
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Word's first newspaper shed column launches

Name That Shed (updated)
Now this really is very tricky. I can only find one photo of it on the interwebs. It's the summerhouse building at the front of the picture and was certainly used for shedworking. Since you've been so red hot in previous weeks I'll give you no clues until Sunday except that there is a Quaker connection...
Clue: the shedworker in question was a famous grammarian and it's technically a summerhouse...
Clue: the shedworker in question was a famous grammarian and it's technically a summerhouse...
Friday, February 27, 2009
Small company seeks nice garden office
A reader of Shedworking who runs her own small eco-friendly company has been asking for my advice about buying a garden office. I have offered my own views but if there is a garden office supplier out there interested in pitching to her, please do get in contact with me and I'll fix up a date. A few details: the company is currently being run from a kitchen but is expanding. The owner wants something eco-friendly, planning permission-friendly and attractively modern in appearance. And for the whole shooting match to come in under £5,000. A tall order, I know, but if you think you can do it, let me know.
Garden office suppliers map
View Larger Map
I've been pondering the best way to list all the garden office suppliers around the world and rather than a single way, we'll be rolling out various methods over coming months. Hopefully this will help prospective shedworkers search for nearby suppliers (though bear in mind that many will travel outside their immediate vicinity to build) as well as raising the profile of suppliers themselves. So here's the first step, a map of where those suppliers are which will also be given a prominent slot on the right hand column. I'll be updating it gradually myself, but if you're a supplier, please feel free to add your own marker and details (and if you're a shedworker, you're also more than welcome to make your mark). I've started things off by adding Shedworking HQ and also the nearest supplier to us, Vivid Green.
Shedworking: the video site

And of course there's Uncle Wilco's Shed.TV to add your videos to as well.
Garden office: the ideal workplace?

"This space could be the spare room, the attic or even the garden shed. Working at the end of the garden path is becoming increasingly popular and the garden office industry is booming on the back of it."
Thursday, February 26, 2009
How much could shedworking save your company?

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Shedworking shop



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Red Shed
A lovely shot of a Kilkenny shed by Mark O'Toole, part of the Just Sheds - For Shed Week 2009 pool on Flickr.
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Thursday posts are sponsored by Vivid Green, the low energy garden building specialists. Click here for more details
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Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Patagonia: The Tin Shed

Making the most of small spaces


Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Garenberg launch new range of garden offices on Twitter

Nine Tiny Feet 3D model

has been using Google SketchUp to design his Nine Tiny Feet project (a nine square foot house). The finished house would include a lavatory, sink, heater, bed, chair, fold-down table, and storage. Here's what he says:
"I came up with the size by asking myself how what the absolute minimum amount of space would be needed for someone to live. I did a quick calculation in my head of the amount of space I took up while laying down and came up with nine square feet."There is some sneaky additional space in the design via the use of attractive bay windows and accompanying cabinets/shelves plus a lofted sleeping area. Well worth a browse for more details and if it's not there already, Tiny House Design should be on your RSS feed.
Old fashioned garden office advertising
Shedworking featured in the Sunday Telegraph
A nice piece by property specialist Graham Norwood in The Sunday Telegraph on shedworking includes some quotes from me and shedworker Kirstie Allsopp who, like me, works from a Homestead Timber Buildings garden office. Kirstie is very bullish about shedworking, pointing out:
"This is the way forward, especially now with very little moving on the property market and the high cost of stamp duty, agency fees etc. If you’re planning to work from home, you don’t have to move house or lose your spare bedroom – gain a room outside instead.”There's also a nice mini-slideshow of various models of garden office. Well worth a browse. If you've come here for the first time via the Telegraph article, then you're very welcome indeed and please have a nose around the site.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Mark Wallinger's reflective Tardis

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Berlin box

Photo ©Geir Brendeland and Olav Kristoffersen


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Enterprise Nation - Roll out the red carpet
With it being Oscar season and all, says Emma Jones in her latest column, what better time to talk about Awards for the stars of the business world?
Emma Jones is Founder of Enterprise Nationand author of ‘Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home’
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Monday's posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists.Click here for more details.
Entering Awards is an effective marketing tool; writing the entry helps to define business plans and goals and, if you win, you earn prizes, recognition and a good night out!
Good for business
In research carried out by awards consultancy, Boost Marketing, it was revealed that Awards influence the buying decisions of more than 80% of consumers ie if your company has won an Award, people feel entirely comfortable about buying from you. But there are other benefits to entering Awards, including:
Know thyself – the process of writing the Award entry forces you to summarise the business, its achievements and future direction. This can be a useful exercise that reminds you of where the business is heading.
A reason to shout – what better reason for a press release or communication with customers than to announce you’ve won an Award. It offers credibility that others have checked out your business and deemed you worthy.
Meet the Judges – if there’s an Awards ceremony, this is your opportunity to meet the Judges and maybe make a pitch as to why one of them should become your investor/mentor/adviser. High level business Awards tend to attract high caliber Judges. Winning is a sure fire way of coming to their attention.
Make a start
If you’re willing to put your hat in the ring and give it a go, there’s a growing number of Awards that you can enter as a home based business:
* Enterprise Nation Home Business Awards – first up, our very own Awards! Launching in July 2009 there will be new categories added to the 2008 line-up of Home Business of the Year/Home Office of the Year/ Home Business Couple of the Year/Young Home Business Owner of the Year. As well as a multitude of prizes, winners receive profile on the site and we refer their stories to journalists and TV reporters all year long.www.enterprisenation.com
* BT Essence of the Entrepreneur – we like this competition very much, simply for the prize, which is to have your photo taken by a world-famous photographer. Even if you don’t enter, it is definitely worth checking out the annual Winners Gallery. The images are striking.www.essenceoftheentrepreneur.co.uk
* Startups Awards - organised by startups.co.uk, with 15 categories, including Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Women in Business Award and Green Business of the Year. The Startup of the Year main winner collects a grand price of £5,000.www.startups.co.uk
The basics of writing a winning entry is a topic for a whole article in its own right. And that’s something I will write as we approach July and the call for entries to the Enterprise Nation Awards begins. In the meantime, good luck in entering and may your star shine!
Emma Jones is Founder of Enterprise Nationand author of ‘Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home’
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Beach huts destroyed at Mudeford Sandbank

