When Nicholas Merry was taking a Grade 11 entrepreneurship class at his Cole Harbour, N.S., high school, part of the curriculum included writing a business plan.

For Merry, the obvious choice was to write a plan for a landscaping business, as he'd always mowed lawns and shovelled snow, but a friend suggested he focus his efforts on another skill he had.

Since his junior high years, Merry had been fixing the screens on friends' phones when they broke. He learned through trial and error, and wasn't well compensated for it.

"My method of payment would usually be buying me something from Tim Hortons or Subway, or a convenience store," said Merry, now 24. "I never thought of it as a moneymaker; it was just something cool to do for friends."

That early venture has since morphed into Geebo Device Repair, which does general electronics repairs, as well as sales of electronics and accessories. The business has five locations in the Halifax area and one in Cape Breton.

Born entrepreneur

A born entrepreneur, Merry used to scour the Bargain Hunter to find phones that he could repair and resell, as well as any other items he thought he could turn into profit, like gaming consoles.

After putting together his business plan, Merry spent his $5,000 in life savings to buy parts so that he'd have the necessary supplies to fix the most common phones, primarily BlackBerrys and iPhones.

Mike Lalonde, left, is a regular customer at Geebo Device Repair. (Robert Short/CBC)

In 2010, while still in high school, Merry set up shop inside his parents' Eastern Passage home, using a folding table in the living room to carry out repairs.

After enrolling at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Merry continued tinkering in his own apartment — and at an on-campus Tim Hortons — while he studied science. He hoped to become a cardiologist one day.

In his second semester, Merry switched to business. But that wasn't for him either.

Geebo Device Repair has expanded from Nic Merry's roots of fixing phones. The business also does general electronics repairs and sells electronics and accessories. (Robert Short/CBC)

"I felt everything I was learning, I already knew and it was frustrating because I'm paying for it," said Merry.

He dropped out of school in his second year and set up his first official storefront in late 2013 — in a basement suite at his grandmother's home in Dartmouth.

Merry, then 19, offered 24/7 support and placed ads on Kijiji to get the word out. Bar-hoppers who had broken their screens would take a cab to Merry's for late-night repairs.

'A lot of ups and downs'

After building up the business for about two years, Merry opened a traditional storefront in Dartmouth and expanded from there, closing the location at his grandmother's place.

The progress of the business hasn't been completely smooth.

"We've actually had a lot of ups and downs," said Merry. "It seems like everything's going smoothly because we're opening up a lot of locations."

A tough 2018

Last March, the company's Queen Street location suffered smoke and water damage after a fire in the unit above. Three weeks later, a flood hit the company's Clayton Park location when a sprinkler head broke during renovations at a neighbouring store.

On a sour note to end the year, two people broke into the company's Lady Hammond Road location and stole about 25 devices, mostly phones and iPads. About half of the devices were recovered.

These setbacks make Merry question whether it's worth it to run his own business.

"I think I just realize there's not a lot I can do, other than just grind it out," said Merry, who typically works 14-hour days.

Merry's first official storefront was in the basement suite at his grandmother's home in Dartmouth, N.S. (Robert Short/CBC)

Mike Lalonde has used Geebo's services a few times, based on the recommendations of some friends.

"He's an impressive young man that has a good head on his shoulders and isn't afraid of hard work," said Lalonde.

Merry said the company's plans are to open more locations in Nova Scotia. He's finishing up a franchise package with the hope to have franchised locations in the other Atlantic provinces.