I Was a Pastor Living Paycheck to Paycheck. Here's the Side Business That Changed Everything.

For over ten years, I was a pastor. I loved that work with my whole heart. And every single month, my family lived paycheck to paycheck anyway.

Then came the season that nearly broke us. One of my daughters was diagnosed with leukemia. My other daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. If you've ever sat in a hospital parking lot doing math on medical bills you can't cover — you know exactly the weight I'm talking about. The bills grew. The salary didn't.

I couldn't take a second job; there weren't enough hours, and my family needed me present, not absent. What I had was a lifelong love of tinkering with technology. So I made a decision that felt small at the time: I learned to repair smartphones, set up a bench in my garage, and told a few people I could fix their cracked screens.

The demand found me faster than I found it. Word spread. The garage got busy. In a few short years, that "little side thing" had become a multi-six-figure business — still in part-time hours, still no storefront, still no employees.

The number that changed how I saw everything

When I finally sat down and analyzed the business, one number stopped me cold: over 80% of my revenue came from one service — screen repair. Not water damage, not motherboards, not laptops. Cracked screens. The fastest jobs, the lowest overhead, the most constant demand.

I'd spent years learning everything. The market only ever really wanted one thing.

That's the insight the Screen Repair Business Academy is built on: skip the years I spent learning the wrong things, master the one repair that is most of the demand, and learn the business around it — pricing, customers, recurring accounts. The skill took our family from month-to-month stress to margin. Margin to breathe. Margin to say "we're fine" and mean it.

Why I coach now

Because I keep meeting people exactly where I was: working hard, providing, doing everything right — and still one surprise expense from panic. Teachers, nurses, factory guys, other pastors. People who don't need a lottery ticket; they need a skill, a system, and someone who's already walked the road.

I can't promise you my results — nobody honestly can, and you should run from anyone who does. What I can promise is the exact path I used and personally coaching you down it: 8 weeks, live coaching every week, me in your corner on WhatsApp when you're mid-repair and something looks wrong.

If my old story sounds like your current one, let's talk. Apply for a free strategy call — worst case, you leave with a clear plan and we never speak again. Best case, your garage gets busy too. Or start with the free 12-tips guide.

FAQ

Did you quit your job to do this?

No — the business was built in part-time hours around my ministry work. That's the model the Academy teaches: build the second income without abandoning the first.

Do I need to love technology like you did?

You need working hands and willingness to learn a careful process. Plenty of my students started with zero tech background.

Is the Academy religious?

No. My faith shapes how I treat people — with honesty and no hype — but the Academy is a business program, open to anyone.

About Daniel Bryan — Daniel spent 10+ years as a pastor before building a phone repair business out of his garage in Terre Haute, Indiana that grew to multi-six figures in part-time hours — over 80% of it from screen repair. He now coaches busy professionals through the Screen Repair Business Academy. Apply to work with Daniel →