franciwe

Planners vs.Reactivists – you certainly wouldn’t build a house without putting up a ‘planned out’ frame first

 All, Business, Project Management  Comments Off on Planners vs.Reactivists – you certainly wouldn’t build a house without putting up a ‘planned out’ frame first
Nov 122013
 

I was having a good discussion with JC last night around the Agile project methodology and a few good points were raised.

For example, when implementing an Agile Methodology it is important not to forget about Planning and Reflection to become a more efficient team.

This is clearly outlined in the very last paragraph of the Agile Manifesto – “At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.” – http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.htm

It is also clearly outlined in Agile’s Declaration of Interdependence – “We improve effectiveness and reliability through situationally specific strategies, processes and practices.” – http://pmdoi.org/

It is too easy to get bogged down in simply delivering to a customer and “keeping them happy” and not devoting or allocating any time to Planning.  The Agile Methodology dictates a fine balance of Planned and Re-Activist based approaches therefore a lean towards either direction also means to stray away from being Agile.

A ‘Spike’ is a very important part of Planning and I can’t stress how important they are to an Agile project.

Therefore make sure they included in between sprints within your Agile based project.

“Spikes will usually take place in between sprints” – http://agile101.net/2009/09/29/using-spikes-in-agile-software-development/

I suppose I just wanted to stress to all ‘Agilists’ out there that they should at least try and allocate more time to Planning to ensure resources are being used efficiently throughout all aspects of your Agile project.  This will surely bring success to all involved.

FW


“Agile on the other hand is a truly open and transparent system of working, one that still gives the client the secure knowledge of fixed charges and fixed timescales by simply adjusting the breadth of features that can be accomplished. So whilst the product owner might not get all of the lower priority features they wished for at that the project’s conception, they are still guaranteed a viable, usable, and working product for no extra or hidden charges. Likewise, less of the job’s budget is spent on project management, change orders and scope limitation so more money goes straight to where its needed: design, development and content.”

http://8gramgorilla.com/applying-agile-development-to-web-projects/

Web Renovators certainly prides itself on delivering quality solutions to it’s customers and agrees that correct use of Agile project management can certainly assist with this.

RapidFMS preview 2

 All, Business, Technology  Comments Off on RapidFMS preview 2
Apr 272013
 

Even using a laptop tethered to a standard mobile phone 3G connection, RapidFMS still appears to work just as fast as if you are connected to a fixed connection back at the office!

This means you can create your consignments or view statistics on the fly.

FW

Online sales reach a trillion

 All, Business  Comments Off on Online sales reach a trillion
Apr 112013
 

Just a follow up to my previous posting.  It appears online sales has reached 1 trillion worldwide according to this article – http://www.theage.com.au/small-business/online-sales-reach-a-trillion-20130411-2hmks.html

So why not take advantage of this new market and start using our totally inexpensive My Online Store technology!  Get your online store setup and within the same day you will have an evironment that you can sell your goods and services online!

Just go to myonlinestore.com.au to find out more and sign up for a completely free 7-day demo.

Regards,
FW

Why retailers will fail if they don’t turn to tech

 All, Business  Comments Off on Why retailers will fail if they don’t turn to tech
Apr 082013
 

Hello all,

It appears there is growing evidence that traditional shopping practices are being complemented or even replaced by electronic / Internet commerce.  Please refer to the following article from The Age.

“Shoppers are continuing to desert stores in droves – and it’s all due to the internet…” –
Why retailers will fail if they don’t turn to tech – theage.com.au – 5/4/2013

I still believe there are too many businesses out there who are neglecting their online presence or at least don’t understand how important having one is.  They are surely losing potential customers as a result.

Times have certainly changed and your customers are no longer picking up the Yellow Pages to find local businesses in their area.  They are going straight to and using Google instead.

Having a professional, attractive website is one of the most effective ways to have people remember your brand and contact you for further services.  Remember that all the marketing will revolve around your website too.

So if you are a business owner yourself, please consider getting a really effective website up and running.  Or if you already have one, make sure that it is up to date and looks modern.

Our Melbourne based Web Development business Web Renovators is more than happy to help you out.  So please feel free to visit our website for more information http://webrenovators.com.au/

Good luck.
FW

 

Introducing RapidFMS – “The Future of Freight Management”

 All, Business, Technology  Comments Off on Introducing RapidFMS – “The Future of Freight Management”
Mar 262013
 

We are now in the process of promoting our wonderful RapidFMS product to Australian businesses, carriers and freight brokers.

We ask all interested clients and investors to help us make RapidFMS the leading Freight Management System in Australia (and even the world if there is enough interest!).

