Alexis Smail

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   Every company had to start somewhere, even big name companies such as Apple and Dell. Senior Tylor McDonald is getting a head start in high school by starting his own business by using prior knowledge and experience.
   “The old thinking figured kids were too young to learn about entrepreneurship,” Clarence Page said in “THESE KIDS MEAN BUSINES$, which is a show that premiers on PBS.”The new thinking sees entrepreneurship as a healthy remedy for classroom boredom, restless energies and high dropout rates.”
   McDonald started his business centered around fixing electronics. He works with everything from iPods, tablets and part of a computer. Everything that he has accomplished and fixed in the past two years was completed all by himself.
    "Trying and experimenting with old computer parts is how I learned the right way to fix electronics,” McDonald said.
   He considers this a business because he gets paid for replacing or fixing an item that someone requests. Fixing older iPods such as the 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation touch screens range anywhere from $5 to $10, which is cheap compared to the rates to fix a 4th generation iPod, which costs anywhere from $30 to $100. He also sells electronics that he has fixed and makes a good profit, too. Customers are blown away by the fact that he can change the colors on the new iPods, making the product more valuable.
   According to JobAcess, starting a small business and making it a success requires hard work, focus and commitment. It is best to start out small to test the water.
   Tylor plans on going to a community college to major in business, and then continue to pursue his career full time afterwards. He’s hoping to get a job with a company that fixes computers. His experience now and his knowledge from college will give him an opportunity to be successful.
    "I consider this to be a good thing for my future because my dream is to work on computers and be a general mechanic for electronics," McDonald said.
   Not everything comes easier for Tylor, though; the process to fix or replace a screen can be a challenge. To fix a broken screen that is cracked he has to use a heat gun. If it's a 4th generation iPod, he replaces the screen by first popping out the damaged one.
   His work isn’t very time consuming; if it’s an Apple product then it takes around 30 minutes to repair. If it’s an Android, the process only takes between 5 and 10 minutes. McDonald loves what he does, not only for his future, but also because he enjoys working with electronics.
    "I don’t find anything to be really hard, McDonald said “I do it all by myself and normally everything turns out great."
   His dedicated attitude and his experience are qualities future employers will be looking for. In the meantime he will continue to repair the requested items and selling them to his growing customers.
  “I’ve fixed about 70 iPods and only one I couldn’t fix," McDonald said.