Sam Kidd's thoughts on businesshttp://www.samkidd.com/This is my personal space where I share random thoughts and opinions on general business and business practices.Sam Kidd's thoughts on businesshttp://www.samkidd.com/images/rsslogo.jpghttp://www.samkidd.com/43539en-us1440Official Opening of Sam and Dan'sFuzion for helping out with the launch as well. The weather for the day was bloody shocking but still we had a great turn out and everyone was kept happy with their free Hot Dogs and Donuts we were serving along with a glass or 2 or wine as well.(Now before another person says it, we do realise that Donut is the American spelling of Doughnut. We had a long debate about this, but we thought people are so used to seeing the American spelling of it on TV shows and the fact that it's really an American product in the end. So we have decided it's spelled DONUT in Sam&Dan's)
Cutting the tape
So what's been happening since we opened, well we have had a leak in our Donut machine we have had a Bain-marie unit that was overheating and all sorts of teething problems that you always run into when you open something new. Thankfully none of these have been too bad at all and we are now
well under way with most of the small bugs worked out now. (I hope)

We have been having a great response from people coming into the shop and everyone has been really complimentary on the Hot Dogs, thank God, other wise we went into the wrong business. I still can't get over that loads of people have never tried the American mustard, they all think that it is English mustard that is on the dogs. Once we twist their arm them to try it they really like it. You just can't have a dog without mustard, it's just so wrong.

The other side of the shop, the Donuts have been the real surprise for us I guess. We got the machine in not knowing what sort of demand there would be in Cork and they have been going really well. We often get people in saying they were walking by and the smell was just killing them so they had to call in to get some donuts. The only problem I have with the Donuts is for me to stop eating them. I'm having to use unreal restraint when I'm in there not to just test (one as quality controller) every 2 mins.

Also I would like to say a big thanks to the team we had construct the shop I would give my fully recommendation to these guys. If anyone is looking for a team of builders and supplies to start their own place at a great price try the guys below:
The builders&painters and the whole Project was managed by a really nice guy Denis McCarthy 086 2778428
The sparky was M-Power Electrical 087 6536419
The Kitchen was with Quipman 021-4210433

Me giving my Speech

Happy out with their Hot Dogs from Sam&Dan's

The four behind Sam&Dan's



Sam and Dan ]]>BusinessCorkSamandDan'sVentureSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Official_Opening_of_Sam_and_Dan's.cfmSam and Dan's opens it's doors Sam&Dan's is now open and trading to the public!! I can't believe it myself, I thought we would never get there.
I'm a bit up the walls at the moment trying to get all the small things sorted out so I will post a more detailed blog later on.

In the short time below are a few pics from the shop. I also have a few more photos on my flickr page.






]]>SamandDan'sVentureSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Sam_and_Dan's_opens_it's_doors.cfmSam and Dan's Yesterday, the counter we have running around the shop was finished off, all that is left now is to have it varnished a few times.

The back store room was worked on and all the holes patched up. The ceiling throughout the shop was also painted. We then had the hoods for the kitchen installed and all the steel work on the walls behind where the kitchen will go finished off as well.

Now we just have the painting of walls, Kitchen to be installed, and the second fix of the electrics to be completed and also jacks to be plumbed in. We are hoping (praying) to have most of the work completed by Tuesday so we can open during the week.

We also have our first shipment of Hot dogs arriving from Germany tomorrow as well, I have to say I wish we were finished with the construction in the shop, because we have stuff stored all over the place such as, bar stools, donut machines, donut mix, T.V's. Ahhhh so much to get sorted and so little time.

Work in Digital Crew is manic as well at the moment I was in Galway on Friday looking at the new Galway webworks building, we are doing the website for it, nice place all very modern. 

The days are very long at the moment with trying to do loads of Sam&Dan's work during the day along with Digital Crew and AREA51  trying to get all my written Digital Crew work done at night. Still I have to say I am enjoying but also finding it a bit stressful too.

