The J&A Computers business has taken years to go from dream to reality. From the initial concept to the business it is today it has been a rollercoaster ride and well worth the effort.
It all started when my wife was given her first computer. She had been plodding away on typewriter, then upgraded to a word processor. At the time she was trying to get her poetry out to publishers. Her cousin, very generously gave her their old windows 3.11 as they had just upgraded and thought it would help her get her work out. I can’t begin to say how many thanks we owe her cousin as that’s what set the cogs in motion for this business to be born.
After a short while – knowing nothing about computers – I bought an upgrade disk and somehow managed to get Win’95 running for her. My wife, being the darling that she is, decided to remove some programmes to give herself extra room for her writing (by this time she was getting poems published and had turned her hand to stories). Anyway, not being computer savvy, she removed some important system files and sadly stopped her computer from running. After trying to re-install windows from the disk I’d bought, I realised her computer wasn’t up to spec. (how it ever accepted ’95 to start with is still beyond me) So, off to the shop I went and bought the bits needed to get her up and running.
And so, J&A Computers was born. From that point, I started picking up old broken computers, taking them apart to see how they worked and then using two-three broken computers to get a single working unit. Luckily, I had friends who knew where to get broken computers from for nothing.
After a few years of giving away the systems I built from scraps, I took my ECDL, followed by my first computer maintenance course. I passed both, and then a couple of years later I took and passed both my A+ and N+.
I won’t say it’s been easy over the years from that first computer experience as it hasn’t, I have been out of work more than in work, we have struggled to cope with getting everything the children have needed and at times we have both felt like throwing the towel in where computers have been concerned. My wife has pursued her love of writing, has been luck enough to have most of her poems published (mainly in America) she still hasn’t given up on her dream to have a book published, (although she’s hit a brick wall trying to find a publisher), but determined to succeed she’s now taking her BA in English Literature.
I spent longer than I can remember trying to secure myself a job in the IT industry, but with so many people applying for the same job it was almost impossible. Being initially self taught, seemed to be a milestone around my neck, being out of work in-between temporary warehouse work as a FLT driver didn’t help either, as employers said it didn’t show the commitment needed to succeed to have come from being a carpenter/joiner, to a FLT driver, to a computer tech. But, like so many other people, I have adapted my skills to meet the demand for workers. I know what it is like to barely have enough to live on and at times only having hand-me-downs from family to keep the children in clothes. Apart from my ECDL and my first computer maintenance course we, as a family, have somehow managed to find the money for my A+ and N+ courses.
I have to say that without the support of my wife and children, I would never have got this far because they have all made sacrifices to help me get the qualifications needed to turn my dream into a reality. They all wished me luck on every job interview I went on and shared my disappointment when I was turned down. It was because of this that we decided to take the first step into the world of self employment.
It is because we have struggled and started with nothing, that we decided we would do our best to help others who are still struggling as well as those who have secure jobs. At the moment I am training my wife in how to build computers and diagnose problems. She is self taught in using computers and can do lots of different things with them, now it’s time for her to learn how they work.
Looking forward, it is my goal to build this business into, not only a great company, but also a friendly and happy place to work. To give others, like me, the chance to learn about computers and to teach all the techniques needed to fix, build and re-build computers, giving more people the chance to help others. At the moment we are based in just one area, with limited resources outside our coverage zone. I hope all of that will soon change and that we will have more resources to cover more area’s, with more computer technicians working for us.
My wife once told me that a single person can make a difference in life and that a single voice, if used correctly can change a thousand lives. I admit she was talking about her poetry at the time as we were debating her controversial style and subject matter. However, she is right in what she said and about more than just poetry or stories. A single person can make a difference to many lives if they are willing to try, to learn and to respect other people.
Our motto is Fast, Friendly and Affordable. Our aim is to help everyone who asks, including those who often get left out because they struggle to make ends meet.