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Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Tiny house roundup

"These days these pint-sized dwellings are inspiring people to change the way they live, mainly because they want to reduce their impact on our fragile environment and simplify their life."Photo of Gregory Paul Johnson (above) from Resources for Life by MakurJain.com. Thanks to Emma Jones for the alert
Name That Shed

Labels:
Name That Shed
Friday, February 20, 2009
Library studio


Garden offices are recession-busters, claim ecospace

Shepherd's hut garden office



Thursday, February 19, 2009
Garden office entrepreneurs
An excellent column by Victor Keegan in The Guardian in which he points out that "there is a vast new market opening up for the bedroom entrepreneur" (and by implication the shedworking entrepreneur). He points out that instead of getting depressed about the economic blackness, we should actually look on it as an unprecedented opportunity to develop new ideas. This has also been one of the ongoing themes across at Enterprise Nation over the last few months. If you've recently become a shedworker or are thinking of setting up a garden office-based business, please do get in touch so that we can help you spread the word.
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Thursday posts are sponsored by Vivid Green, the low energy garden building specialists. Click here for more details
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Moanaboutmen: Men and their sheds

Thanks to Richard Byers for the alert
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Urban shelter: Afterparty

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Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Dome cabin

Her Shed

Labels:
Enjoying your home office
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Shedworking in Buenos Aires



Monday, February 16, 2009
Watch Your Eyes
Behind the young lady wearing a Proenza Schouler silver-and-black beaded silk organza jumpsuit, shoes and sunglasses is Elliott Coon's mirrored-house installation called "Watch Your Eyes", one of the finest reflecting shedlike atmospheres we've ever seen.
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Monday's posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists.Click here for more details.
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Container shedworking


Around the shedworld (microvideopost)
Untitled on 12seconds.tv
In our continuing bid to bring you garden office news via the latest interweb fad, the Shedworking staff is currently experimenting with 12seconds.tv which offers a video microblogging service (twitter with video except you get 12 seconds rather than 140 characters). What do you think? (apart from the need for a hair cut). If you'd like to see this story mentioned above, click through to Tiny House Design. To follow Shedworking on 12seconds click here.
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Enterprise Nation - Commercial coach, professional nagger, mentor
This week, Emma Jones from Enterprise Nation looks at the importance of a helping hand.
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Monday's posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists.Click here for more details.
Whatever you decide to call them, having someone to act as a commercial reality check in your business is invaluable. Finding someone with business experience who is prepared to meet and make you accountable could make the difference between meeting or missing your targets.Emma Jones is Founder of Enterprise Nation and author of ‘Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home’
Benefits
So how can a commercial coach/Non-Exec type person help your business? Here are a few of the benefits you’ll reap:
* Outlining your business aims and objectives to someone not involved in the detail helps you to get things straight in your own mind
* A fresh pair of eyes looking at the business can make suggestions that may not have occurred to you
* A commercial person will inject discipline in to the business and have you reporting on a monthly basis as to whether you have met sales and marketing targets
* Knowing someone will be on your back if you don't deliver motivates you to win that new customer/seal that long-running deal, etc
Mr or Mrs Right
How do you go about choosing the person to fill this role? It may take a while to find the perfect person (what’s that phrase about having to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince) and as the business develops, you may need to look for a person with different attributes. As a general outline, go for someone who:
* you trust
* preferably know (or know through a shared contact)
* has experience in an area that applies to your business
* someone you respect
As a business owner, it can be a little unsettling at first to have someone question your business model and approach. After all, you are the boss, you know how to run your business, you won't be told what to do. Right? Well, maybe. But it's worth taking advice at the right time, and from the right kind of person.
Two hours with this person can have you walking away feeling great about the business and clear on the way forward. It may also mean doing some homework but then again, that’s what professional naggers are for!
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Sunday, February 15, 2009
Skipworking

Via An Artist in Beacon, NY
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