Whitley's blogWhitley's blog2021-11-17T22:16:37+11:00http://jerviswhitley.com/whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/HugoCob Pizza Oven Buildhttp://jerviswhitley.com/cob-pizza-oven-build/2021-11-17T22:16:18+11:002021-11-17T21:06:15+11:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/This covid season my family built a pizza oven as a project to keep ourselves occupied.
The pizza oven is a great way to make a heap of pies when hosting guests, and provides some theatre and excitement compared to simply cooking pies in the oven.<p>This covid season my family built a pizza oven as a project to keep ourselves occupied.</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/oven/full-cob-oven.jpg" alt="Completed cob oven"></p>
<p>The pizza oven is a great way to make a heap of pies when hosting guests, and provides
some theatre and excitement compared to simply cooking pies in the oven. Pies cook in 90s, often the oven is far too hot, and I have to allow it to cool down somewhat so I don’t scorch the pie base.</p>
<p>The oven retains heat within the cob walls, roof and fire brick floor. This allows it to continue to cook until lunch time the next day.</p>
<p>I’ll give some basic details about how we made this oven, some of the thoughts behind our decision making process and how we use the oven now that its built.</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/oven/pizza-cooking.jpg" alt="cooking a pie in the cob oven">
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/oven/pizza-pie.jpg" alt="finished ham and pineapple pizza">
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/oven/pizza-base.jpg" alt="pizza base nice"></p>
<h2 id="what-type-of-oven-to-build">What type of oven to build</h2>
<p>I like to make pizza. At least once a month but often more than that. Our kids love to eat pizza too. I wasn’t satisfied making pizzas in our oven. The oven doesn’t get very hot (approx 240C max) and the pies took 10 minutes to cook. I had switched to cooking the base on a frypan over a gas flame, then putting the pie in the oven under a grill to cook the top. The results were good. I can make a very good pie like this, but it was annoying to juggle the frypan around between gas top and oven grill, and it still took a long time to cook each pie, though I admit I never measured the time here, perhaps 5 minutes.</p>
<p>So I looked at alternatives, a dedicated appliance for cooking pizzas. There are some pizza cookers that sit in your kitchen, the ones I saw were around $600, though the components are so simple I’m sure you could find cheaper (its just a sandwich press for pizzas).</p>
<p>Then I also looked at outdoor gas fired pizza ovens. These were also expensive, and I felt like it was cheating to turn on some gas and cook a pizza. It isn’t really cheating at all they get very hot and would cook a good pie - but sometimes I like to do things the hard way, gas fired pizza is easy mode.</p>
<p>Then there is a dedicated outdoor pizza oven. There are kits you can buy. They were the most expensive of all. Over $2k for many of the kits. But the heat retention and build quality (assuming I can follow instruction) is excellent. I’ve read about these ovens retaining heat for many days afterwards. I would loved to have had one of these, but I couldn’t justify spending so much money.</p>
<p>Finally a friend in the town where I lived told me about how he made his pizza oven out of mud! I couldn’t believe it, so he invited me over for a pizza night and showed me how it all worked. I was hooked on the idea that I could make a pizza oven with mostly materials found around my house. Not only would it be cheap, but it sounded like a lot of fun.</p>
<h2 id="making-the-oven">Making the oven</h2>
<p>I looked through a few blog articles, watched some youtube videos and bought a book on cob pizza making (by Kiko Denzer, you should be able to search for it). They all had a very similar method:</p>
<ol>
<li>Make a plinth/pedestal up to a ‘baking height’</li>
<li>Make a layer of insulation to prevent heat leaking downward into your pedestal</li>
<li>Lay a fire brick layer. This is your cooking surface and fire surface, it must be level.</li>
<li>Build a form out of sand directly on top of fire bricks that will be the shape of your pizza oven cavity</li>
<li>Lay a thick wall and roof of clay/sand on top of your sand castle.</li>
<li>When the clay/sand is dried a little scoop the sand castle out, the pizza oven is now almost ready</li>
<li>Insulate the inner clay/sand with something insulative (in my case with a ceramic fibre blanket)</li>
<li>Put a nice thin outer layer of mud to make it look nice</li>
</ol>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/oven/pedestal.jpg" alt="pedestal for cob pizza oven"></p>
<p>There are other smaller steps I guess, but this is a very high overview not a complete guide.</p>
<p>We had a load of free busted up concrete that someone near and dear to us wanted to get rid of. I happily accepted their offer and took 5 bootloads of it. That was enough to build the pedestal to near baking height and fill the middle with junky looking bits / other trash from around the house.
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/oven/carboot.jpg" alt="car load of concrete"></p>
<p>I wanted the oven to fit a ‘large’ pizza so the doorway needed to be 35cm, and the baking diameter is 70cm inside. Height of dome is 16” and height of door is approx 10”. The flue is about 5” - I have read that 6” is ideal for an pizza oven of this size though. That might be true, but I am happy with 5” flue so far.</p>
<h2 id="performance-of-the-oven">Performance of the oven</h2>
<p>The cob oven performs as well as I had hoped, but I was disappointed when I tried to compare heat retention against a masonry pizza oven kit - there are people on forums online bragging about 3-4 day cooking cycles from a single firing. If that is what you want, I’d suggest that cob won’t get you there.</p>
<p>Instead what you can expect is:</p>
<ul>
<li>the ability to cook 15 or more pizzas in a single firing extremely quickly (90s cook time)</li>
<li>A short firing time 1hr 15 minutes to 1 hr 30 minutes is enough from when the fire is lit. I have fired for even longer 2hrs but it just made the oven too hot for pizza.</li>
<li>After the pizzas are cooked (say 6pm) at 10-11pm the oven will have cooled from 400C+ down to 240C which is a decent (if a little hot) temp to cook a few sourdough breads.</li>
<li>Then after the breads have baked, a hearty stew can be put in ready for either breakfast or lunch next day (100C at lunchtime following day)</li>
<li>After I have cooked a pizza, bread and stew I put in some seasoned firewood and allow it to kiln-dry ready for next firing.</li>
</ul>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/oven/bread-in-oven.jpg" alt="bread in oven">
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/oven/finished-bread.jpg" alt="finished bread"></p>
<p>A single firing of our oven is about 1.5 ‘rounds’ of wood. Where I have decided that a ‘round’ of wood is a firebox length log (not split) of wood. Maybe this is 10kg? I use stringy bark, or any other decent fire wood I can find.</p>
<h2 id="total-cost-and-thoughts-what-i-am-happy-with-and-what-i-would-do-differently">Total cost and thoughts what I am happy with and what I would do differently.</h2>
<p>The total cost was:</p>
<ul>
<li>$280 for firebricks (base and arch)</li>
<li>$100 for ceramic fibre blanket</li>
<li>$100 on perlite</li>
<li>$250 flue and installation through roof</li>
<li>$16 bricky sand (1 scoop)</li>
</ul>
<p>I could have saved $50 on the perlite if I had realised that I could just buy a large bag from ebay and not small bags from bunnings. The ceramic blanket (again ebay) could be replaced with a cob + straw insulation which is free but I am pleased I spent the extra cash here. I can’t really feel any heat escaping out of the walls or roof, so it must be doing its job well enough.</p>
<p>I chose to make a bricky sand + clay mortar for the pedestal. This helped me get to baking height without as much concrete required, but it was a real pain to dig up and mix so much mortar! If you have an opportunity to build a dry stack pedestal or mount the pizza oven on something existing you’ll save yourself so much time. The oven itself was easy, the pedestal was hard!</p>
<p>Make sure you have some extra hands to help on the day you build the pizza oven. This is because some of it is time sensitive and you don’t want the sand form drying out before you’ve finished laying your oven walls and roof.</p>
Bare Rootedhttp://jerviswhitley.com/bare-rooted/2020-09-08T20:58:58+10:002020-08-09T21:41:24+10:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/Winter planting of fruit trees
Almond. 2-2.5m high 2-2.5m wide
Apple Akane. 3m high 3m wide. M106 rootstock
Apple Spartan. 3m high 3m wide. M106 rootstock
Apple Winter Banana 3m high 3m wide. M106 rootstock
Blood Orange - 6-8m high 3-5m wide<p>Winter planting of fruit trees</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/almond.jpg" alt="Almond">
Almond. 2-2.5m high 2-2.5m wide</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/apple-akane.jpg" alt="Apple Akane">
Apple Akane. 3m high 3m wide. M106 rootstock</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/apple-spartan.jpg" alt="Apple Spartan">
Apple Spartan. 3m high 3m wide. M106 rootstock</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/apple-winter-banana.jpg" alt="Apple Winter Banana">
Apple Winter Banana 3m high 3m wide. M106 rootstock</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/blood-orange.jpg" alt="blood orange">
Blood Orange - 6-8m high 3-5m wide</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/blueberry.jpg" alt="blueberry">
Blueberry - Sunshine Blue</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/boysnberry.jpg" alt="boisenberry">
Boysenberry</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/cherry-kentish-1.jpg" alt="Cherry Kentish">
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/cherry-kentish-2.jpg" alt="Cherry Kentish">
Cherry - Kentish. 2.5 - 3m high</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/curry-leaf.jpg" alt="curry leaf">
Curry Leaf
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/lemon-1.jpg" alt="lemon">
Lemon - Unknown type</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/lemon-2.jpg" alt="lemon">
Lemon - Unknown type</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/lemon-meyer.jpg" alt="lemon meyer">
Lemon - Meyer</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/lime.jpg" alt="lime">
Lime - Unknown</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/mandarin.jpg" alt="imperial manderin">
Imperial Manderin. 3-4m high 3-4m wide</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/mulberry-white.jpg" alt="Mulberry white">
Mulberry - White. 5m high</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/apricot.jpg" alt="Nectarine">
Nectarine - Unknown.</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/peacharine.jpg" alt="nectarine">
Nectarine - Peacharine</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/peach.jpg" alt="peach">
Nectarine/Peach - Nectazee/Pixzee - 1.5m high 1.5m wide</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/nectarine-dwarf.jpg" alt="dwarf nectarine">
Peach - Dwarf</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/pear-winter-nelis.jpg" alt="Pear Winter Nelis">
Pear - Winter Nelis. 5m high. Quince C rootstock</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/pear-williams.jpg" alt="Pear Williams (Bartlett)">
Pear - Williams (Bartlett). 5m high. Quince A rootstock</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/raspberry-chilliwack.jpg" alt="raspberry">
Raspberry - Chilliwack</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/raspberry-heritage.jpg" alt="raspberry">
Raspberry - Heritage</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/rhubarb.jpg" alt="rhubarb">
Rhubarb</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/rosemary.jpg" alt="rosemary">
Rosemary</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/barerooted/sugar-plum.jpg" alt="sugar plum">
Sugar Plum - 4m high 4m wide</p>
An update about pizzahttp://jerviswhitley.com/an-update-about-pizza/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002020-07-23T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/It has been four years since I last wrote about the sourdough pizza recipe.
I still regard it as the best pizza base recipe I’ve read and refer back to it frequently.
What has changed in the years since I first wrote about making sourdough pizzas?<p>It has been four years since I <a href="http://jerviswhitley.com/pizza-base-recipe-with-sourdough-starter/">last wrote about the sourdough pizza recipe</a>.</p>
<p>I still regard it as <a href="http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm">the best pizza base recipe I’ve
read</a> and refer back to it frequently.</p>
<p>What has changed in the years since I first wrote about making sourdough pizzas?</p>
<p>The dough hasn’t changed. I use the same ratios, but in a larger quantity
(more mouths to feed now).</p>
<p>The sourdough starter hasn’t changed. I’m still using the same one since Jan 2016. It is a workhorse sourdough.
I’ve made jam doughnuts, pizza, many types of breads, burger buns, pancakes (who wants pannies for breakfast?)
with some regularity.</p>
<p>ALDI changed their flour, it no longer is 10.2 g protein. More like 9.8g from memory. It is still OK for pizza.</p>
<p>We changed our oven a few times, our current one is far too cold for pizza. You can tell because it takes upwards of 12 minutes
to cook one. That’s too long. My remedy for this (not wasting money on an oven) to come later in the article.</p>
<p>My method has changed. I’ll discuss this new method too.</p>
<h2 id="ingredients">Ingredients</h2>
<p>This recipe will make 6 large sized pizzas. 1 - 1.5 of these would make a nice
dinner for me.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th align="center">Ingredient</th>
<th align="center">quantity</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="center">Water</td>
<td align="center">650g</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Flour</td>
<td align="center">1000g</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Starter</td>
<td align="center">50g</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Salt</td>
<td align="center">30g</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2 id="start-the-week-before">Start the week before</h2>
<p>Take all the ingredients and bung them into a very large bowl. Its 1kg of flour!
Mix them up very well. You might want to add all the water and then 100g of flour at a time
if mixing is too hard for you.</p>
<h2 id="knead">Knead</h2>
<p>The dough is sticky. You can wet your hands with tap water which will help keep the dough from sticking to you.
I knead it for a good 10-15 minutes. Until it is nice and stretchy and doesn’t
tear as much when you really pull it out and apart.</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/dough-raw.jpg" alt="Before kneading">
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/dough-knead.jpg" alt="After kneading"></p>
<h2 id="cold-rise-in-the-fridge">Cold rise in the fridge</h2>
<p>I tear the dough into 6 equal lumps (6 pizzas remember) and put them into separate oiled containers
in the fridge. Your dough will rise over a period of minimum 5 days in the fridge! Amazing. Don’t bother
if you don’t have at least 5 days. 7 days is good too, I haven’t tried anything longer (hungry person).</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/pizza-dough-start.jpg" alt="Ready for fridge"></p>
<p>On the day you want pizza simply take out of the fridge!
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/pizza-dough-risen.jpg" alt="All risen"></p>
<h2 id="wait-i-dont-have-5-days-to-spare-sir">Wait! I don’t have 5 days to spare sir!</h2>
<p>Oh sorry. I didn’t see you there Unprepared Person! You need to make pizzas for tonight? Sorry look elsewhere.
Pizzas for tomorrow? That’s possible. Just prepare this the night before and perhaps leave in the fridge. Then
take out and leave for about 10-12 hrs on the bench, or in the oven with the oven light on (for warmness, not because the dough is scared of the dark).</p>
<h2 id="making-the-pie">Making the pie</h2>
<p>Just take your ball of dough and with your hands stretch it out into a pizza shape. Don’t use a rolling pin, since that would knock out the air bubbles. Make the base really really thin, thin enough to see light through it is OK. Make your crust areas nice and plump. They’ll puff up and form the pie around your pizza.
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/pizza-base-raw.jpg" alt="Pizza Base Raw"></p>
<h2 id="cook-with-a-frying-pan-and-the-oven-grill">Cook with a frying pan and the oven grill</h2>
<p>I put the oven grill as hot as it will go (remember my oven is terribly cold). I make the pizza base, dress with toppings and
cook in a frying pan on the gas top!! This will crisp up the base and get it a delicious golden brown colour in parts.
Then put the whole frying pan and pizza straight under the oven grill to cook the top. Should be about 4 -5 minutes under the grill.</p>
<p>If I am feeling fancy (and lets face it, I am <em>always</em> feeling fancy) I put some mixed herbs into the oil of the frying pan.
This gives the pizza base a sourdough herb bread flavour. Amazing.</p>
Car year 4http://jerviswhitley.com/car-year-4/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002019-11-19T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/Here is the breakdown in costs total for the last four years (estimated):
Description Cost Depreciation $4 000 Petrol $4 000 Insurance & Rego $5 368 Maintenance $2 772 === Total $16 140 It works out to $80/week for the car.<p>Here is the breakdown in costs total for the last four years (estimated):</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Description</th>
<th align="right">Cost</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Depreciation</td>
<td align="right">$4 000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Petrol</td>
<td align="right">$4 000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Insurance & Rego</td>
<td align="right">$5 368</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Maintenance</td>
<td align="right">$2 772</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>===</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Total</td>
<td align="right">$16 140</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>It works out to $80/week for the car.</p>
<p>We’ve travelled approx 35 000 km, which would be 175km/week. Giving a cost of 46c/km.
