Inspiration behind iParts

By Bob Cox

Shortly after Alika Salazar celebrated his 13^th birthday, he wanted to be the proud owner of the latest new technological creation: The iPhone from Apple. Alika knew that his parents believed that kids should work for the things they want, so after careful consideration, Alika chose to raise money by selling candy at his school. Over the next several weeks, Alika had raised enough money to buy a used iPhone online.

The big day finally came when Alika excitedly opened the small brown box that came in the mail earlier that day and laid eyes on the item he worked so hard for. As he fired up his newest acquisition, he became alarmed and dismayed when the devise overheated and completely malfunctioned. Since he took the risk and purchased the iPhone used with no warranty, he only had two options: Either try to fix it or throw it away.

Alika solicited the help of his father, who installed drive thru systems at McDonalds etc. and had an electronics background in the navy. From the time he was a small child, Alika loved the days when he got to work with his dad. “I definitely helped him with his work. I was always tinkering with electronic products and interested in how they worked. I couldn't wait until I turned 16, so I could actually go on all the jobs”, Alika recalled.

Together, father and son took the defective phone apart and discovered that the motherboard had been completely fried. When Alika found another phone that had a broken screen for a low price, he raised the money by selling even more candy at school. When he got the new phone with the broken screen, they pulled the motherboard out and placed it into the original phone. After all those setbacks, Alika persevered and finally had the phone of his dreams!

When Alika's dad saw how amazing the new phone was, he knew he had to have one for himself. After they built a phone for his dad, they decided to do the same for their family and friends. They had so much fun working together; they decided to turn their passion into a business. In just six short years, Alika's original misfortune has evolved into a thriving business with stores in Citrus Heights, Vacaville and now Folsom. iParts has thrived because they have helped thousands of consumers save money by fixing their old phones instead of replacing them.