so annual maintenance contracts are what carry the year.
- Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
- Version 1
- Starting capital
- ৳60,000 – ৳4,00,000 Editorial estimate
- Manpower
- 1 – 6 people
- First sale
- 7 – 30 days Editorial estimate
- Break-even
- 2 – 8 months Editorial estimate
- Kind of work
- Mobile service · Medium difficulty
What the business is
Going to homes, shops and offices to clean air conditioners and refrigerators, top up gas, repair compressors and condensers, and install new units. The work does not happen in a shop; it happens at the customer's address, so a van or motorcycle, a tool bag and a phone number are the real capital. The dominant fact of this trade is season. From March to June there is no time to breathe, and from November to February the phone barely rings, so twelve months of costs have to be carried by four or five months of income; those who do not plan for it shut down in winter. What the technician touches is not cheap: a 1-ton split AC sells for Tk 28,500-33,500 and a 1.5-ton inverter for Tk 41,990-61,500, and breaking something on a machine at that price comes out of the technician's own pocket, with a reputation in the neighbourhood that does not recover. The profit does not sit in one-off repairs. It sits in annual contracts with offices, restaurants, pharmacies and small factories, where a fixed fee buys a visit every month or quarter across every machine on site. That contract money is what pays through the winter. Alongside it runs the gas and spare-parts supply chain: knowing which shop sells a genuine compressor and which sells a rebuilt one is the condition of staying in this line.
Unit economics
| Item | Range | Evidence | Suggest a correction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly working capital | ৳25,000 – ৳1,80,000 | Editorial estimate | |
| Selling price | ৳600 – ৳5,000 / unit | Editorial estimate | |
| Variable cost | ৳150 – ৳2,800 / unit | Editorial estimate | |
| Gross margin | 44% – 75% | Editorial estimate | |
| Time to first revenue | 7 – 30 days | Editorial estimate | |
| Break-even time | 2 – 8 months | Editorial estimate | |
| Cash cycle | 0 – 45 days | Editorial estimate | |
| Waste / loss | 4% – 10% | Editorial estimate | |
| Daily capacity | 3 – 20 | Editorial estimate |
What you need to start
- Vacuum pump, charging manifold gauges, flaring and swaging tools, pipe cutter, leak detector, clamp meter, multimeter, high-pressure washing pump, drill and ladder. Prices could not be verified here.Equipment
- A motorcycle or van: four or five addresses a day, and heavy outdoor units to carry.Equipment
- Trade licence from the city corporation or municipality: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type, issued in 3-5 working days.Licence
- Hands-on refrigeration and air conditioning skill: gas charging, pulling vacuum, finding leaks, diagnosing compressors and control boards. Learnt as an apprentice in a technical training centre or a service centre.Skill
- A wholesale refrigerant gas and spare parts market: compressors, capacitors, control boards, fan motors, copper pipe and gas. Counterfeit and rebuilt parts are common, so choosing the shop is the real work.Supplier
- A small room or shop to keep tools, gas cylinders and parts, and to work on a refrigerator that has been brought in.Workspace
How the work runs
- 1Learn the work first, a year or two beside an experienced technician or in a service centre. Gas charging and compressor work cannot be learnt from a book.
- 2Take the trade licence from the city corporation or municipality and a TIN from NBR; offices and factories will ask for both before signing a contract.
- 3Assemble the kit: vacuum pump, charging manifold, flaring tool, clamp meter, washing pump, drill and ladder. Without these you cannot take outside work.
- 4Fix your gas and parts suppliers, and check yourself which shop sells genuine compressors, capacitors and boards and which sells rebuilt ones. If it fails at the customer's house the blame is yours.
- 5Sort out transport. You go to four or five addresses a day and an outdoor unit is heavy, so a motorcycle does not cover every job.
- 6Quote before you start and put it in writing, separating servicing, gas charging and parts replacement. An argument about price after the work is done is money that does not come.
- 7After every job record the customer's name, address, machine model and what was done. Next year you will call down that list, and it is your real asset.
- 8Sign annual maintenance contracts with offices, restaurants, pharmacies and coaching centres: a fixed fee, a stated number of visits, and in writing what is included and what is charged separately.
- 9Plan the winter months in advance: refrigerator and deep-freezer work runs all year, and November and December are when contracts can be renewed.
- 10Buy fast-moving parts and gas before the heat starts, by February. In May when demand peaks the shops are empty or the price has moved.
Seasons
- JanLow
- FebLow
- MarHigh
- AprHigh
- MayHigh
- JunHigh
- JulNormal
- AugNormal
- SepNormal
- OctNormal
- NovLow
- DecLow
Where it fits
- Strong fitChattogram · A port city where heat and humidity keep air conditioners running hard and failing often, with offices and shipping firms available for contracts.
- Strong fitCox's Bazar · Hotels and resorts run hundreds of units, and salt air eats outdoor units fast, so regular maintenance demand is high.
- Strong fitDhaka · The most flats, offices and restaurants, the biggest market for annual maintenance contracts, and the wholesale parts trade is here too.
- Strong fitGazipur · The garment factory belt, where factory offices, sample rooms and dormitories hold many machines and factories are used to working on contract.
- Strong fitNarayanganj · Dense with factories and businesses, with Dhaka's parts market close at hand.
- PossibleCumilla · Hotels, restaurants and shops along the highway, with easy access to Dhaka for parts.
- PossibleKhulna · A divisional city with office and clinic work, though parts still come from Dhaka.
- PossibleRajshahi · Among the hottest districts in summer, so air conditioner use is rising.
- PossibleSylhet · Remittance households have more air conditioners, and hotels and restaurants are growing.
Risks and cautions
- HighDemand: The year's takings land in four or five months. From March to June there are not enough hands, and from November to February the AC phone hardly rings, but rent, wages and the vehicle have to be paid for twelve. Technicians who spend the summer money in the summer borrow through the winter.
- HighDependency: Gas and spare parts depend entirely on imports. A mid-season shortage of compressors or gas leaves a customer's machine open on the floor, and that customer does not call again. Fit a rebuilt or counterfeit part and it fails within months, and the blame lands on the technician.
- HighOther: The machines are not cheap: a 1-ton AC is Tk 28,500-33,500 and a 1.5-ton inverter Tk 41,990-61,500. Burn a board or hole a gas line during the job and the technician pays, which can equal several months of profit. Fitting outdoor units at height carries real accident risk, and almost nobody in this trade is insured.
- MediumLate payment: Offices, bank branches and factories pay against a bill and the bill takes time to clear. Money stuck mid-season means no cash to buy parts, in exactly the months when parts are needed most.
- MediumCompliance: Refrigerant import and use is controlled under international agreement and the government decides when each gas is phased out. How long machines running on an older gas can still be serviced was not verified here, and should be checked with the Department of Environment before starting.
Sources
সিটি কর্পোরেশন থেকে ট্রেড লাইসেন্স প্রাপ্তির ধাপ সমূহ
Collected: 16 Sept 2026Supports: Starting capital, Time to first revenue · বাংলাদেশ
What changed
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