(Assumes petrol is 135c/l and average 8.4l/100km taken from car readout)</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://jerviswhitley.com/without-owning-a-car/">Original post before we owned a car</a></li>
<li><a href="http://jerviswhitley.com/owning-a-car-one-year-in-review/">1 year post of owning a car</a></li>
</ul>
House Prices in Dublin, Where are they now?http://jerviswhitley.com/house-prices-in-dublin-where-are-they-now/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002018-09-28T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/{% include purecss.html %}
Quick Recap - What happened in Dublin? House and unit purchase and rent prices had a steep decline between 2007 and 2013. The prices then began to recover.
The rental yields were far more attractive during recovery than before the decline.<p>{% include purecss.html %}</p>
<h3 id="quick-recap---what-happened-in-dublin">Quick Recap - What happened in Dublin?</h3>
<p>House and unit purchase and rent prices had a steep decline between 2007 and 2013.
The prices then began to recover.</p>
<p>The rental yields were far more attractive during recovery than before the decline.</p>
<h3 id="the-timeline-of-prices">The timeline of prices</h3>
<p>Note that none of these prices have been adjusted for inflation.</p>
<table class="pure-table pure-table-horizontal">
<thead>
<tr><th>Region</th><th>Year</th><th>Beds</th><th>Yield</th><th>Rent</th><th>Purchase</th></tr>
<tr><th></th><th></th><th></th><th></th><th>($ or euro)/mo</th><th>($ or euro) '000s</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>South Co</td><td>2006</td><td>5</td><td>3.20%</td><td>4652</td><td>1743</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Co</td><td>2010</td><td>5</td><td>3.30%</td><td>2484</td><td>903</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Co</td><td>2013</td><td>5</td><td>4.95%</td><td>3282</td><td>796</td></tr>
<tr class="highlight"><td>South Co</td><td>2018</td><td>5</td><td>3.1%</td><td>2591</td><td>1011</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Co</td><td>2006</td><td>2</td><td>4.10%</td><td>1436</td><td>420</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Co</td><td>2010</td><td>2</td><td>4.55%</td><td>1163</td><td>307</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Co</td><td>2013</td><td>2</td><td>6.25%</td><td>1349</td><td>259</td></tr>
<tr class="highlight"><td>South Co</td><td>2018</td><td>2</td><td>5.4%</td><td>1833</td><td>405</td></tr>
<tr><td>West</td><td>2006</td><td>5</td><td>2.88%</td><td>1334</td><td>555</td></tr>
<tr><td>West</td><td>2010</td><td>5</td><td>3.89%</td><td>1623</td><td>501</td></tr>
<tr><td>West</td><td>2013</td><td>5</td><td>4.19%</td><td>1300</td><td>372</td></tr>
<tr class="highlight"><td>West</td><td>2018</td><td>5</td><td>4.6%</td><td>2017</td><td>523</td></tr>
<tr><td>West</td><td>2006</td><td>2</td><td>4.13%</td><td>1114</td><td>324</td></tr>
<tr><td>West</td><td>2010</td><td>2</td><td>5.92%</td><td>883</td><td>179</td></tr>
<tr><td>West</td><td>2013</td><td>2</td><td>9.20%</td><td>928</td><td>121</td></tr>
<tr class="highlight"><td>West</td><td>2018</td><td>2</td><td>8.20%</td><td>1427</td><td>210</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Yarra</td><td>2014</td><td>house</td><td>2.80%</td><td>3306</td><td>1419</td></tr>
<tr class="highlight"><td>South Yarra</td><td>2018</td><td>house</td><td>2.45%</td><td>3250</td><td>1591</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Yarra</td><td>2014</td><td>unit</td><td>4.01%</td><td>2041</td><td>611</td></tr>
<tr class="highlight"><td>South Yarra</td><td>2018</td><td>unit</td><td>4.29%</td><td>2037</td><td>570</td></tr>
</tbody>
<caption>House Prices and Rents. Dublin real estate data taken from <a href="http://www.daft.ie/report/">Daft.ie</a></caption>
</table>
<h3 id="what-is-the-story-today">What is the story today?</h3>
<p>House prices have continued to recover, and rents too though to a lesser extent.
Largely they have not yet recovered to their 2006 values.</p>
<p>If you had purchased a 5 bedroom house in 2006 for €1.743M, today with inflation that should be €2.255M.
Instead the price is €1.01M, 55% lower.</p>
<p>In Australia it seems home prices have increased, though not much more than inflation (%5 growth after inflation),
while unit prices have declined.
This could be a function of the area, an exceedingly large supply of units has been built in the South Yarra area.
Rent prices have declined, both in dollars and when adjusted for inflation.</p>
<p>Perhaps this is a reflection of the very low wage growth enjoyed by Melbourne professionals over the same period, or again
is a function of the increased housing supply in South Yarra and competing suburbs.</p>
Beer guide 2016http://jerviswhitley.com/beer-guide-2016/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002017-05-20T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/ Brewery Beer Style Rating 4 hearts brewing s’more than a feeling sweet stout Excellent 4 pines brewing beast of bourbon wood aged beer Good Aiba saison a trios saison / farmhouse ale Decent Barossa valley brewing barrel aged cherry ripe porter porter Decent Big shed brewing beery ripe porter porter Good Brisbane brewing pavlova love specialty beer Decent Bright brewery lamb shank redemption american brown ale Decent Black heart brewery the dark monk belgian dark strong ale Good Cavalier French Oaked imperial stout russian imperial stout Great Brew cult gingerbread maniac spice herb or vegetable beer Good Kooinda brewery Inkblot stout II: turbo edition Oatmeal stout Excellent Liberty brewing co alpha obsidian IPA black ipa Good Mismatch brewing co negroni ipa IPA Good Modus operandi brewing co black magic woman foreign extra stout Good Mountain goat brewery captain amylase porter Good Old wives ales the jackasope IPA Great Pact beer co pact with the devil Belgian Specialty Ale Great Robe town brewery moby dick ambergris ale specialty beer Good Pirate life brewing loose lips sink ships double IPA Excellent Red hill brewing killer bee Braggot Great Stone brewing co piquant beere Weiss American Brown Ale Good Stone and wood jean Claude flan slam sweet stout Good Two birds brewing jam donut belgian blonde ale Decent Vale brewing purple haze oatmeal stout Great wayward brewing funky pineapple hand grenade Brett Beer Good <table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Brewery</th>
<th>Beer</th>
<th>Style</th>
<th align="right">Rating</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>4 hearts brewing</td>
<td>s’more than a feeling</td>
<td>sweet stout</td>
<td align="right">Excellent</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>4 pines brewing</td>
<td>beast of bourbon</td>
<td>wood aged beer</td>
<td align="right">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Aiba</td>
<td>saison a trios</td>
<td>saison / farmhouse ale</td>
<td align="right">Decent</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Barossa valley brewing</td>
<td>barrel aged cherry ripe porter</td>
<td>porter</td>
<td align="right">Decent</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Big shed brewing</td>
<td>beery ripe porter</td>
<td>porter</td>
<td align="right">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Brisbane brewing</td>
<td>pavlova love</td>
<td>specialty beer</td>
<td align="right">Decent</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Bright brewery</td>
<td>lamb shank redemption</td>
<td>american brown ale</td>
<td align="right">Decent</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Black heart brewery</td>
<td>the dark monk</td>
<td>belgian dark strong ale</td>
<td align="right">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cavalier</td>
<td>French Oaked imperial stout</td>
<td>russian imperial stout</td>
<td align="right">Great</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Brew cult</td>
<td>gingerbread maniac</td>
<td>spice herb or vegetable beer</td>
<td align="right">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Kooinda brewery</td>
<td>Inkblot stout II: turbo edition</td>
<td>Oatmeal stout</td>
<td align="right">Excellent</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Liberty brewing co</td>
<td>alpha obsidian IPA</td>
<td>black ipa</td>
<td align="right">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mismatch brewing co</td>
<td>negroni ipa</td>
<td>IPA</td>
<td align="right">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Modus operandi brewing co</td>
<td>black magic woman</td>
<td>foreign extra stout</td>
<td align="right">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mountain goat brewery</td>
<td>captain amylase</td>
<td>porter</td>
<td align="right">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Old wives ales</td>
<td>the jackasope</td>
<td>IPA</td>
<td align="right">Great</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Pact beer co</td>
<td>pact with the devil</td>
<td>Belgian Specialty Ale</td>
<td align="right">Great</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Robe town brewery</td>
<td>moby dick ambergris ale</td>
<td>specialty beer</td>
<td align="right">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Pirate life brewing</td>
<td>loose lips sink ships</td>
<td>double IPA</td>
<td align="right">Excellent</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Red hill brewing</td>
<td>killer bee</td>
<td>Braggot</td>
<td align="right">Great</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stone brewing co</td>
<td>piquant beere Weiss</td>
<td>American Brown Ale</td>
<td align="right">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Stone and wood</td>
<td>jean Claude flan slam</td>
<td>sweet stout</td>
<td align="right">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Two birds brewing</td>
<td>jam donut</td>
<td>belgian blonde ale</td>
<td align="right">Decent</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Vale brewing</td>
<td>purple haze</td>
<td>oatmeal stout</td>
<td align="right">Great</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>wayward brewing</td>
<td>funky pineapple hand grenade</td>
<td>Brett Beer</td>
<td align="right">Good</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Questions About Running a Businesshttp://jerviswhitley.com/questions-about-running-a-business/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002017-02-25T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/I’ve been asked as part of a school project to write up some of my learnings from running my small business whit.
What were your original motivations going into the business? I outlined my motivations in detail here in [the most expensive spreadsheet]({{ site.<p>I’ve been asked as part of a school project to write up some of my
learnings from running my small business <a href="http://www.whit.com.au/">whit.</a></p>
<h3 id="what-were-your-original-motivations-going-into-the-business">What were your original motivations going into the business?</h3>
<p>I outlined my motivations in detail here in
[the most expensive spreadsheet]({{ site.baseurl }}{% link _posts/2013-06-01-the-most-expensive-spreadsheet-i-have-seen.md %}). Its a story about
how someone quoted $200,000 to build me a spreadsheet.</p>
<h3 id="how-did-the-owner-identify-the-business-opportunity">How did the owner identify the business opportunity?</h3>
<p>At the time, there was a particular type of software that many engineers were using
in my field, however none of them were trained to use it adequately. I had
3-4 years experience using the software and saw an opportunity to teach it.</p>
<h3 id="what-market-research-did-the-owner-undertake-before-commencing-the-business">What market research did the owner undertake before commencing the business?</h3>
<p>Before I’d even written any training material or hired staff, my first step was to
attempt to sell the training. I contacted a large engineering firm in New South Wales
and managed to sell a $20k training package. Money in the bank is the best and most
accurate form of research.</p>
<h3 id="explain-how-the-owner-used-any-innovations-or-specialisations-that-set-them-aside-from-competitors">Explain how the owner used any innovations or specialisations that set them aside from competitors</h3>
<p>At the time, our competitors were focussed on other areas of training, and ignored
the opportunity that I saw. It gave us a period of 1-2 years to develop our reputation
and course material. Our course is highly specialised, and only attractive to a small
subset of all power systems engineers.</p>
<h3 id="what-personal-characteristics-or-skills-does-the-owner-believe-that-they-have-that-enabled-them-to-manage-the-business">What personal characteristics or skills does the owner believe that they have that enabled them to manage the business</h3>
<p>You must focus on what is important, and avoid activities that aren’t
necessary to earn money. I have some modest ability to sell, more than the
average engineer at least, which is important, having the best product won’t
automatically qualify you to be a success.</p>
<h3 id="what-were-the-short-first-12-months-and-the-long-first-5-years-term-goals-were-set-for-the-business-when-it-first-began">What were the short (first 12 months) and the long (first 5 years) term goals were set for the business when it first began</h3>
<p>My first goal was to convince someone to pay me at least $1 for something I’d made.
It seems strange that I thought like that now, but it was important to me at the time.
In 5 years, I’d wanted to have sold our training to all of the large engineering
business in Australia something we achieved much earlier than that.</p>
<h3 id="identify-any-sources-of-support-and-advice-that-the-owner-has-relied-upon-during-the-set-up-and-ongoing-running-of-the-business">Identify any sources of support and advice that the owner has relied upon during the set up and ongoing running of the business</h3>
<p>When I left my job. A senior manager gave me this advice “Just make sure you have
more money coming in than is going out.” I laughed, at the time I had no idea
how important this simple sounding advice was. I think about it all the time now.
It is important to find other entrepreneuers that you can regularly talk to, it
can be a lonely road otherwise.</p>
<h3 id="does-the-owner-believe-that-the-federal-or-state-governments-have-supported-the-business-in-what-ways">Does the owner believe that the federal or state governments have supported the business, in what ways?</h3>
<p>Not really. I can point to a few things I am pleased with though.</p>
<ul>
<li>Doing business in Australia is easier than in the US (I own a business there too)</li>
<li>The small business superannuation clearing house was great for me. It reduced the time I spend on superannuation compliance.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="any-suggestions-that-government-should-consider-to-further-support-the-business-and-entrepreneurship">Any suggestions that government should consider to further support the business and entrepreneurship</h3>
<p>I’m not generally in favour of financial support to small business. From where I
stand, having not received any money, it seems like picking winners - though I would
change my story if selected for money. I’d much prefer something like a 15% tax rate
for business like they have in the US. Or for the government to improve their IT
systems so that it isn’t a pain to file things.</p>
Owning a car - one year in review.http://jerviswhitley.com/owning-a-car-one-year-in-review./2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002017-02-04T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/About this time last year, we moved to the suburbs, and bought a beautiful second-hand Toyota Camry. I’ve previously written about the true costs of owning a car. But while I have owned one in the past, I didn’t at the time of that blog post.<p>About this time last year, we moved to the suburbs, and bought a beautiful
second-hand Toyota Camry. I’ve previously written about the
<a href="http://jerviswhitley.com/without-owning-a-car/">true costs</a> of owning a car. But while I have owned
one in the past, I didn’t at the time of that blog post. I was a happy GoGet
customer, paying for the (few) times I actually needed a car.</p>
<p>A year on. I thought it might be fun to learn how much this car cost us.</p>
<p>Here is the breakdown:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Description</th>
<th align="right">Cost</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Depreciation</td>
<td align="right">$2 360</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Petrol</td>
<td align="right">$615</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Insurance & Rego</td>
<td align="right">$1 342</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Maintenance</td>
<td align="right">$693</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>===</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Total</td>
<td align="right">$5 000</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Our car depreciated much quicker than the 9% I allowed for in the calculator.
My method for calculating the lost value on the car was to estimate what I
could sell it for today. I’m a lousy salesman, a buyer would negotiate
me to the bottom of the market price. So that’s what I picked for the current value.
Next year, I’ll also be picking the bottom of the market value, so I expect
the depreciation to settle down to the expected 9% number.</p>
<p>While using Goget and Flexicar we formed a habit of batching up everything
we needed a car for into the one block of time. That habit has stuck even
now that I own a car. For example I take my kids to the pool and also do
my weekly shop at ALDI during the same trip. If we are visiting my parents
we will stop off at some speciality food stores out that way.</p>
<p>It is hard to do an exact comparison between owning a car and using
a car share service. For example, there are no share cars in the suburb we
live in, owning a car is an unfortunate necessity. Rent in the areas that
car share services are available is higher than we pay. On balance,
owning a car has not saved us significant amounts of money, nor
made our lives more enjoyable. I still firmly believe that car share
services are a competitive option for those living closer to the city.</p>
<p>You don’t need to own a car <span style="color: #ccc">(but I do).</span></p>
Work from anywherehttp://jerviswhitley.com/work-from-anywhere/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002017-01-01T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/When I worked for a big company, I dreamed of working for myself so I could set my own hours and work schedule. My salary increases would be linked to how hard I worked, not how well I was able to game the HR department.<p>When I worked for a big company, I dreamed of working for myself so I could set
my own hours and work schedule. My salary increases would be linked to how hard
I worked, not how well I was able to game the HR department.</p>
<p>If I could set my hours and work schedule, perhaps I could work from anywhere
in the world. A park bench, library, the beach, even another country. At least
this is what I thought would happen to me. However once I stopped consulting
work, and was truly location independent, I was reluctant to move anywhere. Why
is it that when given the freedom to move my choice was - do nothing?</p>
<p>Thinking about it. When friends have moved to another city or country, it
wasn’t their idea. Instead their work gave them the opportunity and paid
relocation expenses. But in the scheme of things relocation costs aren’t that
high, certainly not prohibitive enough to deter someone determined for an
adventure. It seems strange that a person would happily up and move somewhere
a business had chosen in return for some relocation costs, but not move to
a location of their own choosing if given the opportunity.</p>
<p>So we decided to move to Sri Lanka. Melbourne is a very expensive city to live
in and it seemed crazy to continue to pay so much when I didn’t have to. One
of my goals in moving was to save money relative to what I would have
paid living in Melbourne. Now that a year has passed since we came back, here
is a breakdown of what we paid living in Sri Lanka - and travelling to Germany,
and what we pay living in Melbourne.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Description</th>
<th align="right">Sri Lanka</th>
<th align="right">Melbourne</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>rent</td>
<td align="right">2200</td>
<td align="right">7800</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>credit</td>
<td align="right">4700</td>
<td align="right">6100</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>cash</td>
<td align="right">5400</td>
<td align="right">4100</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>flights</td>
<td align="right">3700</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>===</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>total</td>
<td align="right">16000</td>
<td align="right">18000</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>I am surprised. While I was travelling, and handing over physical cash, it felt
like money was draining away so fast. The reality was quite the opposite.
