Help with computer repair service?

TheJoebocop

**I'm not advertising,I'm asking a question!!!***

Hi,I'm just wondering if anyone would be willling to take computer help and repairs from a 14 year old? I know it might sound really stupid,but I'm actually very experienced with computers,hardware,software and mobile devices.

Last year I won the reward for computer science and technology in my school.
I have an advanced ECDL.
I've done repairs before,like I've changed the colour of my iPhone (another service I'd be willing to offer) and I've replaced the keyboard on my mums macbook,I've replaced my dads hard drive.
I've done a very pricy build.
I have experience in all major OS's.
I have a lot of experience in C++ and Java.

So the question I'm asking is,do you think I could actually make money by doing this service if people knew I was 14?

All help will be much appreciated!

Headshot

Shouldnt you be in bed ?

yoyo

I would advise against it tbh. I'm sure you know your stuff and age shouldn't matter but what happens if you accidentally break something? Unless you have some insurance or something along those lines you may run in to difficulty. Mistakes can happen and while friends and family would likely let it slip others likely wont.
The programming on the other hand may be less "risky" possibly, especially for small projects, or the computer training. But from expierience even doing simple programming jobs for friends and family can end up being a nightmare. One meeting and you gather the requirements and start coding, the next ohh wouldn't such and such a feature be good or no thats not what I meant...
I'll leave this thread open provided it stays as an advice thread Sorry if I sound harsh but if it were me I'd stick to doing nixers like that just for family and friends, people you know etc. I think diving into the deep end of promoting your services locally in the classifieds etc. may be more hasstle than its worth. Just my 2c

Nick

Gone Drinking

Like the above poster said, I would personally, for insurance reasons.. however, there's nothing stopping you from doing the jobs for friends/family. Making a few quid here and there and taking the experience from it.

Ultimately though, you should be focusing on getting through school, getting into college and all that. You might be happy doing little nixers now, but you'll get bored quickly.

After college you can head into IT and find something that will pay better and will be more challenging.

Jumpy

As someone who started in IT at 16 I can say that you have a long hard slog before you actually start making any decent money.
Maturity counts for an awful lot and while you probably think you are mature, you arent.
Experience is king in IT, you may be able to do the equivalent of curing cancer, but no one will believe you without years on your resume.

If you want to go into Development, you should go to college. If its support and infrastructure design you want, college is a waste of time - you need the years.

Without major awards (outside school) you cant prove that you are the whizkid that you may very well be.
Its good to dream, but be realistic.

edanto

Simple answer, yes you can make a few quid at it, no matter what your age. Family and friends is definitely the best route to go.

They'll recommend you to others, the jobs you get will get harder and harder. You might make a mess or two along the way, but you'll learn from them.

You probably don't know as much as you think you do - but don't let that put you off.

Some tools that might help you, you can use the free Zoho CRM to keep a track of the jobs you do for different people, so that when they ring you up in a year you can impress them with how well you remember the last job and you can impress yourself with being able to remember exactly what you did to fix the problem.

Use something like Google Apps to have a library of methods and useful links for yourself which you can pull up on your phone when you're on a job, and you can also set up your own domain name and email. Being able to do that for friends and family will probably be much appreciated - but someone's email service is not something that you can afford to make a single mistake on - so learn well.

You might be interested in learning more about how to code - http://www.codecademy.com/ You've clearly done a good bit in c++ & Java, and that course above goes from the basics, all the way to Ruby etc. I've only just started myself, on lesson one, so can't recommend it yet.

Mostly, you'll have school to worry about, but you seem like someone that is looking for a bunch of other things to do outside of school, and getting to know computers well will always stand to you. Good luck!

mach1982

Ask if you can help out which the computers at school, get involed in open source

I read on the net of a 17 no experience , went to a interview, he saw the interviewer was not interested until he saw they were using Firefox, he written some code for Firefox, and and was able to explain to the interview how the the code worked . He got the job .

I agree with the helping out family and friends.MY be even advertise at school , if goes wrong then it free.

also as you say you have Java and ad C++ experience , why not write some android or i phone apps for friends.

check out thenewboston.org full tutorials .

The Muppet

In answer to the op's question, if your capable and do a good job people would trust you to do repairs even at 14. Recommendations from previous customers would be your main source of new customers so make sure you do a good job at a fair price. Know your limitations and don't take on a repair that would take you out of your comfort zone.

Firblog

Work away at the repairs, but don't do any jobs for free. No good deed goes unpunished!

Firblog

Work away at the repairs, but don't do any jobs for free. No good deed goes unpunished!

yoyo

Firblog wrote: »

Work away at the repairs, but don't do any jobs for free. No good deed goes unpunished!

Exactly. Unless its for a very close family member always charge a small fee. I usually charge €50 for OS cleanup/virus removal/OS install, I think its fair enough, as most repair jobs take at least 2 1/2-3 hours or more and computer shops would easily charge €100 or more for a similar service. I know this as I worked in one a few years back

Nick

Overheal

TheJoebocop wrote: »

**I'm not advertising,I'm asking a question!!!***

Hi,I'm just wondering if anyone would be willling to take computer help and repairs from a 14 year old? I know it might sound really stupid,but I'm actually very experienced with computers,hardware,software and mobile devices.

Last year I won the reward for computer science and technology in my school.
I have an advanced ECDL.
I've done repairs before,like I've changed the colour of my iPhone (another service I'd be willing to offer) and I've replaced the keyboard on my mums macbook,I've replaced my dads hard drive.
I've done a very pricy build.
I have experience in all major OS's.
I have a lot of experience in C++ and Java.

So the question I'm asking is,do you think I could actually make money by doing this service if people knew I was 14?

All help will be much appreciated!

Can I make a quick suggestion, don't put the boring stuff at the top of your CV. I see Advanced ECDL as a "credential" and I want to close the thread.

Now if you start with

C++ and Java coding
Windows 7/Vista/XP and Mac OS and Linux experience
Built new Desktop PC
Rebuilt Macbook Pro, Performed Desktop upgrades
Reassembling iPhones with new color plates (Black or White etc)
ECDL Advanced
Computer Science and Technology Award

That's sounds a little more like "Ok, you have my attention somewhat".

stevenmu

Always keep in mind that if you as much as press the shift key on someone's keyboard, you will get the blame if anything goes wrong with that PC for the next 3 years.

It would be hard to make any real money doing home PC repairs, most people won't be willing to pay much, and most jobs will take longer than you'd expect. But if like most 14 year olds you are time rich and cash poor then you would probably get some spending money out of it anwyay, and probably some useful experience as well.