Below are the latest pics from the shop.







]]>BusinessDigital CrewSamandDan'sVentureSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Sam_and_Dan's_.cfmLatest photos from the build of Sam and Dan's You can see the steel walls are nearly all up on the left hand side of the shop and the wooden counter top is in the process of going up as well.
Tomorrow the steel is going to be finished along with the counter, and then the mirrors above the counter top go in as well.
Also the kitchen comes into the shop towards the end of the day.
So i hope the photos i upload tomorrow might actually look a bit more like a real shop, and is now
another step closer to becoming the first Sam and Dan's shop!







]]>SamandDan'sSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Latest_photos_from_the_build_of_Sam_and_Dan's.cfmProgress to date in Sam&Dan's
Work in Digital Crew at the moment is crazy as well, every man and his dog is looking for new sites
or application to be built. We even finished a pretty cool internal app. for Lidl Ireland in the last week.

Any how as you can see below Sam&Dan's still looks like a bomb went off. So much for the builder saying most of the work will be done by Tuesday. There should be big changes made by Friday this week. I would be hoping that the shop will be pretty much ready to rock and roll by next week. (fingers crossed)








]]>Digital CrewSamandDan'sVentureSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Progress_to_date_in_SamDan's_.cfmSam and Dan's construction photos tonight. The floor is nearly done now throughout the shop.
You can check out all the photos I have in my flickr account here

Sam and Dan's under construction

We hope to have all the wiring finished tomorrow and the ceiling started to be
slabbed. Kitchen should be going in early next week, I know looking at this pic it
seems hard to believe, but that's what I'm being told. Somehow don't
think I would bet too much cash on that happening, guess I will see.]]>SamandDan'sSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Sam_and_Dan's_construction_photos.cfmLatest photos from the build of Sam&Dan'sSam&Dan's is now well under way to actually becoming a real shop and not just being an idea.
I have posted some photos from the construction below.
We decided to rip the ceiling down on Tuesday, we discovered there was about 2 feet of dead space above the old one. Denis (the builder) said it was an easy enough job so we gave the go ahead and down it came. The frame for the new ceiling is now up, and we got almost 2 feet of extra height inside the shop now, and man it makes a savage difference to the room. I'm so
glad we decided to go ahead with it.

We also had a small bit of a headache during the week when we realised we would have to
re-tile the floor. Once we took the old internal walls out we found out that the existing floor
wasn't level the whole way through the shop. We thought this was going to turn into a massive
job, taking the whole floor out then levelling it off, but Denis was able to just remove the parts of the floor that were too high, then level it out. We are then able to tile over the existing tiles. You
can see in the end pic half of the shop was done today, I hope the rest will be done in
the morning.

The shop with all the walls taken down























The shop once all the internal walls were taken down.

 


The new ceiling





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



             The new ceiling. You can see the mark from the old one on the right.


Building Samanddans






















               The builders working on the shop.


Lookinf from the back wall to the front of SamandDans






















              Photo from the back of the shop towards the front. The tiles are being prepared for the
new ones to go in.


New foor going in






















                        These are the new tiles which are going in to Sam&Dan's.
Well that's the update so far, I will keep you posted over the week and let you know how it's turning out. I hope to see the shop start to take shape this week and not to look just like a construction yard.

]]>CorkSamandDan'sVentureSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Latest_photos_from_the_build_of_SamDan's.cfmSam And Dan's the build goes ahead The builders are going to start in the morning ripping the whole place apart.



The kitchen will be on the left of this photo going all the way back through the wall that is there now.
On the far right wall there will be a bar type seating area. Well hopefully if all goes to plan
and there is enough room. Below is the layout for the shop to give you a better idea.


We are also looking to put seating at the front of the shop
looking out the window, so people can chill, have a dog and watch the world go by. Which I think will be really nice.

I will upload some more photos once the place has been gutted.
