Despite the expense of travelling through Germany, flights, paying for storage
here in Australia, overall we saved some money compared to business as usual
here in Melbourne.</p>
<p>We won’t be doing this again any time soon I don’t think. The experience was
great but now with two kids it seems more appropriate to live near our extended
family than some random location in the world.</p>
Pizza Base Recipe with Sourdough Starterhttp://jerviswhitley.com/pizza-base-recipe-with-sourdough-starter/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002016-10-03T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/(2020 update here)
I found a website here with the best pizza base recipe I’ve read and I refer to it every few weeks when I make my own pizza bases.
Varasanos recipe has a lot of theory about what makes a good base.<p>(<a href="http://jerviswhitley.com/an-update-about-pizza/">2020 update here</a>)</p>
<p>I found a website here with <a href="http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm">the best pizza base recipe I’ve
read</a> and I refer to it every few
weeks when I make my own pizza bases.</p>
<p>Varasanos recipe has a lot of theory about what makes a good base. It is a lot
to wade through, so I have taken the key parts I use and reproduced them here,
while adding my own specific method.</p>
<p>I use cheap flour. ALDI 79c flour with 10.2g protein per 100g is fine. The
sourdough I have been feeding since Jan 2016. Instructions for getting your own
will not be included here. I use normal Melbourne tap water.</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/label.jpg" alt="10.2g protein per 100g flour"></p>
<h2 id="ingredients">Ingredients</h2>
<p>This recipe will make 3 medium sized pizzas. 1.5 of these would make a nice
dinner for me.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th align="center">Ingredient</th>
<th align="center">quantity</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="center">Water</td>
<td align="center">330g</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Flour</td>
<td align="center">510g</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Starter</td>
<td align="center">1/4 cup</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Salt</td>
<td align="center">20g</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2 id="start-the-day-before">Start the day before</h2>
<p>Take 250g of the flour, and all of the water. Mix in a bowl until like pancake
batter then stir through the starter. Leave this for let’s say 8-12 hrs on
a bench or cupboard out of sunlight.</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/batter.jpg" alt="like a batter"></p>
<h2 id="combine-to-make-dough">Combine to make dough</h2>
<p>Then add the remaining flour, salt and mix until mostly combined. Let it sit there
for 20-40 minutes. This is called the autolyse stage, and makes the kneading
easier.</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/dough-mix.jpg" alt="Mix the dough"></p>
<h2 id="knead">Knead</h2>
<p>The ALDI flour with this water combination will be <em>extremely</em> sticky. You can
use a mixer if you like, but I’ve gotten used to kneading with my hands.
I knead it for a good 10-15 minutes. Until it is nice and stretchy and doesn’t
tear as much when you really pull it out and apart.</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/dough-raw.jpg" alt="Before kneading">
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/dough-knead.jpg" alt="After kneading"></p>
<h2 id="let-it-rest">Let it rest</h2>
<p>At this point, you can put into some lightly oiled containers and pop into the
fridge until the day you are ready to cook. I’ve kept dough in the fridge for
a whole week and it was delicious.</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/pizza-dough-start.jpg" alt="Ready for fridge"></p>
<p>On the day you want pizza give the dough 2-3
hours of bench time to rise and shake off the fridge coldness.
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/pizza-dough-risen.jpg" alt="All risen"></p>
<h2 id="making-the-pie">Making the pie</h2>
<p>Just take your ball of dough and with your hands stretch it out into a pizza shape. Don’t use a rolling pin, since that would knock out the air bubbles. Make the base really really thin, thin enough to see light through it is OK. Make your crust areas nice and plump. They’ll puff up and form the pie around your pizza.
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/pizza-base-raw.jpg" alt="Pizza Base Raw"></p>
<h2 id="oven-as-hot-as-it-will-go">Oven as hot as it will go.</h2>
<p>I warm my oven up for 1 hr on its highest setting - 250C with a pizza stone
inside the entire time. Then I do 5-10 minutes baking the bare base, top it
with toppings and bake for another while longer, until you can see everything
is cooked, 10-15 minutes perhaps.</p>
<p><img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/pizza-base-baked.jpg" alt="Pizza Base Cooked">
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/pizza-slice.jpg" alt="A slice of pizza">
<img src="http://jerviswhitley.com/assets/images/pizza/pizza-whole.jpg" alt="A whole pizza"></p>
The Best Place To Livehttp://jerviswhitley.com/the-best-place-to-live/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002016-08-29T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/A friend and I were talking about finding a house to buy. The prices in Melbourne are high. They are unaffordably high. Worse than buying property in Switzerland. Men and women live with their parents until their late twenties and thirties to save for a deposit.<p>A friend and I were talking about finding a house to buy. The prices in Melbourne are
high. They are unaffordably high. Worse than buying property in Switzerland. Men and
women live with their parents until their late twenties and thirties to save for a
deposit. And whilst they save, property increases by more than 10 percent
per year, outpacing their meager interest and dividend yields. Those who bid
at an auction helplessly watch the sale price sail $200,000 beyond the
advertised rate.</p>
<p>And still you want to buy a house. One that meets your criteria and budget.
I can’t help you find a house that meets your budget. I can help you find
a house that meets some of your criteria. “I want a house walking distance from
a train station, with parks and a library nearby”. Without having lived in the
suburb, how would you find if such an area existed? The normal process for
finding a house is: You’d look on the real estate website for an acceptable
price and nice looking photo, then read the map to see if it were close to
trains, a park or a library.</p>
<p>Well, welcome to the future. Inspired by the idea behind “walk score” I decided
to take a map, and highlight the areas around things that interest me. If there
were lots of things that interested me nearby, it would be shaded darker.
So now you can visually scan suburbs at a time, looking for ‘hot spots’ that match
your criteria.</p>
<p>Amusingly, the data quality provided isn’t A+. Sometimes what is listed as
a ‘park’ is actually someone’s business who decided they were also a park,
since they are experts at landscaping. I have paid nothing for it, so I have no
complaints. In fact, I am impressed that something like this was possible at all.
It only took me an evening to make the tool, and an evening to write this post.</p>
<p>See <a href="http://jerviswhitley.com/heatmap/">Full Size Map</a></p>
<style>
{% include plugins/purecss.min.css %}
</style>
<style>
#map {
height: 400px;
width: 100%;
}
</style>
<p>{% include plugins/map.html %}
{% include plugins/map-controls-aligned.html %}</p>
How Cheap is Aldi?http://jerviswhitley.com/how-cheap-is-aldi/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002016-05-29T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/On a weekly shop at Aldi, the total bill came to $157.77. I’d bought quite a lot, but it still sounded high. I couldn’t help but wonder whether or not Aldi still represented good value compared to Woolworths. If my shop had been at Woolworths instead that day, how much would I have spent?<p>On a weekly shop at Aldi, the total bill came to $157.77. I’d bought quite
a lot, but it still sounded high. I couldn’t help but wonder whether or not
Aldi still represented good value compared to Woolworths. If my shop had been
at Woolworths instead that day, how much would I have spent?</p>
<p>This is an attempt to reconcile the cost of the items I purchased between the
two. The prices are compared against the prices on Woolworth’s website. I was then
going to reduce the woolworths online price by 10%, since I’ve found in the past that
they were higher than the in-store prices. Woolworths however guarantee prices are the
same so I am leaving the totals unchanged <a href="https://www.woolworths.com.au/Shop/Discover/shopping-online/same-prices-in-store-delivered">See here</a></p>
<p>Each item purchased from Woolworths is the Home brand or Woolworths Select if we buy a luxury item available at Aldi.</p>
<p>Some items are difference sizes. For example a tin of beans being 420g in one store and 400g in another. Where a difference like this occurs, I convert the woolworths price to a per 100g price and calculate what the price would be at the Aldi size, though where Woolworths only sell 500g versions of a 1kg item I bought at Aldi, I selected two at Woolworths.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Item</th>
<th>Aldi</th>
<th>Woolworths</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Yoghurt 18pk</td>
<td>5.99</td>
<td>(2x12 pk costed below)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Yoghurt 6pk</td>
<td>3.29</td>
<td>9.98</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Milk 1L</td>
<td>1.19</td>
<td>1.25</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Milk 1L</td>
<td>1.19</td>
<td>1.25</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Milk 1L</td>
<td>1.19</td>
<td>1.25</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Raw sugar 1kg</td>
<td>1.09</td>
<td>1.09</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Pumpkin 1.7kg</td>
<td>2.51</td>
<td>5.10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sour cream 300g</td>
<td>1.09</td>
<td>1.19</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Middle bacon 1kg</td>
<td>7.69</td>
<td>7.69</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Fresh salmon 500g</td>
<td>12.99</td>
<td>12.50</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Fresh salmon 500g</td>
<td>12.99</td>
<td>12.50</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Porterhouse steak 914g</td>
<td>19.18</td>
<td>25.58</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Marinated chicken</td>
<td>9.31</td>
<td>12.56</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Speck 258g</td>
<td>3.35</td>
<td>7.18</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Chicken breast</td>
<td>9.64</td>
<td>8.87</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Disposable gloves 25pk</td>
<td>2.79</td>
<td>3.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Liquid soap 1L</td>
<td>3.29</td>
<td>2.76</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Laundry Liquid 1L</td>
<td>3.99</td>
<td>3.79</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tomato Tin 410g</td>
<td>0.95</td>
<td>0.61</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tomato Tin 410g</td>
<td>0.95</td>
<td>0.61</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Pasta Penne 1kg</td>
<td>1.25</td>
<td>1.3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Whole Mushrooms 500g</td>
<td>3.49</td>
<td>4.50</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Blueberries 125g</td>
<td>5.59</td>
<td>4.9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Strawberries 250g</td>
<td>3.99</td>
<td>4.9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Herbs 50g</td>
<td>2.49</td>
<td>2.98</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>W/meal bread 650g</td>
<td>1.49</td>
<td>1.50</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Broccolini bunch</td>
<td>1.99</td>
<td>2.98</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Broccolini bunch</td>
<td>1.99</td>
<td>2.98</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Broccolini bunch</td>
<td>1.99</td>
<td>2.98</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Broccolini bunch</td>
<td>1.99</td>
<td>2.98</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Broccolini bunch</td>
<td>1.99</td>
<td>2.98</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Broccolini bunch</td>
<td>1.99</td>
<td>2.98</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Zucchini 500g</td>
<td>1.49</td>
<td>1.75</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cannellini Beans 400g</td>
<td>0.73</td>
<td>0.76</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Banana 1.5kg</td>
<td>1.79</td>
<td>2.25</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Napkins 100pk</td>
<td>0.95</td>
<td>0.95</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Toilet Paper 8pk</td>
<td>3.59</td>
<td>4.98</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tin Mixed Beans 420g</td>
<td>0.73</td>
<td>0.80</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tin Mixed Beans 420g</td>
<td>0.73</td>
<td>0.80</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Pasta spaghetti 1kg</td>
<td>1.25</td>
<td>1.30</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Oats Instant 750g</td>
<td>1.08</td>
<td>1.19</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tetley Tea 120pk</td>
<td>3.99</td>
<td>3.99</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1.3kg Truss tomato</td>
<td>6.54</td>
<td>7.67</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Total</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>We saved $<span class="absolute"></span> on this bill, or put another way, you’d pay <span class="percent"></span>% more for the
‘same’ stuff at Woolworths. A similar study at
<a href="https://www.choice.com.au/shopping/everyday-shopping/supermarkets/articles/cheapest-groceries-australia">choice</a>
found the difference to be closer to 30%. However, they compared against
Woolworth’s Select brand in most cases, while I compared against the cheaper
home brand in most cases and in only a few cases - like toilet paper opted for
the Woolworth Select.</p>
<p>Certainly, the results have surprised me. I had the impression that I would be
saving a lot more on a basket of over $150. Though I suspect it won’t change my
purchasing habits much.</p>
<script>
$(document).ready(function() {
function reduceSum(a, b) {
return a + (parseFloat(b.innerText) || 0);
};
var aldi = $('table tr td:nth-child(2)').toArray().reduce(reduceSum, 0);
var woolies = $('table tr td:nth-child(3)').toArray().reduce(reduceSum, 0);
$('table tr:last td:nth-child(2)').text(aldi.toFixed(2));
$('table tr:last td:nth-child(3)').text(woolies.toFixed(2));
$('.absolute').text((woolies-aldi).toFixed(0));
$('.percent').text(((woolies-aldi) / aldi * 100).toFixed(0));
});
</script>
Why is petrol 20c cheaper in Sydney than Melbourne?http://jerviswhitley.com/why-is-petrol-20c-cheaper-in-sydney-than-melbourne/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002016-04-15T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/As usual, the price of petrol increased in Melbourne just in time for christmas, I recall it being over $1.25/litre before leaving to holiday in Sydney. Upon arriving in Sydney, fuel was advertised everywhere for close to $1.10/litre.
Since that point, I’ve sporadically checked prices in Sydney and compared to Melbourne and on each occasion found them the same or cheaper.<p>As usual, the price of petrol increased in Melbourne just in time for
christmas, I recall it being over $1.25/litre before leaving to holiday in
Sydney. Upon arriving in Sydney, fuel was advertised
everywhere for close to $1.10/litre.</p>
<p>Since that point, I’ve sporadically checked prices in Sydney and compared to
Melbourne and on each occasion found them the same or cheaper.</p>
<p>Today I got around to doing a thorough check of the previous year’s worth of
prices in both Sydney and Melbourne. I found that Sydney - $125.9/litre - on average was
actually <em>more expensive</em> than Melbourne - $123.4/litre. The ‘fuel cycles’ in Sydney and
Melbourne are not entirely in sync. The price differences were simply a factor
of Sydney being at the lower portion of its cycle while Melbourne was in the
higher portion.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/urSGT12lHOjjMHzwPl_NXVGrchZyVDtEh5-R36WAgZRZCWKtzmgyo92hRPVoH7Xb6DOkh7Jg0mAqJnTCLPG-mn0EhUd5MnJMSyvddTElqokvVdZMsE4iN3kV9s3bbNUJXe6Nhg5cgd4l1co_fcHaBj6zAuiiI7j-rAwXhH9ITMIiSGGfMJpIfgAcYE2FvNQY5QGQLFnNuUuW8RpjZlPtkCab4yRn2A65ZuItbDRvKAUBderiV374HhZ5TApoJzghvGXNpbmPQb8F9hR0EML7WMWBuBZmrhrSMTxUIniAYPSoJfsE3v3o5v5egVGVtbtwQlg2MHTSdl12N6kll9VAb5iZ-zcdV6ps7YgofZI_5CJnI5Bn7Aw-6CXetYbafEk1XetFR37XV5-FZhEd2oicXuCmcvv2Yg89HcKaLgOyH4v6nwrmtiHQVmyAuTDWfgaGbvKeTQ_M33VUR59s-EShAZP39gUOI4emPUcWedcxQpHLp6tuwzkYF23PHz9lE1t7YsOlKYAN3U24bM-UQSLSwPf0O4fSVYWyKzECMx4k8QBbWwNuwloJbO0UOgbEmk8zM06o=w1625-h1018-no" alt="“Sydney’s fuel cycle out of sync with Melbourne’s”"></p>
<p>According to the RAA - South Australian Royal Automobile Association, the
fuel cycle are driven by competition. When margins are at their highest, little
by little retailers compete with each other by slowly lowering the price. As to
what causes such a large rapid rise in the first place? The ACCC states that
these rapid increases are a deliberate policy of the retailers and are not
necessarily linked to the wholesale petrol price.</p>
The Los Angeles Housing Market Compared to Melbournehttp://jerviswhitley.com/the-los-angeles-housing-market-compared-to-melbourne/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002014-10-05T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/{% include purecss.html %}
I take a look at the housing crisis in Los Angeles from 2006 to 2013 to understand by how much prices fell, and how they have recovered.
