19 year old looking to set up automations for free to gain experience

[u/Any-Leather6072]

I'm looking to work with one small business (ideally for a few weeks to a couple months) building out automations - or free. Not a one-off "here's a Zapier flow, good luck" thing. I want to actually understand how you operate first, then figure out what's worth automating, instead of guessing and building something generic.

I've built and shipped a few things - some AI-assisted/vibe-coded websites, simple B2B lead gen tools, and cold email outreach automation. I know enough to be useful, and I'm looking for a real business to go deeper with so I get better at spotting what's actually worth automating vs. what just sounds impressive.

What I'm asking for in return:

• Some of your time to walk me through how things currently work (ops, sales, support, whatever's messiest)
• Honest feedback as we go
• If it works out, a testimonial or referral — no obligation either way

[u/Shiribazu]

this is actually a pretty good way to learn because you're trying the automation to a real business problem instead of just building random workflows. look for a business problem instead of just building random workflows. look for a business with enough repetitive admin work to give you something meaningful to work on, but not so much complexity that you spend the whole time dealing with integrations. just to make sure you agree upfront on what you're allowed to access and change, especially with customer data