]]>SamandDan'sSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Sam_And_Dan's_the_build_goes_ahead.cfmDemolition has begun in Sam and Dan's


Hopefully it will be cool to look back in a months time and see the before and after pics.

We are aiming for a early June opening, if all goes to plan. (fingers crossed)]]>Personal BlogSamandDan'sSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Demolition_has_begun_in_Sam_and_Dan's.cfmI'm now on TwitterI know I'm way behind on jumping on to this one, but after reading about Twitter Phone on Pat Phelans blog I thought I had better get round to see what all the hype was regarding Twitter.

As you can see on the right hand side of the page I have my latest Twitter updates. From what little use I have given it so far I have to say I'm empressed.

You can follow my twitter updates at http://twitter.com/samkidd

]]>BlogsCool stuffLinksTwitterSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/I'm_now_on_Twitter.cfmSam and Dan's now finally underwayAfter 9 months of negotiations we have finally signed the lease for Sam&Dan's.

We are to start construction of the shop straight away and we will hope to open some time early next month. You can check back here for updates of the build and I will post up photos as well.

 

 

]]>SamandDan'sSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Sam_and_Dan's_now_finally_underway.cfmRyanair advert which has a go at aerlingus

You got to love the guys who do the adverts in Ryanair. I can't help but think a certain Michael O'Leary might have had something to do with the wording of this advert which appeared in the papers today.

 

]]>AdvertisingIrelandSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Ryanair_advert_which_has_a_go_at_aerlingus.cfmTreat a website just like a real world shopPeople there is no magic website making button, no one is hiding it on you, honest!
Working in Digital Crew I'm starting to see that a lot of companies out there that still don't realise what is involved in making a good website these days.
It's not as simple as drawing a picture, pressing a few button and then 'wham' a lovely site appears that runs your business and sells loads of their products! (Hell I wish it was like that)

I just can't believe the amount of companies out there that have unrealistic ideas and budgets for making a website. A website that they want to use to help their company generate sales worth thousands and sometimes millions of euro.  One thing I wish people would realise is that to build a really good site does take time and no, your uncle Dave who got a computer last year and said it was really easy to make a website, may actually not really know what he's talking about.

Then again there are the companies out there that are fantastic to work with. They know how long it takes and what is required to make a site that works for them.  One thing I'm trying to get across to people all the time is that, setting up a website is like creating a real shop or office. If you were to open a shop in the morning you wouldn't just walk into a place bang up some shelves and open the door and expect people to take your seriously and buy your products. You would want to spend some time designing the shop, you may even get a shop designer to help you get this right. Then you would get a builder in, because he has the right skills and tools to get the job done well.  You're going to want the public to come into your shop, and you want to create a good impression, you want it to look professional and you know if you get the look and feel right this will help sales.

Well folks it's the same with websites, instead of using wood and plaster to build your shop or office your using programming and software. Both the real and the virtual shop take time, expertise and a lot of hard manual labour. 

If you're looking to create a web based business or you want to extend your real world one I would just like to say, take some time and really think about what you want to achieve with your site. It's like opening another premises. If it's a shopping site remember how long it took you to open the one you have now, and how much work went into it. Because the same amount of work can go into the online one as well.  Remember your website may be the first and only experience a potential customer may have with your company, so you can't afford to get it wrong, because you're not standing behind the counter in this shop, and you can't win them over with your charm.

 

]]>BusinessDigital CrewWebsitesSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Treat_a_website_just_like_a_real_world_shop.cfmWorking away in Digital Crew.Yes I'm still alive incase anyone was wondering. I have just been working away flat out the last few months. I keep meaning to post here but I have been finding it hard to find the time.

So what have I been up to thats made me ohh too busy? Well I have joined the Crew, I'm now working away with my friends Dan and Topper in Digital Crew. I have been in and around their office for years now and we have AREA51 between us as well. So now I have moved in and am working away pretty much full time inside. It's been a bit mainic getting myself up to speed. I'm now the new business development manager inside. Dan and Topper are still the programming nerds.