The regions of Los Angeles Los Angeles is a large sprawling city, difficult to get around in without a car, not unlike Melbourne.<p>{% include purecss.html %}</p>
<p>I take a look at the housing crisis in Los Angeles from 2006 to 2013 to
understand by how much prices fell, and how they have recovered.</p>
<h3 id="the-regions-of-los-angeles">The regions of Los Angeles</h3>
<p>Los Angeles is a large sprawling city, difficult to get around in without
a car, not unlike Melbourne. Los Angeles is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and
mountains. To the east Los Angeles merges into several other cities as far as
a couple of hours drive.</p>
<p>The west and to the south near the water are more up market than the eastern
areas. I’ll analyse two areas. West Hollywood which is a hip suburb next to
Beverly Hills, and Eastvale, a relatively newly built commuter city on the
eastern outskirts of Los Angeles.</p>
<h3 id="the-timeline-of-prices">The timeline of prices</h3>
<p>The housing prices first started to decline around late 2006 and early 2007.
Reproduced here are year end prices for West Hollywood and Eastvale.</p>
<p>Rental figures aren’t available, except as a median household figure for
a limited number of years, so the Zillow calculated rental yields are
reproduced here. The yields look high to me, particularly in Eastvale.
Unfortunately yield figures weren’t available from Zillow for the 2006 period
just before the collapse.</p>
<table class="pure-table pure-table-horizontal pure-table-striped">
<thead>
<tr><th>Region</th><th>Year</th><th>Beds</th><th>Yield</th><th>Purchase</th></tr>
<tr><th></th><th></th><th></th><th></th><th>(USD or AUD) '000s</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>West Hollywood</td><td>2006</td><td>4</td><td></td><td>1998</td></tr>
<tr><td>West Hollywood</td><td>2010</td><td>4</td><td>5.20%</td><td>1757</td></tr>
<tr><td>West Hollywood</td><td>2013</td><td>4</td><td>4.65%</td><td>2166</td></tr>
<tr><td>West Hollywood</td><td>2006</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>777</td></tr>
<tr><td>West Hollywood</td><td>2010</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>624</td></tr>
<tr><td>West Hollywood</td><td>2013</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>746</td></tr>
<tr><td>Eastvale</td><td>2006</td><td>4</td><td></td><td>568</td></tr>
<tr><td>Eastvale</td><td>2010</td><td>4</td><td>7.9%</td><td>314</td></tr>
<tr><td>Eastvale</td><td>2013</td><td>4</td><td>6.3%</td><td>391</td></tr>
<tr><td>Eastvale</td><td>2006</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>385</td></tr>
<tr><td>Eastvale</td><td>2010</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>164</td></tr>
<tr><td>Eastvale</td><td>2013</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>215</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Yarra</td><td>2014</td><td>house</td><td>2.80%</td><td>1419</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Yarra</td><td>2019</td><td>house</td><td>5.00%</td><td>851.4</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Yarra</td><td>2014</td><td>unit</td><td>4.01%</td><td>611</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Yarra</td><td>2019</td><td>unit</td><td>6.00%</td><td>366.6</td></tr>
</tbody>
<caption>House Prices and Rents. Los Angeles real estate data taken from <a href="http://www.zillow.com/research/data/">Zillow Research</a></caption>
</table>
<p>
As before, I wasn’t able to find data on specific to the number of bedrooms for South
Yarra, so instead I’ve used “unit” and “house” data and assume that they are
representative of two and 4 bedroom places.</p>
<h3 id="on-losing-value">On losing value</h3>
<p>West Hollywood fared very well. 4 bedroom prices lost 12% before recovering back to
now pre-collapse pricing. While the smaller 2 bedrooms lost 20% before again recovering close
to the pre-collapse pricing, though not as well as the four bedroom recovery.</p>
<p>In the outer east, prices dropped considerably more. 4 bedroom houses lost 45% and the 2013 year end
prices recovered to a 31% loss, while 2 bedroom homes lost 57% before recovering to 44% lost.</p>
<p>Similarly to the analysis in Dublin, if the yields are to be believed, Eastvale
now looks like an attractive investment opportunity. Of course, an automated
yield calculation doesn’t tell the true story about the rental market in
Eastvale. Income from an unrented investment property is zero, so if there is
soft demand for rent in Eastvale those lower prices may be justified.</p>
<h3 id="can-we-apply-this-to-melbourne">Can we apply this to Melbourne?</h3>
<p>As with the <a href="http://jerviswhitley.com/melbourne-house-prices-compared-to-ireland/">Dublin example</a>, I still believe that aspects of the decline may
happen here. The real surprise has been how well West Hollywood houses held
onto their original value.</p>
<p>Reproduced in the above table are the prices for equivalent hypothetical South
Yarra houses and units in 2019. A future price of $1.25 million (compared to $1.4 million today)
for a home doesn’t sound like a bargain.</p>
<p>I’m beginning to believe that any downturn in desireable areas like South Yarra
will be merely a correction in pricing back to fair values, and will not
present much bargin hunting opportunity. Outer areas and commuter cities will
be harder hit, and may see over 50% of the value lost, which may present
opportunities for investment in higher yield properties.</p>
Without owning a carhttp://jerviswhitley.com/without-owning-a-car/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002014-08-29T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/click here to see the calculator
I don’t own a car, and haven’t for 4 years. My choice isn’t based on an environmental standpoint, rather it is purely economic. I save money by not owning a car. From time to time I question whether or not this is true.<p><a href="http://jerviswhitley.com/without-owning-a-car/#calculator">click here to see the calculator</a></p>
<p>I don’t own a car, and haven’t for 4 years. My choice isn’t based on an environmental
standpoint, rather it is purely economic. I save money by not owning a car. From time to time
I question whether or not this is true. Especially now with a small child and more frequent
trips to visit grandparents - Is owning a car cheaper?</p>
<p>Today, I present the <a href="http://jerviswhitley.com/without-owning-a-car/#calculator"><em>car cost calculator</em></a>. Use it, and adjust the assumptions to
suit your own situation, perhaps it is cheaper for you too.</p>
<p>Though I don’t own a car, I still drive. At times when I need a car, I’ll do
a daily hire. There are cars located around my apartment that I can scan with
my wallet to unlock the door and take for a drive. Typically this costs around
$70 for 24 hours, all petrol costs are included. This system of taking a car
whenever you like, is called “car share”. Two of the “car share” companies
listed here are Flexicar and Goget.</p>
<p>Try the calculator for yourself <a href="http://jerviswhitley.com/without-owning-a-car/#calculator">below</a>. Only read on here for information about
how the numbers work.</p>
<p>Typically, I use the car 4 times a month, and one month of the year I don’t use
the car at all (perhaps because of a 3 week holiday overseas). You may also
believe that you don’t pay for parking. However, most inner city apartments are
$40 cheaper if they don’t come with a parking space. If you don’t have a car,
you can rent your parking space out to someone else. We used to get $50 a week
for our parking spot near the city.</p>
<p>The only other variable to watch out for is Flexicar’s daily rental fee. The
lowest you’ll pay is $55/day, however quite a few of their cars are $65/day.
And you may not be close by to a $55/day car - something for you to consider
when weighing up your options.</p>
<p>{% include plugins/purecss-form.min.css %}
{% include plugins/purecss-menu.min.css %}
{% include purecss.html %}
{% include plugins/carcost.html %}</p>
<p>“Goget” and “Flexicar” are both competing car sharing services.</p>
<p><a href="http://jerviswhitley.com/without-owning-a-car/#">back to article</a></p>
Melbourne House Prices Compared to Irelandhttp://jerviswhitley.com/melbourne-house-prices-compared-to-ireland/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002014-04-18T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/{% include purecss.html %}
Ask two people what they think about Melbourne’s property prices and you’ll likely get two different answers. Since I don’t own a house, I have an interest in seeing house prices in Melbourne come down from their current levels.<p>{% include purecss.html %}</p>
<p>Ask two people what they think about Melbourne’s property prices and you’ll
likely get two different answers. Since I don’t own a house, I have an interest
in seeing house prices in Melbourne come down from their current levels.
Specifically I’d like to see prices reduced in the areas that I’d like to live
in, since isolated reductions elsewhere are irrelevant to me. On the other hand
many of my friends own houses. They would prefer to continue seeing their
investment rise in value.</p>
<p>If we were to have a decline in house prices, like the well publicised decline
in Ireland that accompanied the financial crisis, how much lower would they
fall? And how long would it take house prices to reach the bottom? Finally I
wondered if buying in a good region protected against significant losses.</p>
<p>I found a record of the historical prices and rents for two regions around
Dublin, before, during and after the financial crisis at different sized
properties. Armed with those numbers, I calculated the decline in prices, and
changes in rental yield.</p>
<h3 id="the-regions-of-dublin">The regions of Dublin</h3>
<p>Dublin, the main city in Ireland is divided by a river through it’s center. The
coastal, eastern suburbs to the north and south are more upmarket than the inner
and west suburbs. Specifically the southern suburbs are where I focussed my
attention. Those suburbs represent the tradition of buying an expensive house
in a good location with the best schools. While the western and inner areas
tended to be more for the working class.</p>
<p>You could draw parallels between those southern coastal suburbs to our own
southeast suburbs along the river like South Yarra and Toorak. And along
the coast towards Brighton.</p>
<h3 id="the-timeline-of-prices">The timeline of prices</h3>
<p>The housing prices first started to decline around 2007. Reproduced here
are prices and rents for southern coastal houses (South Co) and those in the west.
Finally also calculated is the rental yield at each point.</p>
<table class="pure-table pure-table-horizontal pure-table-striped">
<thead>
<tr><th>Region</th><th>Year</th><th>Beds</th><th>Yield</th><th>Rent</th><th>Purchase</th></tr>
<tr><th></th><th></th><th></th><th></th><th>($ or euro)/mo</th><th>($ or euro) '000s</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>South Co</td><td>2006</td><td>5</td><td>3.20%</td><td>4652</td><td>1743</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Co</td><td>2010</td><td>5</td><td>3.30%</td><td>2484</td><td>903</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Co</td><td>2013</td><td>5</td><td>4.95%</td><td>3282</td><td>796</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Co</td><td>2006</td><td>2</td><td>4.10%</td><td>1436</td><td>420</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Co</td><td>2010</td><td>2</td><td>4.55%</td><td>1163</td><td>307</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Co</td><td>2013</td><td>2</td><td>6.25%</td><td>1349</td><td>259</td></tr>
<tr><td>West</td><td>2006</td><td>5</td><td>2.88%</td><td>1334</td><td>555</td></tr>
<tr><td>West</td><td>2010</td><td>5</td><td>3.89%</td><td>1623</td><td>501</td></tr>
<tr><td>West</td><td>2013</td><td>5</td><td>4.19%</td><td>1300</td><td>372</td></tr>
<tr><td>West</td><td>2006</td><td>2</td><td>4.13%</td><td>1114</td><td>324</td></tr>
<tr><td>West</td><td>2010</td><td>2</td><td>5.92%</td><td>883</td><td>179</td></tr>
<tr><td>West</td><td>2013</td><td>2</td><td>9.20%</td><td>928</td><td>121</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Yarra</td><td>2014</td><td>house</td><td>2.80%</td><td>3306</td><td>1419</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Yarra</td><td>2019</td><td>house</td><td>5.00%</td><td>3547.5</td><td>851.4</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Yarra</td><td>2014</td><td>unit</td><td>4.01%</td><td>2041</td><td>611</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Yarra</td><td>2019</td><td>unit</td><td>6.00%</td><td>1833</td><td>366.6</td></tr>
</tbody>
<caption>House Prices and Rents. Dublin real estate data taken from <a href="http://www.daft.ie/report/">Daft.ie</a></caption>
</table>
<p>
I wasn’t able to find data on specific to the number of bedrooms for South
Yarra, so instead I’ve used “unit” and “house” data and assume that they are
representative of two and 5 bedroom places.</p>
<h3 id="on-losing-half-the-value">On losing half the value</h3>
<p>In the affluent South Coast, the larger five bedroom houses lost more value
relative to the smaller two bedroom units. While in the west it was reversed,
and the five bedroom houses retained more than the two bedrooms.</p>
<p>For the two bedroom units, rental yields were 4.1% in 2006 and increased to now
6.25% in 2013. With the yields so high, the market is showing signs of growth.
It is interesting to note that two bedroom rental yields are now a staggering
9% in the west. I understand that the west had an oversupply of housing and
that many construction sites were left empty as projects were abandoned. My
guess is that many units in the west remain vacant and so earn no rent at all,
and this isn’t reflected in the 9% rental yield figure. Either that, or the
west has been oversold and now is a perfect time to make an investment.</p>
<h3 id="can-we-apply-this-to-melbourne">Can we apply this to Melbourne?</h3>
<p>I don’t know. Since the results confirm my biases I hope we can, however
I suspect the answer is “It’s more complicated than that”.</p>
<p>Regardless, I’m going to take a look at the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra
as a point of comparison.</p>
<p>Weekly two bedroom rents in the past year have increased by $20 in the last
year, or 4% while purchase prices have increased 12%. Rental yields are
currently at 4.0% - lower than the yields before the crisis in Dublin.</p>
<p>A 2 bedroom unit in South Yarra can fetch $611k right now, if over the next
5 years prices were to decline in line with that in Dublin, then in 2019
that same 2 bedroom unit would be $366k. A twenty percent deposit would
cost $72k compared to $112k now.</p>
<p>Of course, the decline in Ireland was accompanied with a terrible recession.
Many adults were unemployed. Unemployed people are unlikely to afford a deposit
to purchase housing - no doubt a significant contributor to the decline.</p>
<h3 id="to-those-waiting-for-their-chance">To those waiting for their chance</h3>
<p>First home buyers waiting for their chance to purchase may find that they are
without a job and so still cannot afford the reduced house prices - if they
ever eventuate.</p>
Remote working from a parkhttp://jerviswhitley.com/remote-working-from-a-park/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-09-28T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/It’s quiet. I’m compiling some code but can’t even hear the laptop fan moving. While I wait for it to finish, I chat with a visitor to my site. They are from South Africa. And I’m based in Melbourne, Australia.
Winter is losing it’s hold.<p>It’s quiet. I’m compiling some code but can’t even hear the laptop fan moving. While I wait for it to finish,
I chat with a visitor to my site. They are from South Africa. And I’m based in Melbourne, Australia.</p>
<p>Winter is losing it’s hold. The chill in the air has no bite. The streaks of golden sunlight that stream down between
gaps in the cloud warm me instantly and then are gone.</p>
<p>Here, on this park bench I’ll work for another hour, then retreat back to my home office to plug
in the laptop charger. The short 15 minute bike ride gives me time to think about the work, and tasks that
are coming ahead later in the day.</p>
<h3 id="do-you-actually-get-any-work-done">Do you actually get any work done?</h3>
<p>Talking like a hipster about riding your bike and working from park benches is useless
if no one gets any work done. But I’m here to tell you that I get plenty of work done.
It is easy to set up the remote working lifestyle. And I’ll share exactly how I set it up.
The more advanced configuration will be spared for another technical post.
