Saturday, July 31, 2004
Back now
Just because I haven't been updating this site doesn't mean nothing has been happening.
Although until recently not much had been happening.
I went over and visited Peter and his family. Whilst there we talked about the business and had a very good meeting with an advertising/marketing/design agency. The art director was very enthusiastic and came in to meet us even though he was on vacation.
After the meeting I wrote up the minutes. This took a while as I wanted to get the format right. This is one of the, er, joys of setting up your own business. You get to do things your way (sort of). My views on minutes is that they're often far too brief to the point of ambiguity. Especially around the who does what, when and how much. So, doing the minutes this time I could expand on this area. It was only a bit more text but as a result much more information.
We now have an agreed solution for our logos, business cards, stationary, brochures etc.
And in case you haven't been paying attention the business has been registered. And our product name has been trade marked.
At a very cool 80s style bar I chatted with Peter about some elements of our product placement. To the left of me there was a table of five young women and one bloke. To the right of me there was a table of five men and one woman.
We found some issues with our positioning strategy and we'll need to review this (sober and undistracted). The problem only emerged because we sat down and had the time to discuss it. But this is by no means a show shopper.
Coming back to England my task has been to secure a domain name and create a web page.
Spent yesterday and today trawling through web sites who offered domain registration and hosting.
I eliminated ones who were based in America. No other reason than the timezone differences and that I'd have no recourse if they failed. I only stuck with UK ones because that way I'd have less language problems. I really wanted to chose one which accepted payments in Euros. But there were only two and they didn't feel quite right.
Some providers were down right tacky in their approach. Some had obvious typos as well. Not reassuring.
I eventually decided on one which seemed just about right. It was actually the first one that came up on my search engine yesterday.
They were very low cost and were owned by one of the major UK ISPs. All round not a bad proposition. We'll see.
It's latish but hot (for me). Now have to start prototyping the web pages.
Although until recently not much had been happening.
I went over and visited Peter and his family. Whilst there we talked about the business and had a very good meeting with an advertising/marketing/design agency. The art director was very enthusiastic and came in to meet us even though he was on vacation.
After the meeting I wrote up the minutes. This took a while as I wanted to get the format right. This is one of the, er, joys of setting up your own business. You get to do things your way (sort of). My views on minutes is that they're often far too brief to the point of ambiguity. Especially around the who does what, when and how much. So, doing the minutes this time I could expand on this area. It was only a bit more text but as a result much more information.
We now have an agreed solution for our logos, business cards, stationary, brochures etc.
And in case you haven't been paying attention the business has been registered. And our product name has been trade marked.
At a very cool 80s style bar I chatted with Peter about some elements of our product placement. To the left of me there was a table of five young women and one bloke. To the right of me there was a table of five men and one woman.
We found some issues with our positioning strategy and we'll need to review this (sober and undistracted). The problem only emerged because we sat down and had the time to discuss it. But this is by no means a show shopper.
Coming back to England my task has been to secure a domain name and create a web page.
Spent yesterday and today trawling through web sites who offered domain registration and hosting.
I eliminated ones who were based in America. No other reason than the timezone differences and that I'd have no recourse if they failed. I only stuck with UK ones because that way I'd have less language problems. I really wanted to chose one which accepted payments in Euros. But there were only two and they didn't feel quite right.
Some providers were down right tacky in their approach. Some had obvious typos as well. Not reassuring.
I eventually decided on one which seemed just about right. It was actually the first one that came up on my search engine yesterday.
They were very low cost and were owned by one of the major UK ISPs. All round not a bad proposition. We'll see.
It's latish but hot (for me). Now have to start prototyping the web pages.
Monday, July 05, 2004
No change
... in that it´s still too hot.
Last day here. Yesterday didn´t do too much. Met up with some people, had a few beers and an Italian meal (past al-cheapo).
I´m trying to hide form the heat in the cool of a cyber cafe. So that´s my excuse for writing this. What´s your excuse for reading it?
Last day here. Yesterday didn´t do too much. Met up with some people, had a few beers and an Italian meal (past al-cheapo).
I´m trying to hide form the heat in the cool of a cyber cafe. So that´s my excuse for writing this. What´s your excuse for reading it?