Digital Crew has been up and running 9 years, and they have some top class clients on the books now, so it has'nt really been a hard job for me yet to bring in the sales. It's been a nice change for me to do something different for a while and I do believe a lot in the products and sites that we are developing here. The Skills thats the guys have now is class and we must have the best CMS (Content Management System) out there now.

We are also, as I have said in an early post,  TeamworkPM. We have been using TeamworkPM inside Digital Crew now for the last 5 months I would say and it's really changed the way we work inside. It's made us much more orginised and it's really helped us stay on top of clients needs. There is a free version for anyone to try so I would say, give it a go ;-)


Right I must get out of the office and head home, I'm really going to try to get back into my blogging from now, I'm always coming across things and thinking shite, I should have a little rant about that but I just have'nt gotten around to it, so I hope to get back in the game again.

 

 

 

 

 

]]>BusinessDigital CrewFree StuffPersonal BlogSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Working_away_in_Digital_Crew.cfmTeamwork Project ManagerBeen up the walls here the last week so have not blogged in a while. I have been working with the guys (Dan and Topper) on Teamworkpm.net The product is looking really well now, the guys have done a great job in building this.

Teamwork PM is an online Project Management application that will help you work faster and be more productive in the work place.  We have been using it for a while now in Digital Crew and it's been bloody fantastic. (well I would say that I guess)

Before Teamwork we often forgot to pass on messages or simple tasks that we needed to do for our clients, or it just ending up taking too long to sort out problems because we would miss each other in the office or emails we sent to each other would just get buried in an our email inbox.

With Teamwork we have got rid of all these problems. We have a few more features that we are in the process of adding, and  we have have had a load of suggestions from people currently using Teamworkpm but It will always be an on going project as we improve things over time.

I would love to get some more feed back from people to see what othe feature people would like. There is a free edition use as well as the paid versions with have a few more features. Please give the free one a go and let me know what you guys think.

 

]]>Digital CrewFree StuffLinksTeamworkpmWebsitesSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Teamwork_Project_Manager.cfmFeedDemon is now FREE!
Just heard from Dan that the fantastic RSS reader, FeedDemon is now free. Thats right I said it FeedDemon is FREE!! I have been meaning to get FeedDemon for a while now but have just never got round to it.  I see on their site that they do a synchronization with the blackberry, so I will have to look at that. I have been using viigo on my Blackberry. I saw Dan was using on his iphone and I liked the way your feed were synced with your desktop.

The full press release can be found on the FeedDemon site here.

]]>BlackberryCool stuffFeedDemonFree StuffLinksWebsitesSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/FeedDemon_is_now_FREE!.cfmBuilding Coffee Republic From Our Kitchen
Building Coffee Republic From Our Kitchen is the book by Sahar Hashemi and Bobby Hashemi. I read Building Coffee Republic From Our Kitchen over the christmas break while dying from that bloody flu that was going round.  It's not a big read and I got through it in a couple of sitting. I picked it up in Waterstones in the after Christmas sales, for about 13 Euro. 



The start of the book is all about how you too can be an entrepreneur, and giving people advice and encouragement for taking the leap into running your own business. So if you already own your own business the start of the book is a bit boring and is just telling you what you already know and do.

However I found the book really good once I got half way through. This is when they are about to about open the doors on their first Coffee Republic shop. Once I got to this part it was a really interesting to read. The reason I got it was to see how someone goes from one small coffee shop to becoming one of the biggest brands in the UK.
And for this part alone it was a great book.  Its written by people that you can tell love their business and have worked bloody hard in it.  If your thinking about open a coffee shop or any business really in the retail trade I would recommend you give this a read.