Most of what I talk about here can be used by <em>any</em> of my desk-bound brethren - not just programmers.</p>
<h3 id="what-is-a-typical-day-like">What is a typical day like?</h3>
<p>This is how a day goes down. First a quick check to see if anything needs my urgent attention on email. If
not I’ll pull up my list of TODO items and work out which I can realistically finish today.</p>
<p>After the first item or part of a TODO item is finished in my morning work period, I’ll take a break at 10:30
then take my laptop and bike for a 15 minute ride to find a picnic bench to set up. I can work for about 1-2 hours
on the battery life I have then I ride back home and work the rest of the day indoors.</p>
<h3 id="working-from-multiple-computers">Working from multiple computers</h3>
<p>I spend most of my time on a big desktop computer, but when I ride it has to stay home. Instead I take the
lightweight macbook air (which is a few years old, so the battery isn’t amazing). Already there is a
problem. I’m working with <em>two</em> computers, how do I share my work between them?</p>
<p>I use some free software specific to programming that makes it very painless to switch computers, I could work from
my home, my laptop or my wife’s parents computer without any trouble at all.</p>
<p>Non programmers would find it easy too. You can share your files between computers with Dropbox (or even just emailing yourself the files)
. You could work online using Google Docs, or just use the same laptop to do all of your work.</p>
<h3 id="things-you-will-need">Things you will need</h3>
<p>Here are my thoughts on what works and what doesn’t for working out of the office:</p>
<ul>
<li>You need the internet</li>
</ul>
<p>It’s a reflex to reach for Google whenever you come up with a question. Don’t
kid yourself, make sure you have a phone that is capable of sharing it’s internet connection
as a wireless hotspot, or work from a cafe or library somewhere with internet.</p>
<ul>
<li>Don’t go too far</li>
</ul>
<p>Don’t ride much further than 6-8 km to your destination. You are doing this for the fresh
air and change of scenery, not the exercise. Travelling a shorter distance gives you the
confidence that you can quickly return home if something needs your urgent attention.</p>
<ul>
<li>Have something concrete to achieve</li>
</ul>
<p>The change in scene will give you some fresh focus, use it to actually finish a task
that could be completed in about 1-2 hours. Once you’ve done the task, call it a day and go home.
I reckon if you try and stick it out too long, you wont be as productive as that initial hour.
Also you’ll run out of bread having fed all the ducks.</p>
<ul>
<li>Pick a picnic bench not a grassy slope</li>
</ul>
<p>I reckon that sitting at a proper bench and table is best for maintaining your focus. I’ve tried
sitting on the grass and other random ledges, but I wasn’t really at my best.</p>
<ul>
<li>A bit of shush please</li>
</ul>
<p>Don’t bother with spots near a busy road, you won’t get used to the noise. It’ll just
grate you. Stress isn’t good for focus.</p>
<h3 id="some-random-places-i-went-to">Some random places I went to</h3>
<p>Here are some random places I went to before winter. I didn’t bother working outside
during winter, I’m more of a fair-weather outside worker.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IZu3hb7fX6I/UYH5pI2iLDI/AAAAAAAA77g/C7HclVTGdp0/w300/IMAG0569.jpg" alt="">
<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-OgiJ5jVwWcM/UYnYv4Q--DI/AAAAAAAA8KU/hk4wb9xLFl0/w300/IMAG0572.jpg" alt="">
<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-02KqN-bFhMo/UZsaNtAsvKI/AAAAAAAA8cE/opAMpYqraS8/w300/IMAG0574.jpg" alt=""></p>
Small Pot Sizes Considered Harmfulhttp://jerviswhitley.com/small-pot-sizes-considered-harmful/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-09-15T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/Last summer I began growing vegetables on my balcony. Never having planted or grown anything in my life, my first question was:
What should I grow? Followed by
How big should the pot be? We planted a chilli and a tomato.<p>Last summer I began growing vegetables on my balcony. Never having planted or grown anything in my life, my first question was:</p>
<ol>
<li>What should I grow?</li>
</ol>
<p>Followed by</p>
<ol start="2">
<li>How big should the pot be?</li>
</ol>
<p>We planted a chilli and a tomato. And I picked lots of <em>cute</em> little pots from ebay and local plant nurseries. I think the biggest was around 8-12 litres.</p>
<h4 id="you-should-buy-a-big-pot">You should buy a big pot</h4>
<p>Buy the biggest pot you can. Small pots are only useful for herbs, to get serious about having some fresh produce, like a chilli, you’ll need a big pot. A really big pot. Around 20 litres.</p>
<h4 id="plants-need-room-to-spread-their-roots">Plants need room to spread their roots</h4>
<p>Your pot will constrict the growth of the roots. Once the roots have no room to go, the plant growth will be stunted, and you’ll get a withered little plant with hardly any fruit.</p>
<p>The photo above is of three broad beans planted at the same time in three different pots. The size difference in the plant is enormous. The largest pot (which is still very small) dwarfs the next biggest plant.</p>
<p>I doubt any of these pots are big enough, all I’ve succeeded in doing is wasting my time in growing them.</p>
<h4 id="put-your-business-in-the-biggest-pot-you-can">Put your business in the biggest pot you can</h4>
<p>Your business is like a young plant. Give it lots of sun, fertiliser and just kidding, this isn’t a business post. I just thought the three beans looked funny sitting side by side. If anyone has tips for growing super hot chilli plants please write to me in the comments.</p>
<p>Also if you need to buy a super hot trinadad scorpion chilli (in Melbourne) I’ve got three very strong ones growing - I’d be careful though, if the pepper touches your bare skin you’ll feel it for two days afterwards.</p>
A better baby monitorhttp://jerviswhitley.com/a-better-baby-monitor/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-08-08T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/Our baby monitor was made by the devil. The way I see it, a baby monitor has a single purpose:
A baby monitor will let us hear our baby when he makes something other than normal sleep noises
This monitor picks up on the quietest of murmors.<p>Our baby monitor was made by the devil. The way I see it, a baby monitor has a single purpose:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A baby monitor will let us hear our baby when he makes something other than normal sleep noises</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This monitor picks up on the quietest of murmors. That wouldn’t be so bad, except that
it makes the walkie talkie ending sound. You know the one where it goes “CHH”.</p>
<p>and that “CHH” is so loud, that every murmour has the potential to wake us up:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>baby: ‘mmmmm CHHHH’</p>
<p>baby: ‘…’</p>
<p>baby: ‘mmm CHHHH’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There may be better monitors on the market (can you recommend one?).
But I’ve decided to build one myself. All the parts were less than $150:</p>
<ul>
<li>small computer</li>
<li>camera</li>
<li>microphone</li>
<li>wifi</li>
</ul>
<p>I’m just waiting on the microphone, but I’ve already set up a system where I can
see the cot from my Android or iPhone.</p>
<p>Keep reading if you are interested in the technical details. If you are the kind
of person that would find writing the code for a web page fun, you might like to
try it yourself.</p>
<h3 id="the-technical-details">The technical details</h3>
<p>Here is the equipment:</p>
<ul>
<li>Raspberry Pi model B</li>
<li>Raspberry Pi camera attachment</li>
<li>Raspberry Pi wifi dongle</li>
<li>4GB SD Card Class 4</li>
<li>Raspberry Pi power supply (5V, 1.2 A)</li>
<li>Raspberry Pi Cobler Breakout Kit</li>
<li>DIGILENT - 210-122 Microphone</li>
</ul>
<p>As it stands, the system is running a scheduled task (cron) to take a photo
every minute and store in a folder on the raspberry pi. At the same time I have
a simple HTML webpage being served on port 80. So visiting:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>http://192.168.1.109/</p>
</blockquote>
<p>in my browser (on android or iPhone), will show the latest photo.</p>
<h3 id="setting-up-the-raspberry-pi">Setting up the Raspberry Pi</h3>
<p>The official instructions are very clear:</p>
<p><a href="http://elinux.org/RPi_Easy_SD_Card_Setup">http://elinux.org/RPi_Easy_SD_Card_Setup</a></p>
<p>If transferring a new operating system to an SD Card makes you feel a bit squeamish,
buy an SD Card that is pre-loaded with Raspbian, the official Raspberry Pi operating system.</p>
<p>I had trouble with my power supply, the Pi didn’t ever connect to the network.
Switching to the official power supply fixed the problem, I think the one I was using
didn’t make a good connection, or supply enough power.</p>
<h3 id="connecting-via-ssh">Connecting via SSH</h3>
<p>I don’t have a HDMI monitor cable that would connect to Raspberry Pi, so I logged in
via SSH. Plug a network cable in, power the Raspberry Pi on and wait for the
solid green LINK led to show.</p>
<p>You can ssh in with the username/password combo:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>pi/raspberry</p>
</blockquote>
<h3 id="connect-the-camera-and-take-your-first-photo">Connect the camera and take your first photo</h3>
<p>The official camera documentation is also very good:</p>
<p><a href="http://elinux.org/RPi_Easy_SD_Card_Setup">http://elinux.org/RPi_Easy_SD_Card_Setup</a></p>
<p>There is a PDF on that page and you can follow the instructions to take your first photo.</p>
<h3 id="until-next-time">Until next time</h3>
<p>I’ll post some photos of the set up, and perhaps some code in my next update if anyone is interested.</p>
The cold sales tactic that almost workedhttp://jerviswhitley.com/the-cold-sales-tactic-that-almost-worked/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-08-02T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/I run a startup company. Customers have started paying us - which is great. The “Notification of Payment Received” emails are motivating.
Strangely do you know what else is motivating? People tweeting articles from the company blog.
After spending time writing in-depth about something that interests us.<p>I run a startup company. Customers have started paying us - which is great.
The “Notification of Payment Received” emails are motivating.</p>
<p>Strangely do you know what else is motivating? People tweeting articles from the company blog.</p>
<p>After spending time writing in-depth about something that interests us. Nothing
feels better than seeing someone else get a kick out of it and sharing it with
their mates.</p>
<p>It’s free to tweet, and the positive feeling it generates (reciprocity) can be used to make a sale.
Here’s the story about how <em>we</em> were almost sold by another company’s outbound sales team.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hi Owen,</p>
<p>I really enjoyed the SweetProcess article: Why I pay for my own product. It was definitely worth sharing!</p>
<p>I wanted to ask - are you thinking about starting a <strong>_____</strong> program for SweetProcess?</p>
<p>If you are, I just wanted to tell you about <strong>_____</strong>. We provide <strong>_____</strong> as a service for web apps. We integrate with <strong>_____</strong> systems and deliver a complete drop-in widget. This makes setting up and running a <strong>_____</strong> program an afternoon activity and frees up developers to work on core product.</p>
<p>If this sounds interesting please let me know or take a look at <strong>_____.com</strong>.</p>
<p>Thank you for your time and have a great week!</p>
<p>Not My Real Name</p>
<p>Customer Success</p>
<p>twitter: <strong>_____</strong></p>
<p><strong>_____.com</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>I’ve removed the company information, otherwise this is the exact text we were sent.
I have to tell you, my co-founder was extremely excited to receive this email. At first glance, it seemed
to touch on exactly a problem we’d been discussing internally.</p>
<p>There was a flurry of emails between ourselves as we plotted what to ask them about their product.</p>
<h3 id="what-they-did-right">What they did right</h3>
<p><strong>Generous</strong> the sales rep was generous with their time. They looked through our blog archive and found
an article they thought was worth sharing.</p>
<p><strong>Followed up</strong> they didn’t just tweet and leave it at that. They proactively contacted us with this email to let us know about the tweet.</p>
<p><strong>Kept the email short</strong> they respected our time and went straight for the pitch. I’ve fallen into the trap of not wanting to sound too <em>salesy</em>, but seeing it now from the other end, I didn’t mind. I wasn’t tempted to click the “spam” button
. The sales rep was clearly talking directly to us with a product that was relevant.</p>
<h3 id="so-why-no-sale">So why no sale?</h3>
<p>After some back and forwards with their sales rep, we found their product didn’t do what we wanted. But that’s ok, if it did we would certainly have begun a trial.
I don’t feel badly about this company at all, and would recommend them to another startup. That’s a far cry from where my mind goes when I imagine outbound sales.
Normally I associate them with negative feelings. A way to burn future business relationships before they’ve even started.</p>
<h3 id="do-some-good">Do some good</h3>
<p>Go out of your way to do some good in your customer’s world. It could be a tweet, contributing code to a software project or offering to write about them on your blog. In the early days, when you have zero name recognition, the
most important thing is to get yourself in front of potential customers and make the pitch.</p>
Buying SaaS is like buying toilet paperhttp://jerviswhitley.com/buying-saas-is-like-buying-toilet-paper/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-07-30T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/You only charge $40/month for your app. But the public still complains. Why can’t it be a one time payment. Why must I pay for your app every month?
Your response probably falls into one of these categories (ordered by effectiveness):
Without us, your business earnings would be lower by $4000/month You don’t have to hire a full time staff member saving you $6000/month Payments match up with your monthly cashflow better than a large initial outlay We are continually improving the product so the payments support the development We have non-zero costs like hosting that must be paid for somehow You pay more for toilet paper in your office each month Comparing your business to the cost of toilet paper isn’t something you’d say directly to a customer.<p>You only charge $40/month for your app. But the public still complains. Why can’t it be a one
time payment. Why must I pay for your app every month?</p>
<p>Your response probably falls into one of these categories (ordered by effectiveness):</p>
<ul>
<li>Without us, your business earnings would be lower by $4000/month</li>
<li>You don’t have to hire a full time staff member saving you $6000/month</li>
<li>Payments match up with your monthly cashflow better than a large initial outlay</li>
<li>We are continually improving the product so the payments support the development</li>
<li>We have non-zero costs like hosting that must be paid for somehow</li>
<li>You pay more for toilet paper in your office each month</li>
</ul>
<p>Comparing your business to the cost of toilet paper isn’t something you’d
say directly to a customer. But I’ve read it discussed on forums <a href="http://jerviswhitley.com/buying-saas-is-like-buying-toilet-paper/#footnotes">1</a> and heard it mentioned casually
in conversation between founders on more than one occasion.</p>
<h3 id="you-pay-more-for-toilet-paper-in-your-office-each-month">You pay more for toilet paper in your office each month</h3>
<p>The argument is that the cost of your product is so low, that it’s less than the
cost that your customers spend on toilet paper each month. So your business could provide <em>any</em> marginal
benefit and still be a good deal for the customer.</p>
<div id="toilet-calc">
<h3>Toilet Paper Cost Calc</h3>
<label for="employees">Employees</label>
<input id="employees" type="text" placeholder="e.g. 80" value="10" />
<p>$<span id="cost"> </span> per month</p>
</div>
<style>
#toilet-calc h3 {
background-color: #3498DB;
color: white;
font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;
padding: 0.4em 1em;
text-transform: none;
}
div#toilet-calc {
background-color: #ecf0f1;
min-height: 150px;
}
#toilet-calc input {
border: none;
margin-left: 1em;
width: 100px;
padding: 0.5em;
float: left;
}
#toilet-calc label {
float: left;
margin-left: 1em;
color: #444;
padding:0.3em;
}
#toilet-calc #cost {
font-size: 1.4em;
}
#toilet-calc p {
float: left;
background-color: #2980B9;
color: white;
padding: 0.3em;
margin-left:2em;
margin-right:1em;
}
</style>
<script>
(function() {
function getEmployees() {
return parseFloat(document.getElementById("employees").value);
};
function toiletCalc(staff) {
var TIMES_DAY = 2;
var ATTENDANCE = 0.8;
var SHEETS_PER_VISIT = 15;
var SHEETS_PER_ROLL = 400;
var COST_PER_ROLL = 0.48;
var sheets_per_day = staff * TIMES_DAY * ATTENDANCE * SHEETS_PER_VISIT;
var rolls_per_day = sheets_per_day / SHEETS_PER_ROLL;
var cost_per_day = rolls_per_day * COST_PER_ROLL;
var monthly_cost = cost_per_day * 5 * 52 / 12;
return monthly_cost;
};
function updateCost() {
var elem = document.getElementById("cost");
var employees = getEmployees();
if(isNaN(employees)) {return;};
var monthly_cost = toiletCalc(employees);
elem.innerHTML = monthly_cost.toFixed(0);
}
document.getElementById("employees").onkeyup = updateCost;
updateCost();
})();
</script>
<p>Using this toilet paper cost estimator a business of 64 staff will spend $40
per month on toilet paper.</p>
<p>For those whose product doesn’t deliver measurable business results, this will be
a handy tool to leverage in your next sales call.</p>
<h4 id="footnotes">Footnotes</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1786589">Charge more than toilet paper for your application</a></li>
<li><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5774583">Estimate of $20k in toilet paper over 100 years</a></li>
<li><a href="https://training.kalzumeus.com/newsletters/archive/saas_pricing">Dealing with companies that spend more on toilet paper than you earn in a year</a></li>
</ul>
Superannuation an excuse to rip us off, or so I thoughthttp://jerviswhitley.com/superannuation-an-excuse-to-rip-us-off-or-so-i-thought/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-07-23T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/I opened a new superannuation account. And was ripped off. It made me angry and I opened up my editor to write this blog post as a warning for others.