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Still too hot
The Spanish should really do something about the weather.
Spent a few hours yesterday in a bar watching the cycling.
Great...
... isn´t the word I´m looking for.
The Spanish tend to be very keen on cycling. Explains quite a lot I think.
Then went for a curry. Nice looking Indian place in central Granada. But service and quality of food was poor. I know the curries in England are ersatz curries but they´re jolly nice.
Spent a few hours yesterday in a bar watching the cycling.
Great...
... isn´t the word I´m looking for.
The Spanish tend to be very keen on cycling. Explains quite a lot I think.
Then went for a curry. Nice looking Indian place in central Granada. But service and quality of food was poor. I know the curries in England are ersatz curries but they´re jolly nice.
Friday, July 02, 2004
New blog site
No, not this one. I´ve written a new blog site which will mainly summarise my status: where I am, what I´m doing, if I`m alive or dead etc.
You can check it out here. But.
But, I can´t remember how to link it to my main web site (the ISP´s way of updating pages has changed).
When I get it sorted I´ll update the site with my non-business venture activities, meantime ...
You can check it out here. But.
But, I can´t remember how to link it to my main web site (the ISP´s way of updating pages has changed).
When I get it sorted I´ll update the site with my non-business venture activities, meantime ...
Taking a break
Last Friday I finished my contract assignment in Somerset. At last, thank goodness. It wasn´t my best work but it´s finished and is now history.
Rather than searching straight away for a new job and dwelling on the last I´ve taken myself off to see a friend in Granada, Spain. Six days of R and R.
When I return I`ll do more work on the venture and job hunting. To recap I don´t think there´s any prospect of income for at least 18 months after we start trading. In fact it´s probably longer. And I´m still waiting to hear about the job in Prague.
So, this visit to Spain is a good opportunity to stop thinking for a while. I am, however, conscious that I should improve my concentration and mental focus. For various reasons they haven´t recently been as good as they used to be.
So, I´ve brought along a book on learning Spanish. But so far, day 3 of the break, it hasn´t been opened. I seem to get by with the Spanish I already know, especially when I don´t talk to anyone.
I´m not going to do any sight seeing here. I´ve already seen Al Hambra, twice, and I doubt that any one has seen fit to modernise it. And I don´t do scenery, e.g. landscapes, mountains, lakes etc. They´re even older than old buildings. And often without a nearby mobile phone mast.
I´ve brought along my digitial camera. But I probably won´t use it. So don´t expect any photos of my holiday here.
To summarise I don´t believe vacations should be spent looking at old stuff (museums, churches etc) standing on old stuff (e.g. mountains etc) or behind the lens of a camera (even if it is a Leica M3, a 40 year old classic which still works, not that it´s the camera I´ve brought along).
Rather than searching straight away for a new job and dwelling on the last I´ve taken myself off to see a friend in Granada, Spain. Six days of R and R.
When I return I`ll do more work on the venture and job hunting. To recap I don´t think there´s any prospect of income for at least 18 months after we start trading. In fact it´s probably longer. And I´m still waiting to hear about the job in Prague.
So, this visit to Spain is a good opportunity to stop thinking for a while. I am, however, conscious that I should improve my concentration and mental focus. For various reasons they haven´t recently been as good as they used to be.
So, I´ve brought along a book on learning Spanish. But so far, day 3 of the break, it hasn´t been opened. I seem to get by with the Spanish I already know, especially when I don´t talk to anyone.
I´m not going to do any sight seeing here. I´ve already seen Al Hambra, twice, and I doubt that any one has seen fit to modernise it. And I don´t do scenery, e.g. landscapes, mountains, lakes etc. They´re even older than old buildings. And often without a nearby mobile phone mast.
I´ve brought along my digitial camera. But I probably won´t use it. So don´t expect any photos of my holiday here.
To summarise I don´t believe vacations should be spent looking at old stuff (museums, churches etc) standing on old stuff (e.g. mountains etc) or behind the lens of a camera (even if it is a Leica M3, a 40 year old classic which still works, not that it´s the camera I´ve brought along).
... and another thing
It´s very hot. 32 degrees C in the shade. Not that there is any shade.
I´ve even had to resort to wearing shorts.
I´ve even had to resort to wearing shorts.