Multi Document Interface (MDI)

Please visit RapidFMS’ website for more information – http://rapidfms.com.au/

Some of RapidFMS’s core features…

  • Consignment Entry & Manifesting
  • Thermal printing of labels with barcodes
  • International language support
  • Works on all modern OS’s & web browsers
  • Custom widgets i.e. maps, graphs & more
  • Tailored, custom developed solutions for you

Security:

Unlike many other systems on the market, security for RapidFMS was not an afterthought. RapidFMS was designed from the start with a full security approach in mind to consider things such as system exploitation and data security.

Tracking:

RapidFMS can provide your customers with the ability to track their freight* from anywhere, provide them a means to view system events and even subscribe to them so they are notified when key events occur.

Rating:

Let your customers find out from RapidFMS what the cost of consignments are from their Carriers and let them decide who to use based on factors such as location, service types and size of delivery. Let them view their costs over time with RapidFMS’s charting system.

Collaboration:

In the modern World with businesses wanting to share data between employees and even remote office locations, RapidFMS allows you to enter and view data as a group, collaborating to help have your freight data entered ready and labeled before the truck arrives.

Charting:

Charting is available within RapidFMS to provide you with a rich and concise means to view and analyse statistics and KPIs. Charting requirements can be customised to your business needs now and as your business grows.

Mobility:

No modern freight system would be complete without some type of support for mobile devices. RapidFMS excels in this area providing a full set of rich functionality right from your device over a 3G network or Wi-Fi connection.

Printing:

As printing is such an important part of Freight Management we designed the system with flexibility and speed being priorities. You can print fast and accurately to anywhere in the World, to a printer** connected to the Internet, whether you are using a desktop PC or a mobile device such as a smart phone or tablet. Print to a networked label printer from your Android tablet or iPad.

e-Trade:

Trade electronically with your customers and business partners, have custom interfaces developed to integrate your own in-house systems and more.

Unique Multiple Document Interface (MDI):

RapidFMS gives you a rich and unique environment that allows you to work with multiple documents at once. It definitely sets a new benchmark in usability and design.

Mobile Device Compatibility:

Enter consignments & print labels on the run. RapidFMS is compatible with modern mobile devices such as mobile phones & tablets including iPhone and iPad.

Centralised Data Store:

Have your employees access RapidFMS from anywhere in the world. Let us host the solution for you or you can choose to have it installed within your very own premisis.

Custom Features and Development:

Are you looking for a specific solution or feature? Let us develop that for you. RapidFMS is powered by people with over 50 years Freight Industry experience!

 

Regards,

FW & JC

It all starts with good customer service.

 All, Business  Comments Off on It all starts with good customer service.
Feb 162012
 

Today, we had a wonderful phone call from one of our customers and were credited on the fantastic customer service we were providing them with their new myonlinestore.com.au online store.

Please feel free to visit their new specialty ‘ball joint’ dolls store (re-opening to the public real soon, perhaps within a week or two) – mycutedolls.com!

Our loyal clients and customers mean everything to us.  Without them, we are nothing.

I was so happy to get good feedback like this.  Not that we are actively seeking it, it’s really nice to get good feedback like this from time to time and really makes the job we are doing, actually worth doing.

Julian and I will always ensure that our business and of course ourselves, provides our customers with the best support we can give.  Guaranteed.

FW

Marketability… surely has to start by looking after yourself!

 All, Business  Comments Off on Marketability… surely has to start by looking after yourself!
Feb 082012
 

Hello blog, hello world.

Sometimes it’s so easy to focus on the bigger picture and forget about the most important asset you have.

Yourself.

After a relatively difficult morning, I decided to pause and get some lunch today with my good friend and long time business partner Julian. After much deliberation, we decided on a nice pizza at our local pizza place.

It’s lunch time, and all I could do is think about our business! How can we make myonlinestore.com.au even better? How can we market webrenovators.com.au to a greater audience? But I never asked myself – what can I do to look after myself more?

It’s was only until now, I had discovered that something important was missing from our marketing and business plans.

This was ensuring our good health and being faithful to ourselves and those around us. Our wellbeing. Our happiness. Without us, without our team, our business is destined to fail. However, why hadn’t we stated anywhere in our marketing and business plans?

It sounds bad to say it, but I can’t help but feel that people can sometimes be cruel. Apparently “first impressions count” and after reading this interesting article http://read.bi/vRjx40, I couldn’t help but realise that sometimes ‘looking good and feeling good about yourself’ is the best marketing tool you can have.

So from today, I have decided to look after myself a little more. Who knows, it could make or break our business.

FW