In February, a mobile web conference in Johannesburg revealed that the average person stares at their phone 150 times per day.

That is roughly once every six and a half minutes during the time a person is awake.

For some people, submitting a claim to cell phone companies and waiting for several days is too long without a phone.

A pair of entrepreneurs founded Wisconsin Cell Phone Repair with the goal of fixing phones in less than 24 hours.

“It means long nights for us, but about 95 percent of the phones we receive are sent back to customers within 24 hours of receiving them,” Austin Larsh said.

Larsh, a graduate accounting student at UW-Whitewater, and Charles Rodenkirch, a junior at UW-Madison, established the Wisconsin Cell Phone Repair company in the summer of 2011.

They said life can be a hassle without a phone and that is why they stress such a quick turnaround time.

Larsh said they typically charge less for repairs than what customers pay for insurance each year. They charge an $8 shipping fee, while the repair cost varies depending on the extent of the damage.

He said money can be tight for students and they want to save money any chance they get.

Cell phone companies charge monthly fees and a deductible, which can vary depending on the type of phone, per claim.

Companies also have restrictions on the number of claims in a 12-month period, usually two, and on how much the total repair cost can total. Some companies offer next-day replacement in their policies as well.

Wisconsin Cell Phone Repair also attempts to set itself apart from the competition with its customer interaction.

After sending in a phone, customers can track its progress using a log in ID and their shipping information. They can also view a log that keeps track of the repair process; in addition, they can post and answer questions for the team.

The co-owners do all of the repairs at their Madison office with parts from a supplier in Texas. Larsh handles the accounting and billing, while Rodenkirch fixes the phones himself.

He spent a year as a repair technician for UW-Madison and is currently minoring in computer science.

Rodenkirch said repairing phones is “like fixing a laptop, only smaller.”

Larsh said most of their initial business came from advertising on Craigslist. He said now that the repair process has been perfected, the business will focus on a print advertisement campaign around Madison. They hope to have more than 2,000 posters up before winter.

The two said the hardest part about launching their idea was staying focused on the goal. Rodenkirch said they second -guessed their decisions several times.

“There will always be pitfalls in business,” Rodenkirch said. “You just have to keep your head up and do your best to make your idea a reality.”

For more information about the repair process visit wisconsincellphonerepair.com.