A government mandated scam I consider myself fairly computer savvy, and read most of the fine print - most of the time, yet here I was the victim of a scam.<p>I opened a new superannuation account. And was ripped off.
It made me angry and I opened up my editor to write <em>this blog post</em> as a warning for others.</p>
<h3 id="a-government-mandated-scam">A government mandated scam</h3>
<p>I consider myself fairly computer savvy, and read most of the fine print - <em>most of the time</em>, yet here I was
the victim of a scam. Not just any old scam, a government mandated scam. You see, we don’t get a choice whether or not
we have superannuation, everyone earning income must have these benefits paid by their employer. Even if you are your own employer and don’t want to.
While researching for this post, what I found wasn’t as bad as I first thought. In fact, it was pretty good. So I’ve changed my mind about superannuation, here is the story.</p>
<h3 id="last-minute-signup">Last minute signup</h3>
<p>Last financial year, I found that I <em>must</em> make payments to my own super account, because I employ myself even though those payments are “<em>directors fees</em>”.
I discovered this 2 days before the end of financial year just before I was getting ready to make my director fee payments. Simple. I’ll just make a payment to my existing
superannuation account. Not so. In order to make the payment it was going to take a week’s worth of paperwork. Why can’t I just sign up online as an employer? Anyway, I signed up
with another fund, because I’m already listed as an employer there. I made the payments and thought that would be it.</p>
<h3 id="then-i-get-a-letter-in-the-mail">Then I get a letter in the mail</h3>
<p>I get a welcome pack in the mail a few days later. It congratulates me on signing up and informs that my life insurance, income protection insurance
and total permanent disability insurance is all set up and the fee is being debited per week. <em>Wait</em>. I didn’t ever consent to paying for life insurance!
And I certainly don’t want to buy it from my super provider for $9/week. Imagine that, every week for the rest of my working life paying $9 for something I didn’t want!</p>
<h3 id="any-insurance-should-be-off-by-default">Any insurance should be off by default</h3>
<p>This is what made me the most upset. Luckily opting out was easy enough through their website. But I thought it should have been opt-in to begin with.
$9/week was the price for all three insurances. This particular super fund has almost 2 million members. The fat cats in the super fund office
must be rocking back and forwards in their ergonomic chairs laughing while pressing F5 on their keyboard to refresh their ever high climbing bank account totals.</p>
<p>But sadly this part isn’t true. I wasn’t able to find a single insurance package for a lower price that had the same
level of cover. It seems like they do cost around $9/week for those three insurances. Ok, so they aren’t ripping me off
on the insurance prices. Sure they’d get a kickback from whoever they deal their insurance with, but they aren’t gouging on price which is nice.</p>
<h3 id="by-now-i-was-looking-for-an-excuse">By now I was looking for an excuse</h3>
<p>Then I considered that superannuation <em>itself</em> is a rip off. They charge admin fees, investing fees and
performance fees even though they <em>rarely</em> perform well and could never hope to beat the stock market, or even keep up with it.
What I found next was suprising.</p>
<p>Consider a hypothetical investment of $50,000 left to sit in your super fund under the “bonds” option compared with the same amount invested in
an actual industry based bonds fund.</p>
<ul>
<li>For the super fund, 0.31% fees + 0.11% admin fees (yearly)</li>
<li>For the industry based bonds fund 0.7% (yearly)</li>
</ul>
<p>The industry based fund is 0.28% more expensive than the similar fund inside the super scheme. Well that was a pleasant
finding. Perhaps I’ll leave my money in super after all.</p>
Run Grooveshark webapp from the command line with Google Chromehttp://jerviswhitley.com/run-grooveshark-webapp-from-the-command-line-with-google-chrome/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-06-06T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/I use Firefox. My teammates all use Google Chrome, so I reluctantly switched so that our site would get some field testing under at least two browser types.
Firefox uses a lot of memory. Even more so when firebug is active. There are times when my browser will lock up and I will have to close and open it again.<p>I use Firefox. My teammates all use Google Chrome, so I reluctantly switched so that our site would get some field testing under at least two browser types.</p>
<p>Firefox uses a lot of memory. Even more so when firebug is active. There are times when my browser will lock up and I will have to close and open it again.</p>
<p>So with that off my chest. And the Firefox memory issues in mind. I was delighted to hear about running a website in Google Chrome as an app.</p>
<p>The reason is that now I can listen to Grooveshark through Google Chrome, without opening the full browser, it feels like a very lightweight way of doing things.</p>
<p>Here is how to do it (beware it requires access to the command line). In Linux if you use chromium it is this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>chromium-browser –app="http://html5.grooveshark.com”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And in Mac</p>
<blockquote>
<p>open -a “Google Chrome” –args –app="http://html5.grooveshark.com”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Note that your Google Chrome must be closed (<em>quit the program</em> please) for this to work. Otherwise it will just show you the browser you already have open.</p>
<p>Here are some other <em>app</em> websites that work well in this mode:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>–app="http://mobile.twitter.com”</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>–app="http://m.gmail.com”</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>–app="http://ihackernews.com”</p>
</blockquote>
The Most Expensive Spreadsheet I’ve Seenhttp://jerviswhitley.com/the-most-expensive-spreadsheet-ive-seen/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-06-01T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/The age of excess. We were at the end of a decade long economic boom. The massive growth was underpinned by gigantic resource contracts. Mining start ups were floated making their owners overnight mining magnates, without having dug anything out of the ground.<p>The age of excess. We were at the end of a decade long economic boom. The
massive growth was underpinned by gigantic resource contracts. Mining start ups
were floated making their owners overnight <em>mining magnates</em>, without having
dug anything out of the ground. The median house price had tripled in some
capital cities, and engineering salaries had increased across the board.</p>
<p>In the midst of this, I was running an invited tender for an engineering firm.
We needed a way to forecast the cost of projects whose assets alone run
into the tens of millions of dollars. Three engineering consultancies submitted
bids, one bid in particular changed the way I see business forever.</p>
<h3 id="just-a-spreadsheet">Just a Spreadsheet</h3>
<p>This particular company met with me in person. A senior partner and an
engineering manager came to our head office in Melbourne to talk about the
tender. They had already done this exact same job for another company in New
Zealand. Their forecasting tool was written a few years ago and was still used
today. Getting our job done was going to be low risk, because they already had
the expertise. They had also worked on <em>so many engineering projects</em> that
they had access to very detailed historical cost information that could
populate our forecasting tool.</p>
<p>I was excited. Here was this large engineering firm that had taken the time
to visit, and had already done the job before. None of the other invited
companies saw us in person.</p>
<p>Then I read their proposal.</p>
<p>Their description, which spread over many pages, boiled down to a <em>spreadsheet</em> that
would be populated by a junior engineer, and checked off by the senior
engineer. They would not provide detailed costs to populate the
forecast and instead use some more generic ones they had access to.</p>
<p>I was a little disappointed.</p>
<p>Looking back, I am not sure what it was that I was expecting. But I thought that maybe
it would be something more permanent than a spreadsheet made by someone fresh out of uni.</p>
<p>But that isn’t what changed my view of business forever. It was their price.</p>
<p>$200,000</p>
<p>Plus an amount equivalent to $60,000 per year to keep it up to date with the latest
in industry trends.</p>
<p>I thought, “Surely if they can ask for so much money for this work, then any
competent person would make a killing”. Within three months I resigned and
started my own consultancy.</p>
<p>That time was a turning point in Australia. It was the tip of a very high peak. Since that point
growth has been slow. Engineering consultancies have cut staff and the lucky remaining engineers get
paid 9 day fortnights. Council and government consulting jobs are few and far between.</p>
<p>What would they quote now for that same spreadsheet?</p>
<h3 id="but-that-isnt-the-point">But that isn’t the point</h3>
<p>When I left those years ago, I was <em>sure</em> that the moral of the story was that
clients didn’t want a spreadsheet. It was unprofessional for them to offer us
such a tool written with VBA code. Clients wanted a <em>real database</em> with a
beautifully designed front-end. Not so.</p>
<p>They couldn’t care less. So long as it works as advertised.</p>
<p>You see, the point wasn’t that we are spending $200k on a spreadsheet. It was
the data inside that was valuable all along. A graduate could whip up a
database + front-end in less than a week. But who would have the knowledge and
experience to fill it with cost estimates for equipment whose costs are so
high that you cannot even ring for a quote?</p>
<p>Anyone can create a polished looking product, to win real contracts, you need to know your trade.</p>
Why Should I Pay for Your SaaS Every Month?http://jerviswhitley.com/why-should-i-pay-for-your-saas-every-month/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-05-12T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/The presentation had just finished. I closed the laptop screen and looked over the table. Opposite me, the lead engineer looked puzzled. His manager was writing something down on paper with a frown on his face. Inside I was exstatic, potentially another interesting job to work on.<p>The presentation had just finished. I closed the laptop screen and looked over the table. Opposite me, the lead engineer looked puzzled. His manager was writing something down on paper with a frown on his face. Inside <em>I</em> was exstatic, potentially another interesting job to work on.</p>
<p>“So I have to pay $5000 per year, forever?” the manager asked.</p>
<p>Have you been asked this question before. “Why should I pay for your product <em>every month</em>?” That question stops you dead in your tracks. Because it could have two meanings:</p>
<ol>
<li>I don’t derive any value from your product, why should I pay you?</li>
<li>I’m not sold on the Software as a Service (SaaS) method of pricing</li>
</ol>
<p>I’m not talking about the first meaning here. Certainly it’s clear, people don’t like to pay for things that don’t deliver value to them.</p>
<p>No. What I’m talking about is when potential customers question the SaaS pricing model, which typically involves a recurring payment per month, and in my case per year.</p>
<h3 id="our-recurring-payment-pricing-was-rejected">Our recurring payment pricing was rejected</h3>
<p>We primarily consult to power systems engineering businesses. In the opening story we were contracted to develop a new tool to help engineers in a government type organisation. I thought that the idea behind the software tool had sales potential. I guessed that we could licence it more broadly than just that company, so I proposed two pricing options:</p>
<ol>
<li>They retain IP ownership but we bill at the usual contracting rate</li>
<li>We get IP ownership, but we don’t bill for our time at all. Instead they become our <em>first customer</em> to use the new tool for a lower yearly fee (including maintenance).</li>
</ol>
<p>I could see their lead engineer look puzzled and into the distance when he heard that second option. There was a calculation being made where our yearly license fee was being multiplied <em>by some number of years</em>. Forever. They didn’t accept the idea of the yearly fee and instead chose the ( <em>much</em> higher) contracting rate.</p>
<h3 id="worries-about-paying-for-your-product">Worries about paying for your product</h3>
<p>When customers question your recurring pricing model, they are worrying. They worry <em>What happens if I stop paying?</em>. The traditional retail model has always been purchase something and <em>you own it forever</em>. And this mindset also creeps over into purchasing B2B software. So your customer worries, if I stop paying, will I lose all my work? How could I transfer my work to another provider? What if you go out of business?</p>
<p>They also do a multiplication in their head to arrive at the <em>true cost</em> of your product. $20 per month times X months equals $Y dollars. Unfortunately for you, the person asking this question uses a very high number of months, or even worse, multiplies by <em>forever</em>. Suddenly your $20 per month product looks very expensive once it has been multiplied by 10, 50 or 100 years.</p>
<h3 id="change-your-pitch">Change your pitch!</h3>
<p>When a customer questions the way you charge, there may be an impedance mismatch between your pricing and the product for that customer.</p>
<p>Your product is being compared against competitors, and for you some of those might be fixed cost, like traditional boxed software. And if being a hosted SaaS <em>doesn’t bring any obvious benefits</em> to the consumer, then they quite rightly may question why they are paying every month.</p>
<p>Would your product make more sense packaged as <em>purchase to own</em> with yearly upgrade cycle? The Adobe Creative suite followed this model for many years. Their pitch was always that you owned the product for life. In reality they prompted people to upgrade every two years to take advantage of the cheaper upgrade path. And now they <em>only offer monthly pricing</em> with their Creative Cloud suite. $50 per month versus the $2000 outright purchase for the entire suite earlier.</p>
<p>Adobe is breaking the waves for the rest of us. We can watch and see how things play out for them. Will consumers, previously accustomed to a once off payment take to the monthly subscription? Or will Adobe’s sales buckle and they once again begin shipping boxed software?</p>
<h3 id="what-to-do-next-time">What to do next time</h3>
<p>Next time you are asked <em>Why should I pay for your SaaS every month</em>. Consider what they are thinking, how they’ve multiplied your monthly cost to arrive at the total cost. And what they are comparing your offering against.</p>
<p>You may just find the pitch that works for both you and your customers.</p>
The Perfect DIY Yoghurt at Home Recipehttp://jerviswhitley.com/the-perfect-diy-yoghurt-at-home-recipe/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-04-06T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/I’ve been making yoghurt at home My secret hobby. Making yoghurt at home, inspired by the thick buffalo curd they make in Sri Lanka.