Link to it on Amazon

]]>BooksPersonal BlogSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Building_Coffee_Republic_From_Our_Kitchen.cfmWhopper Freak out As you will know from other posts on this site I love advertising that's really stands out above the rest.  This site is another example of someone thinking outside the box to get their message across.  Any advert that you want to watch and want to tell people about is a winner in my books.  This advert comes from a company I didn't think I would be writting about here, Burger king.

The idea for the video is of course simple like any great idea. What would happen if you took a Burger King restaurant in America, and then you decided, hey lets take the Whopper off the menu and told everyone that comes in that the Whopper has been discontinued for ever. Well the video will answer those questions.]]>AdvertisingVideoSam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Whopper_Freak_out.cfmHow to change Name in Team Fortress 2How do you change you name in Team Fortress 2. Still seems to be a problem that a lot of people are coming up against. To change your name in Team Fortress 2 is really easy to sort out.

I wrote about this here before but people can't find the post. So I will write it out again.
I had been having this problem down in AREA51 and it was a pain playing a LAN with about 30 unknowns running around. Still made life for the spy easier. The work around is really easy to fix. In fairness Valve have done a great job with their Steam client. I used to hate Steam but I have to say I'm really starting to love steam as a content delivery system.

Any how back to the problem people have been having with changing their name in Team Fortress 2.

Go into console then type:
setinfo name Kiwi 
Just change kiwi to what you want your player name to be. Sorted
 
If you ever round AREA51 on a Tuesay night call in for a LAN of Team Fortress 2. It normally kicks off at about 7pm and runs to about 11ish.



]]>AREA51GamingTeam Fortress 2Sam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/How_to_change_Name_in_Team_Fortress_2.cfmBuying a lease for a Commercial Property or Retail Unit.Commercial Property, I know I have had a rant on here before about leases for commercial property and because of this I have found people coming to the site that are searching for info on leasing of commercial property. I was also talking to a few people about this as well and I forgot what it was like when you’re first looking for a property to rent to start a shop or business. So I thought I would put down just a few basic things that might help people out.

I remember when we were first looking for a shop to rent for AREA51 and going into all the property places to ask about commercial property or retail units.The first time I met with a property auctioneer they asked me was I looking to buy a lease or just looking to rent. I was think to myself, well aren’t they the same thing. Well they are and they aren’t.  The easiest way to explain buying a lease is before you can pay rent you must buy the right to pay rent. I know this sounds crazy when you’re first starting out into the retail world that you must pay to rent.

So the basic story is, lets say you have found a shop you like. This shop has the sign lease for sale. You ask the auctioneer how much it is. They say it 90k; you then cough up a lung and need a seat. So what’s going on here, well the shop you are looking at is owned by a landlord. He owes the building. Then he decides he wants to rent the building or part of it for retail. Now to protect that persons business they get a lease, which is the right to rent and run a business. Now the landlord can’t just say get out of my building I want it back now. So the person has their business protected, but if they want to close up shop they can sell on this lease to someone else so they can run a business there. So if you wanted this shop for yourself you will have to pay 90k cash to the person who’s business is closing down. The other down side to this is it is just like buying a house. In the way that it goes to the highest bidder, so there may be a bidding war ahead for a retail property.

Ouch I hear you say. I know this is a pain, especially if you are a start-up business. The only good thing is you now own a bit of an asset. If you then decide in a few years time you need a bigger shop or that shop didn’t work out for you, well then you get to sell the lease. You may make more or less, it all depends on demand and other factors with the shop.
Even though I feel the lease is an asset the banks don’t look at them this way. Not a huge shock there really. I wrote a bit here about trying to get a loan using the lease as equity before. Bloody banks!!

This is a really basic look at retail leases but it may help you get a better idea of how it works. If you have any question just email me or write it into the comments.

 
 
]]>BankingBusinessCommercial leaseCommercial PropertySam Kidd (sam@area51.ie)http://www.samkidd.com/posts/Buying_a_lease_for_a_Commercial_Property_or_Retail_Unit.cfm