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Of course. Why would I put that much work in to NOT make a buck or two? Businesses are an occupation, not a simulation.
I was just giving an example...
There's always sole proprietorship.
@Alex_LiquidHost 20mg every 3-4 hours
In England, being a sole trader include unlimited liability. So that's a bad idea. May vary country-to-country though.
Less than ~7 hrs and I feel and look like sh!t.
I sometimes get woken up in the night when pingdom is being PITA, I should really change the pingdom email from our email2phone address.
@jarland has wings, redbull wings!
I think it would be a bad idea for a hosting company. It may not be so bad for a web design business, however. There's less important assets involved.
Not illegal, it's out-sourcing. Paying them wage might be illegal for them if they don't submit it but some free VPS and some account credit isn't considered potentional wage. I'm talking about part-time for the note.
Sorry for calling you stupid :-(
Ah, the stamina of youth
Sadly however, you're going to get older. And you're going to want to sleep more than 4.5 hours a night.
IMO, a truly successful business lets you sleep as much as you want
Did you get the idea about time-sensitivity? Let someone else deal with the hosting hassles. Make your time your own. Innovate. Don't do what thousands of other are already doing. Do something original. Provide a unique, value-added service to your local business community and you're the only show in town.
@BronzeByte Fair Labor Standards Act. Also without being employees they carry responsibility that you answer for legally. If they steal data, you're legally liable, can't press charges against them. Labor standards are hard to get around. Internship can help but still takes paperwork. Don't just invite people in
I'm talking US of course.
Well obviously don't take random people who apply :-)
...and if you're an underage one person hosting company that means that your TOS, AUP, and privacy policy can't be legally enforced because you're not old enough to enter into a binding contract with the other party (your hosting customer). Being underage also means that you're not old enough to legally execute contracts with your service providers (data centers, payment processors, etc)
If you're under the legal age where you live then you absolutely need to have someone of legal age like a parent (or a business partner who is of legal age) involved in the business who can execute contracts and accept legal liability if anything goes wrong.
Nah, I want to sleep more, I just know I can't and shouldn't
On the other side - my family sleeps rought 3-4 hours each. It is something that goes on in the family, all of them have sleeping deprivation, except me. I just have to do it, following a strict business plan over here, can't afford loosing time in sleeping, as long as I function good.
It depends. In the US you can't hold minors to a contract. It's voidable at their option at any time for any or no reason. It's part of being a minor.
Verifying that you're not getting into contracts with minors is just part of due diligence. If anything this is one more reason not to get involved with kiddie hosts. You have next to no recourse when the shit hits the fan.
It's not illegal if you call it an internship.
In all seriousness, I worked for two years at a hosting company as an unpaid intern. All I did was answer live chats, post on our forum and represent our company on various social networks... but that is still working for no money. The experience is what I was working towards, but I became tired of working for nothing.
It's quite alright. Words are words, nothing more, nothing less.
I wholeheartedly agree; Innovation is the true sticker of an entrepreneur. I'd gladly partner with a hosting company for my internet ventures. Eventually, when the resources are available, I'd like to start a hosting division of my future company. I already have a few unique ideas that I believe will be successful. Of course, this is fully dependent on how prosperous the main business is at the time.
Thanks for the support guys, means a lot that people "under age" can be accepted as people contributing to.. the internet.
@Nick_A If your parents are funding it, there's a problem. If you can fund your ventures privately, with your own cash, that's something different
I agree with the comments about doing freelance work rather than trying to run a service business.
When I was 13, I wrote a golf club handicup manager for the TRS-80 and then investing all the profits in a little company called Apple.
OK, that's not true...I took the money I made and blew it at the pool hall. But I did learn a lot.
If you want to do a business, do something like web design that doesn't require full time commitment so when you eventually get bored of it or don't have time anymore like your other businesses you can just up and leave.
Or you could do normal teen stuff, like video games and sex and drugs
@texteditor That's just such a broad comment, very stereotypical.
Doing stereotypical things can be fun
I don't think I have the capability of being normal.
Either school will get in the way of you running the business or you will start hurting in school, because of the business. Your education is more important than running any online company and therefore should come first over everything.
Finish school first, then open one.
They're technically your parents ventures and your parents are liable if you are doing things legally. One of their names is on your business registration, right? Also, my point was that if you're not relying on that income (generally speaking), then you're likely to hurt the market. While it may be your cash, if you run out of it in high school, mom and dad are probably not going to turn you out on the street. In other words, you don't have nearly as much to lose as an adult.
You must not be familiar with the Minecraft market...
That's a good point. It's kinda like playing the game on the home court, when you don't have the safety net of your parents. The defensive side is always stronger than the offensive side because you have something to lose.
I am familiar with it... I actually had service with you for 3-4 months or so. I take whatever I do seriously because it's my passion, and without passion, what are you? Wow, that became philosophical fast.
Heh, kids with absolutely no desire to make a profit just demolished that market.
Yeah it's all about "passion". They're even able to take money out of their own pocket to keep it running.
I managed it, but I was a senior and I was also old enough.
Make sure you can handle it.
I know my capabilities and I'm a senior. Less than a month and I'll be able to legally execute a contract.
After setting up a Minecraft host for about 8 months we decided to stop because we (2 person) couldn't handle the time clients where waiting for a reply. I was having full time school and 2 jobs while the other person had also 3 jobs.
The current owner is almost always at the office and can handle those things just better. I'm still in tje Minecraft businees tough. (Do i like Minecraft? Not really)
edit:
nvm
I haven't ran any sort of hosting business yet, but I have been running a business since I was 12. During the first few years it was really all about consultation, helping people run websites/blogs, and even hosting a few sites that I designed. More recently I have done a lot more freelance type things.
Yeah I was really young, and yeah my parents had to sign a ton of documents with me to get everything setup properly, but it was all honestly worth it. I never made a ton of money. I have always earned just about as much as someone earns at a part time job. However I did get a ton of experience dealing with clients, and technology which was worth it in the long run.
I earned a few thousands of dollars with Java programming at age of 12 :X