And you know what? It isn’t hard to make. You could eat thick yoghurt every day of the week.<h3 id="ive-been-making-yoghurt-at-home">I’ve been making yoghurt at home</h3>
<p>My secret hobby. Making yoghurt at home, inspired by the <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/740/Curd_and_treacle/">thick buffalo curd</a> they make in Sri Lanka.</p>
<p>And you know what? It isn’t hard to make. You could eat thick yoghurt every day of the week. Here is how</p>
<h4 id="are-you-qualified-to-tell-me-about-yoghurt">Are you qualified to tell me about yoghurt?</h4>
<p>The current batch of yoghurt represents my 18th so far. I’ll be honest, the first 12 were not fantastic, there were some that I couldn’t eat. They were so foul that I thought about giving up on making yoghurt all together.</p>
<p>My wife and I have a ritual, where I dish the yoghurt after the meal and we sit and enjoy it together. During those dark times, I lost all energy to serve yoghurt and she ate the store bought variety.</p>
<p>There was light at the end of the tunnel. The last 6 batches have been amazing <strong>without fail</strong>. And the reason they were so consistently good is because of a <em>handful of simple steps</em> that I’ve learned.</p>
<p>These later batches are thicker and tangier than anything I have bought in a shop. They are the <em>perfect yoghurt</em>.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ghBoPNjWax8/UWKfj8ND3NI/AAAAAAAA7b4/auS0p8tyhl4/s300/IMG_9461.JPG" alt="Home made yoghurt with honey"></p>
<h3 id="here-is-how-you-make-the-perfect-yoghurt">Here is how you make the perfect yoghurt</h3>
<p><strong>Heat the milk</strong>
Heat 3 and a half cups ~ 0.875 quarts of <em>milk</em> and a quarter cup of <em>cream</em> in a small saucepan to 85 degrees celcius ~ 185 F. Once the temp hits around 60 celcius ~ 140 F, start gently stirring the milk with a spoon. You don’t want to burn the bottom of the milk.<br>
<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-LpQ_W9sdNS0/UWKcZTVx5yI/AAAAAAAA7Mo/GBvfYllzJOE/s300/IMG_9606.JPG" alt="Heat milk to make yoghurt"></p>
<p><em>why heat the milk?</em> Firstly, it’s a good step to kill any bacteria that are growing in it (highly unlikely if bought from a shop) but the most important point is that it denatures the proteins in the milk. It breaks them down so that our live yoghurt cultures can snack on them and make better yoghurt.</p>
<p><em>how long does it take?</em> I’ve found that on a low-medium heat the milk will rise by 10 celcius in 5 minutes. At 60 celcius you’ve got 12 or so minutes to go.</p>
<p><strong>Let the milk cool slowly to 45 degrees celcius</strong>
Once the milk reaches 85 celcius, turn off the heat. Let it sit in the saucepan and cool naturally by the air. Give your milk a stir every 10-15 minutes to let off some steam. You’ll see a thick layer form at the top of your milk. This is normal, it’s the fat in the cream. Just stir it <em>gently</em> back in.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-7r0rx-5Ou0E/UWKd1wUWXcI/AAAAAAAA7OY/lpll9Qs4Nhk/s770/IMG_9620.JPG" alt="Cool heated yoghurt down to 45 degrees"></p>
<p><em>how long does it take?</em> It will take about 1-2 hours to cool down to 45 degrees celcius ~ 113 F. So feel free to watch the evening’s TV and stir the milk during the ad breaks.</p>
<p><strong>Gently stir in the old yoghurt</strong>
Your old yoghurt should be at room temperature. Stir 3 soup spoons into your milk. This is important, <em>do not stir vigorously</em> you’ll curdle the milk! It’s completely OK if your old yoghurt settles in lumps at the bottom. Relax and be gentle.</p>
<p><strong>Pour milk into a container and keep warm</strong>
Yoghurt cultures love to breed in warm temperatures - not hot, warm.</p>
<ul>
<li>50 celcius ~ 122 F will kill your yoghurt;</li>
<li>43 celcius ~ 109 F is on the upper end and will promote rapid growth and course grained yoghurt; and</li>
<li>38 celcius ~ 100 F close to body temp will produce a slower growth but a much smoother and creamier yoghurt.</li>
</ul>
<p>I suggest sticking as close to 38 celcius ~ 100 F as you can. The yoghurt that results is smooth and creamy, it’s the result of a slow yoghurt growing process.</p>
<p><strong>Keep warm for 12 hours</strong>
I like my yoghurt thick <em>and</em> tangy. Yoghurt thickens by about 6 hours, after that each additional hour will give you more tang. So if you like your yoghurt bland, stop after 6 or so hours, but the rest of us keep waiting until you hit the magical 12 (overnight is good).</p>
<p><strong>Refrigerate for 6 hours</strong>
Stick your yoghurt in the fridge once you’ve finished growing it. The cool temperature in the fridge stops the yoghurt growth and allows it to set even firmer.</p>
<p>At this point, your yoghurt is read to eat. But I have one more step to make the perfect thick yoghurt.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Vo_l0VoyHPk/UWKS6MQVrLI/AAAAAAAA7II/lhRXO5o9poo/s300/IMG_9654.JPG" alt="Refrigerated homemade yoghurt"></p>
<p><strong>Strain your yoghurt for 2 hours</strong>
I have a cotton singlet which I purchased in a 4 pack from the supermarket stretched over a colander. Then I tip all of the yoghurt into the colander, with a bowl underneath to collect the whey. You can keep it out on a bench or in the fridge, it’s up to you.</p>
<p>After 1 to 2 hours you’ll see a pool of greenish watery liquid in the bowl under your colander. Your singlet will be completely soaking wet. That liquid is whey. It’s naturally separated out of the yoghurt curd, leaving behind a really thick set yoghurt.</p>
<p>This step is an absolute must if you want really thick yoghurt. Your strained whey is useful too. You can use it in bread (I’ve never done that), drink it in a protein drink (I’ve never done that either). Or put it on your tomato plants (I <strong>have</strong> done that). The tomatoes love the calcium.</p>
<h4 id="the-secrets-that-make-yoghurt-amazing">The secrets that make yoghurt amazing</h4>
<p>Recipes are great to have, I followed some I found while I was developing this yoghurt recipe. But if you want your yoghurt perfect every time with a great consistency and flavour then you’ll need these secrets. They are the difference between those first 12 inconsistent attempts and the last 6 amazing ones.</p>
<p><strong>Thermometer</strong>
Buy a food thermometer. There isn’t much point making yoghurt unless you have one. I got mine at about batch 12 and found that I was killing my yoghurt by incubating at 50 celcius. You’ll be bitten by similar problems unless you get a thermometer.</p>
<p><strong>Rice Cooker</strong>
My secret to keeping the yoghurt warm is a rice cooker which I leave on “keep warm” mode. With it’s lid off it keeps my yoghurt at the perfect 38 celcius. I fill the rice cooker with enough water to cover the yoghurt container when it is sitting inside.
<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1WKMB3yJ5V0/UWKeI0v2FuI/AAAAAAAA7O0/Ty3_4PMPXZo/s300/IMG_9623.JPG" alt="Incubate the yoghurt in a ricecooker"></p>
<p><strong>Cream</strong>
Buffalo milk like they use in Sri Lanka doesn’t need to be strained. It’s thick already. It has a much higher fat content than cows milk, which is why the yoghurt gets so thick. I use the cream to boost the fat content a little. Don’t add much. Stick to the guidelines I listed above. Otherwise your yoghurt will taste like the sour cream you buy in the shop.</p>
<p><strong>Starter Yogurt</strong>
I use my last batch to start the next one, but I’ve tried several store bought varieties. I found that starting with a runnier yoghurt like one formed by goats milk lead to similar yoghurt growing. So now I start with a thick unflavoured natural greek yoghurt.</p>
<h3 id="what-makes-your-yoghurt-amazing">What makes your yoghurt amazing?</h3>
<p>Is your yoghurt a total success or a flop? Let me know in the comments!</p>
Life in an accelerated startuphttp://jerviswhitley.com/life-in-an-accelerated-startup/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-02-08T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/Do more faster. That’s the promise given by the new breed of business incubators. Also known as startup incubators or seed accelerators. They give you access to business mentors, networking events and up to $25k funding in return for a portion of your business.<p>Do more faster. That’s the promise given by the new breed of business incubators. Also known as startup incubators or seed accelerators. They give you access to business mentors, networking events and up to $25k funding in return for a portion of your business. I spoke with Rebecca from <a href="https://ninjathat.com">NinjaThat</a> about how the accelerator experience changed her and her company</p>
<h4 id="what-is-it-like-to-apply">What is it like to apply?</h4>
<p>Competition is fierce for the established three: <a href="http://ycombinator.com">Ycombinator</a>, <a href="http://www.techstars.com">TechStars</a> and <a href="http://www.dreamitventures.com">DreamIt Ventures</a>. TechStars accepts 1% of their applications, and DreamIt ventures accepted 15 of 500 applications.</p>
<p>After some encouragement by David Cohen, the founder of TechStars, Rebecca and her team made an application to four accelerators.</p>
<p>They discovered that accelerators weren’t looking for people who were building the next big thing.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Almost every accelerator we talked to, applied to, or even looked at makes a large percentage of their acceptance decisions based on team first</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The team is more important than the idea. And to identify which teams, the first filter is video. Sometimes up to two video submissions are required before being accepted for an in-person interview.</p>
<p>Rebecca spoke about how it felt to be accepted after 6 months of applications:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It was sort of like Christmas morning. We had spent about six months applying, interviewing, waiting, and being rejected at that point. It feels good when a group of people much smarter and more experienced than you validate your idea.</p>
</blockquote>
<h4 id="more-work-compressed-into-a-short-space-of-time">More work compressed into a short space of time</h4>
<p>Each team is working on growing their own business over a three month period until the final demo day. At demo day investors, mentors and peers watch silently as you pitch your business.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You’re expected to hit awesome milestones and you never want to let your mentors down during your weekly meeting, so you haul ass for three months and try to do everything you can. Literally, I was trying to accomplish three days of work in one day (including school work), everyday!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Your team is surrounded by others who are working even harder to make themselves a success and meet their milestones. Paul Graham, the founder of Ycombinator (YC) talks about the <em>revenue</em> growth that he expects to see from a startup</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A good growth rate during YC is 5-7% a week. If you can hit 10% a week you’re doing exceptionally well. If you can only manage 1%, it’s a sign you haven’t yet figured out what you’re doing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That 5% weekly increase translates to a 12x growth over a year. Rebecca did feel the pressure. But it affected her in a way you wouldn’t expect:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Somehow, and I honestly don’t know how, but I finished the semester with the best semester GPA I’ve had since I was a Freshman.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Rebecca commuted to the Philadelphia based TechStars as often as she could and worked remotely the remainder of the time. This is an unusual circumstance - most teams work in Philadelphia full time.</p>
<h4 id="after-the-accelerator">After the accelerator</h4>
<p>Startup life doesn’t quite return to normal. After the accelerator period, companies typically begin their first fund-raising round.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This can be a pretty slow process, but at the same time you have to work 2x as hard to show traction</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Without the weekly mentor meetings and with all the ups and downs that fund-raising can bring it can be easy to lose focus. It is important for startups to connect with a strong alumni network, which was one intent behind YC’s <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com">HackerNews</a>.</p>
<h4 id="startup-accelerators-can-bring-unexpected-perks">Startup Accelerators can bring unexpected perks</h4>
<p>One of Rebecca’s favourite customers was her own accelerator DreamIt Ventures.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Dana, the program manager, was having difficulty finding a photographer and videographer to capture Demo Day that didn’t bust her budget. She had been quoted everywhere from $1200 - $2000 for a day’s worth of work. I told her that was ridiculous and I could get her an insanely talented Ninja team to handle it for under $1000. Within an hour, we had three Ninjas in the Philadelphia area that were able to handle the all day event plus post-production editing for $800, total.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Rebecca said that one key to her success was finding balance.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Personally, I grew a lot. Prior to being a co-founder, I had to learn how to balance my personal and school life. Once I became a co-founder, I had to relearn that balance pertaining to work and school balance</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Enough balance to meet the weekly milestones, complete coursework and remain social. When time lines are so compressed in the accelerator, the stuff we do that doesn’t really have an impact falls away.</p>
<p>If you need to hire a student, say Hi to Rebecca at <a href="https://ninjathat.com">NinjaThat</a>.</p>
From 20 to 500+ on LinkedInhttp://jerviswhitley.com/from-20-to-500-on-linkedin/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-01-31T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/Business growth secret number one. It’s who you know. When more potential customers know about you. Then you can close more sales. If only a handful of people have heard of you. Your sales will also be only a handful.
Laura Saillard from Virtual Drafting Assistant used LinkedIn to grow her potential customer base.<p>Business growth secret number one. It’s who you know. When more potential customers know about you. Then you can close more sales. If only a handful of people have heard of you. Your sales will also be only a handful.</p>
<p>Laura Saillard from Virtual Drafting Assistant used LinkedIn to grow her potential customer base. She went from 20 to 500+ connections. She spoke with me about how she did it</p>
<h4 id="where-you-start-doesnt-matter">Where You Start Doesn’t Matter</h4>
<p>Laura says you don’t need a lot of connections to get started. While the average LinkedIn user has 50 - 60 connections, Laura had only 20 connections. They were her old colleagues and friends. By following this simple procedure - Laura now has 500+ connections and 10 - 12 new connections are added every day.</p>
<h4 id="clean-up-your-profile">Clean Up Your Profile</h4>
<p>Her first step was to clean up her profile. She removed anything that looked negative in a professional sense and added much more information. Her job experience and background section now read more like a real business sales pitch than a plain old resume.</p>
<h4 id="connect-with-your-boss-mates">Connect With Your Boss’ Mates</h4>
<p>Laura checked out her old boss’ connections and saw that many of them were leaders in the industry. Plucking up the courage, she sent her first connection request. The people she connected with? Owners, Directors and Associates - people with an ability to make decisions about outsourcing in their company.</p>
<p>Here is a tip from Laura. Try to personalise your request if you can. You’ll have a better chance of being accepted if you put some of your own personality into the request message.</p>
<h4 id="slowly-your-connections-will-grow">Slowly Your Connections Will Grow</h4>
<p>Once you’ve added a few connections, you will be able to use the <a href="https://www.sweetprocess.com/procedures/94/using-the-suggested-connections-on-linkedin/">Suggested Connections section</a> to begin connecting with your 2nd degree connections. Pace yourself. Don’t add more than about 10 connections per day. Laura says there was a time where she was restricted because too many people said they didn’t know her. If this happens to you there is light at the end of the tunnel. Laura says that after a period of time your restrictions will be lifted.</p>
<p>When your connections grow - so does traffic to your profile. Laura says to check who viewed your profile and send a connection request to them too. As your number of connections grows there is a snowball effect, and adding new connections becomes easier.</p>
<h4 id="email-your-new-connections">Email Your New Connections</h4>
<p>Every new connection gets a personalised email from Laura. In it she thanks them for becoming a connection, explains the reasoning behind Virtual Drafting Assistant and how she can help. If you want to see exactly how the welcome email is worded, you can add Laura to your connections here <a href="http://au.linkedin.com/in/virtualdraftingassistant">au.linkedin.com/in/virtualdraftingassistant</a></p>
<h4 id="this-is-what-success-looks-like">This is What Success Looks Like</h4>
<p>Laura has found paid clients through her new LinkedIn connections - and those clients are so pleased with her work they refer her to other new clients in the “real world”. All of these potential customers without paying a cent for LinkedIn.</p>
<p>Have you found success on LinkedIn? Tell your story in the comments - and say Hi to Laura at <a href="http://virtualdraftingassistant.weebly.com">Virtual Drafting Assistant</a> the service for architects, interior designers, developers and builders who want drafting done without hiring additional staff.</p>
Insomnia Sellshttp://jerviswhitley.com/insomnia-sells/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-01-28T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/Offer a guarantee. One so generous that it keeps you awake at night. You can’t sleep - you’re being way too generous, and people will take advantage of your good nature. Now make the guarantee even better. Crazy? Here is a man who did just that.<p>Offer a guarantee. One so generous that it keeps you awake at night. You can’t sleep - you’re being way too generous, and people will take advantage of your good nature. Now make the guarantee <em>even better</em>. Crazy? Here is a man who did just that.</p>
<h4 id="the-master-parts-guarantee">The Master Parts Guarantee</h4>
<p>James runs the online store <a href="http://masterparts.com.au">Master Parts</a> which sells Porsche and MINI car parts. He spoke with me about how Master Parts’ guarantee boosts customer confidence, decreases buyer’s remorse <em>and</em> increases sales.</p>
<p>Here is the Master Parts guarantee:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>But we want you to be completely confident that there is no risk in buying from us, so we’re going to make it really simple:
If you’ve bought something from us and you’re not completely happy with it for any reason, return it for a full refund, including the cost of returning it. All we ask is that you contact us first so that we can agree on a shipping method back to us.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Let’s unpack this guarantee together and learn how to apply it to your business.</p>
<h4 id="customers-stuck-with-parts-they-dont-want">Customers stuck with parts they don’t want</h4>
<p>Customers are not 100% sure that a product is perfect for them until they have held it in their hands. They are fearful that the product won’t fill their need. James read about how this fear can prevent a purchase. His response - counteract that fear by offering a return for <em>any reason</em>. You’ve seen this type of guarantee before. It isn’t unique. Any department store offers the same thing. But James didn’t stop there.</p>
<p>James has gone a step further. He is offering to pay for your part <em>and return shipping costs</em>. This is the kind of guarantee that keeps you awake at night. You might lose money on every single sale. The only company making any money would be Australia Post. But here’s where it gets better</p>
<h4 id="returns-are-hardly-asked-for">Returns are Hardly Asked For</h4>
<p>James says that he’s had so few returns that he’d be surprised if the total number was higher than five. That’s it. Five out of all the sales he’s made to date.</p>
<h4 id="guarantees-increase-sales">Guarantees Increase Sales</h4>
<p>James has always offered an amazing guarantee. So we can’t contrast Master Parts’ sales before and after the guarantee. However, I’ve found one <a href="http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/why-you-should-offer-a-100-gaurantee">example</a> that suggests a 20% increase in sales with a guarantee. You’ll agree that a 20% increase in sales isn’t a bad test outcome.</p>
<p>You’ll be in good company after mastering the art of the guarantee. Advertising greats David Ogilvy, Joe Sugarman and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_Advertising">Claude Hopkins</a> can all attribute part of their great fortune to the money back guarantee. But it won’t always be smooth sailing.</p>
<h4 id="returns-still-hurt">Returns Still Hurt</h4>
<p>Each return still hurts even though it is infrequent. James’ secret is to take the returns with a happy face. He says that while you may not get rich from a single transaction, you can become poor if you don’t make a point of making every customer completely happy.</p>
<p>And while returns do hurt - not every return is a sad story. A Master Parts customer ordered two related parts - a window regulator and a motor - then returned the part he didn’t use. The <em>customer insisted on paying</em> for postage himself and was completely delighted that the whole returns process was so easy.</p>
<h4 id="making-a-guarantee-for-your-business">Making a Guarantee for Your Business</h4>
<p>If you’d like to follow James’ example here are some things to bear in mind.</p>
<p>James said that his parts don’t spoil or suffer from being tried on. Knowing that you can re-stock the part makes for better peace of mind for James, but wouldn’t make sense for a wedding cake baker.</p>
<p>The type and wording of your guarantee will depend on your business. Those selling informational products like an e-book wouldn’t need to ask for return of the product or postage but would still offer a full refund. Brennan, the seller of this <a href="http://doubleyourfreelancingrate.com/">e-book</a> about improving your freelance business offers a full refund and a 1 hour consultation.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If my book doesn’t help you raise your rates, I’ll refund you 100% and offer you an hour consult to fix your freelancing business. You have nothing to lose (and I’d be on the hook for an hour of my time.)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Writing a winning guarantee is impossible without understanding your customer and the nature of your business. James’ customers need to see the part without the fear of being stuck with something they don’t want. Brennan’s customers want to grow their freelance business, so his guarantee addresses that need.</p>
<p>Does your guarantee keep you up at night?</p>
<p>If you own a Porsche or a MINI or want to say thanks, say hi to James at <a href="http://masterparts.com.au">Master Parts</a>.</p>
How to Boost Sales with Persuasionhttp://jerviswhitley.com/how-to-boost-sales-with-persuasion/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-01-23T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/Does this page sell? I constantly experiment to increase leads and sales from my web pages. In this article you’ll learn the method I use to critically analyse web pages and take concrete steps to increase your sales.
The 6 Persuasive Principles Robert Cialdini wrote about 6 principles that persuade us.<p>Does this page sell? I constantly experiment to increase leads and sales from my web pages. In this article you’ll learn the method I use to critically analyse web pages and take concrete steps to <strong>increase your sales</strong>.</p>
<h4 id="the-6-persuasive-principles">The 6 Persuasive Principles</h4>
<p>Robert Cialdini wrote about 6 principles that persuade us. I’ve used those 6 principles to develop a process for analysing the <strong>persuasiveness of any sales page</strong>. And you can use this process yourself. Not only will it tell you how persuasive your sales page is. It will also tell you <strong>how to improve your level of persuasion</strong>. Read on to find out how.</p>
<p>Briefly, Robert’s 6 persuasive principles are:</p>
<ul>
<li><em>Reciprocation</em> - We want to reciprocate when given something for free</li>
<li><em>Consistency/commitment</em> - We want to been seen as rational humans, and will often do strange things to be seen as keeping our word. Getting a person to verbally or in writing take some small action will support a much larger stance in that direction in the future.</li>
<li><em>Liking</em> - We are drawn to and trust other people that seem like (similar to) us.</li>
<li><em>Scarcity</em> - We want what we can’t have or is difficult to get</li>
<li><em>Authority</em> - We often trust someone in a police outfit even if they aren’t a policeman</li>
<li><em>Social Proof</em> - It is well known now that we use the wisdom of the crowd to help make decisions</li>
</ul>
<p>As a side note, Robert’s book <em>Influence</em> expands on each of these principles in extreme depth with plenty of entertaining examples. Pick up a copy from your library - plenty of actionable advice - you won’t be disappointed.</p>
<h4 id="how-to-rank-your-web-page">How to rank your web page</h4>
<p>I’ve translated the 6 principles into a <em>repeatable</em> process that will help you:</p>
<ul>
<li>Rank your pages consistently; and</li>
<li>Put your sales through the roof.</li>
</ul>
<p>But you must take action. <strong>Reading about the process won’t get you anything</strong>, you must use the process on your own website if you want to see results.</p>
<div class="image" style="float: right">
<a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LCT-5nTWc9U/UQnmTjFg4aI/AAAAAAAAARY/ZcLbFBTYvnE/s686/rank-a-site.png" title="full size">
<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LCT-5nTWc9U/UQnmTjFg4aI/AAAAAAAAARY/ZcLbFBTYvnE/s320/rank-a-site.png"/></a>
<p style="text-align: right; font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: -1em">The Persuasion Rank Tool</p>
</div>
<p>Write the names of each of Cialdini’s 6 principles down the page.</p>
<p>And for each principle, we’ll score the web page (one page at a time in isolation) from <strong>0</strong> to <strong>2</strong>.</p>
<ul>
<li>A <strong>0</strong> means that this principle isn’t really used on the page</li>
<li>A <strong>1</strong> means that you can see the principle is used; and</li>
<li>A <strong>2</strong> means that it has been used well.</li>
</ul>
<p>You’ll read through your web page, giving each principle a score. At the end, your tally will indicate whether you need to improve the site and in which areas.</p>
<h4 id="apply-this-rank-per-web-page">Apply this rank per web page</h4>
<p>Avoid the temptation to give yourself credit if a principle exists <em>somewhere else</em> on your site but not this page. For example, if you have a testimonials page, you can’t count that social proof towards your homepage. It exists <em>only</em> on the testimonials page which would get a solid <strong>2</strong> whereas your home page may have none and get a <strong>0</strong> for social proof.</p>
<h4 id="see-this-principle-in-action">See this principle in action</h4>
<p>I’ll use this process to rank the FreshBooks website. FreshBooks is a kind of online bookkeeping and invoicing system for businesses. Their target market would be the owners and CFOs of small to medium sized companies.</p>
<p>Here is their website <a href="http://www.freshbooks.com">www.freshbooks.com</a></p>
<h5 id="reciprocation---0">Reciprocation - 0</h5>
<p>The “Try It Free” offer <em>could</em> trigger the reciprocation principle. But do you really feel like you are getting something for free - especially considering the freebie lasts only 30 days? No.. me either.</p>
<h5 id="consistency-and-commitment---0">Consistency and Commitment - 0</h5>
<p>There isn’t anything to give someone the feeling that they’ve made a commitment. They could add a small check-box that says something like “Yes I want to focus on my work not my paperwork” above the sign up button. Having it automatically checked could trigger this commitment principle.</p>
<h5 id="liking---2">Liking - 2</h5>
<p>They have one section on their page for accountants. An accountant browsing the site will see the link and feel comfortable knowing that they are in the right place.</p>
<p>Another section states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Take a minute to learn how we’re in your corner</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Though they are a huge company, no longer a small business. They’ve made an effort to close the distance between us and them, by stating they are in <em>our</em> corner.</p>
<h5 id="scarcity---0">Scarcity - 0</h5>
<p>There isn’t any mention of scarcity on this page. The copy doesn’t imply that FreshBooks memberships are in any way a scarce resource. From time to time I am sure they do use this principle. Such as for a limited time sale and with invite only sign up during beta.</p>
<h5 id="authority---2">Authority - 2</h5>
<p>They frequently mention the number of customers and invoices that have been issued. They also promote their featured status in some high profile publications like CNN, Forbes and CPA.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you stacked all the invoices that FreshBooks has sent, it would stand taller than the CN Tower.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>and</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Join over 5 million people using FreshBooks to make billing painless.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>and</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Number 1 Cloud Accounting Specialist for Small Business Owners.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They assert their market dominance and authority on the subject of invoicing and bookkeeping. Not a lot of startups can do that. If you are a small business you’ll need to be more creative in your use of authority. You could show a tweet about you from a high profile company and use authority symbols such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_seal">trust seals</a>.</p>
<h5 id="social-proof---2">Social Proof - 2</h5>
<p>FreshBooks knock this one out of the park. And rightly so, it is such a powerful principle to apply. They have rotating quotes <em>with photos</em> from their users and magazine articles.</p>
<h5 id="total-score---6">Total score - 6</h5>
<p>FreshBooks’ total score is high, they’ve applied a number of the principles very well. It is difficult to score consistently high for every principle. Don’t be disheartened, use this FreshBooks score as a benchmark when you are ranking your own site.</p>
<h4 id="get-the-6-principles-now">Get the 6 principles now</h4>
<p>I know some of you will be interested in getting a copy of the tool I use to rank web pages. I’ll personally email a copy to your address when you put your name in the form on the <a href="http://jerviswhitley.com/how-to-boost-sales-with-persuasion/#mc_embed_signup">right →</a>.</p>
<p>And, if you want me to look over your site <em>and rank it with you</em> just email me back and ask. I want you to be part of the experiment and help improve the tool.</p>
<p>Did you rank your site? Tell me about it.</p>
Divert to Mobile - Good Branding Will Bring You Successhttp://jerviswhitley.com/divert-to-mobile-good-branding-will-bring-you-success/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-01-21T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/Divert to Mobile on how branding will make you a success Many new companies are built without much thought about their branding. But branding does impact your business revenue. Here is a story about how the correct brand will pull you out of the sales wilderness, send your customer engagement levels through the roof and put you on the path to success.<h4 id="divert-to-mobile-on-how-branding-will-make-you-a-success">Divert to Mobile on how branding will make you a success</h4>
<p>Many new companies are built without much thought about their branding. But <strong>branding does impact your business revenue</strong>. Here is a story about how the correct brand will pull you out of the sales wilderness, send your customer engagement levels through the roof and <strong>put you on the path to success</strong>.</p>
<h4 id="divert-to-mobiles-story-begins-in-2006">Divert to Mobile’s story begins in 2006</h4>
<p>Steve built his own customised phone system to scratch his own itch. He reaped the benefits of his <strong>custom built phone system</strong> for the following three years. Never once did it occur to him that he should form a business around this phone system until one day in 2009.</p>
<p>Steve had just dropped his wife off at a course and was madly rushing back to the office so he could get back to consulting work. But on the way he realised that his business calls would be delivered to his mobile anyway - thanks to the customised phone system. It was while reflecting on his phone diverting system that Steve realised that he “<em>should redesign my phone system as a product and sell it</em>” so that other business owners could have the same freedom.</p>
<h4 id="getting-your-first-customers">Getting Your First Customers</h4>
<p>Long before Divert to Mobile, Steve had IT consulting gigs with a few clients. They became his first customers. He asked them all “Why was it that you signed up?” and found that they really wanted a landline number for their business. Armed with that critical piece of information - what customers really want - he tried his hand at direct mail advertising and <strong>printed 1000 flyers</strong>. It worked. The orders came in. Steve had a repeatable process for getting new business using direct mail.</p>
<h4 id="branding-is-an-important-part-of-your-success">Branding Is An Important Part of Your Success</h4>
<p>Steve says the hardest part for new companies is <strong>education</strong> and <strong>awareness</strong>. When you start out, customers don’t know about you at all (<strong>awareness</strong> of you is zero) and if they do find you, they don’t know what you do.</p>
<p>Steve’s first company iteration used a brand (not the current <em>Divert to Mobile</em> brand) which didn’t really communicate the product and what it could do for the customer. Accordingly his awareness remained low and educating potential customers about the product was very difficult.</p>
<p>One and a half years in, Steve decided on a re-brand. This time he built it around his core product: Divert to Mobile. The rebrand has measureably improved both company awareness (through Google searches) and educating potential customers. Now it is immediately clear to customers how Divert to Mobile could help them.</p>
<h4 id="make-life-easy-on-yourself-develop-a-brand">Make Life Easy On Yourself: Develop A Brand</h4>
<p>Don’t do business the hard way. Develop a brand that says what your company can do for your customer. You will work less for every sale because your brand is building your awareness and educating customers - even while you sleep.</p>
<h4 id="about-divert-to-mobile">About Divert to Mobile</h4>
<p>Small business can advertise a landline number but receive calls to their mobile. Steve’s customers are from a wide range of industries:</p>
<ul>
<li>Plumbers use it because they <strong>didn’t want to be talked down on price</strong> by customers with their direct mobile number</li>
<li>Virtual Assistants use it so that every client has a unique landline, but the assistant need only answer a single phone</li>
<li>Teachers use it as a disposable number so that students can call without learning their personal mobile phone number; and</li>
<li>Steve himself uses it so that business calls are put through during the day and to a voice mail message (which is emailed as an mp3 file) at night.</li>
</ul>
<p>Say <em>hi</em> to Steve at <a href="http://www.diverttomobile.com.au">Divert To Mobile</a>.</p>
http://jerviswhitley.com/2020-08-10T13:23:00+10:002013-01-13T00:00:00+00:00whitleyhttp://jerviswhitley.com/How would you like to invest $20,000 and in return get $5000 of sales? Is paying Google for traffic the best strategy for you and what can you can do if it isn’t?
Turning $20k of advertising into $5k of sales Evan and Walker together started teespring.<p>How would you like to invest $20,000 and in return get $5000 of sales? Is <strong>paying Google for traffic</strong> the best strategy for you and what can you can do if it <em>isn’t</em>?</p>
<h4 id="turning-20k-of-advertising-into-5k-of-sales">Turning $20k of advertising into $5k of sales</h4>
<p>Evan and Walker together started <a href="http://teespring.com">teespring</a>. It’s <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com">Kickstarter</a> for T-shirts. Someone proposes a design and asks 50+ friends if they would like to buy it. If they get 50+ orders, the T-shirts are printed and shipped. Otherwise, nothing gets made and no one loses any money.</p>
<p>Evan and Walker talked to Andrew Warner in this <a href="http://mixergy.com/evan-stites-clayton-walker-williams-teespring-interview/">mixergy interview about teespring</a>.
They said that they believed their product was what people needed. Both disliked sales, but loved writing code. They thought that <strong>Google would do the selling for them</strong>.
Their strategy was simple:</p>
<ol>
<li>Buy advertising on Google</li>
<li>People visit the website; and</li>
<li>Wait for the cheques to roll in.</li>
</ol>
<p>They were a <strong>little</strong> more sophisticated than that though. Evan and Walker monitored their campaign and began to optimise and tweak the keywords and ad text to increase their conversion rates.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for them, <strong>the cheques didn’t roll in</strong>. In fact they spent almost $20k on advertising and got $5k of sales.</p>
<h4 id="recognise-that-youre-not-winning">Recognise that you’re not winning</h4>
<p>Evan and Walker realised that Google ads (<strong>SEM</strong> or Search engine marketing) weren’t working for them. So they were forced to take action. How would you realise that SEM wasn’t working for you. Do you have a deliberate methodology in place so that you are aware of how well your ads are performing? And how early would you find out that something wasn’t going right?</p>
<h4 id="a-changed-direction---cold-calling">A changed direction - cold calling</h4>
<p>They knew from experience that emails and cold calling people made sales. But they were so reluctant to call potential customers on the phone. In fact they dreaded the “sales call”, it was an awkward situation that they didn’t want to be in. They <strong>knew</strong> that sales calls worked for them and still avoided them. Why?</p>
<p>They didn’t like sales calls because it didn’t fit with their personality. They preferred to write code, and optimise adwords to an awkward conversation on the phone with a stranger. Are there areas of your business that you avoid because it is awkward?</p>
<h4 id="how-to-overcome-the-awkwardness">How to overcome the awkwardness</h4>
<p>Walker hired an intern who loved talking to strangers on the phone, and it immediately made a difference. In the first month, the intern managed to <strong>double sales</strong>. Why? Because he wasn’t afraid of picking up the phone and making 30-40 calls a day to strangers. His personality fit perfectly. How can you ensure your awkward tasks get done, while still focussing on your business?</p>
<h4 id="is-sem-a-good-fit-for-your-business">Is SEM a good fit for your business?</h4>
<p>SEM is a great tool for a lot of businesses. Particularly ones in established niches. But teespring <strong>wasn’t in an established niche</strong>. No one was searching for “a Kickstarter for T-shirts”. Your business may fit this profile too. You are a young company trying to establish yourselves in a new market. Perhaps no one is searching for your kind of business yet! <strong>SEM wont work for you</strong>.</p>
<h4 id="you-know-the-right-thing-to-do">You know the right thing to do</h4>
<p>Paul Graham talks about the concept of <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/schlep.html">schlep</a> in business. He defines it as tasks that we don’t want to do. Doing these tasks will scale and grow your company, but because of our “schlep blindness” you don’t do those things.</p>
<p>You know what is right for your business. It may be attending conferences, making phone calls, advertising in print or making deals with affiliates. You know these tactics work for you, but still don’t want to do them. Follow Walker’s example. Hire someone that is good in this area (even an intern) and measure the results.</p>