Boris Johnson explains that shed problem

Click here to here Mayor Boris Johnson giving his side of the shed story to Nick Ferrari (who sounds a little like Alan Partridge). Even if you don't like Boris, you have to admire his chutzpah. Well worth a listen.

Boris Johnson: ex-shedworker

Perhaps we were wrong about the 'colourful' Mayor of London Boris 'homeworking is a euphemism for sloth' Johnson since it appears he has been a shedworker (or at least a shedowner) for some time. Well, a fortnight. As reported in The Guardian, Johnson was told by his local council to remove the wooden shed he had put up on the first floor balcony of his Islington residence - a Grade II listed building no less - on the grounds that it did not have planning permission, was entirely out of keeping with local architecture, and had been the focus of several complaints from his neighbours.

Tiny Little Office project: update

We looked at Jonny Barker's Tiny Little Office project earlier in the year and he's just been in touch to say it's all done and dusted. Here's what he says:

"I have been working hard on the tiny little office over the past couple of weeks and it is now basically complete. The total cost has come to approx £400 having saved a lot by using old offcuts from the tiny house. It is now a blank space that could potentially be used for many different uses including office space, spare room, playroom, summerhouse, or my favorite... a Tiny little house extension."

Click here to see lots more photos of the build step-by-step.
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The Cube

Peter Frazier of UI Architects works in a marvellous shedworking atmosphere which he calls The Cube above Chuckanut Bay in Bellingham, Washington. He says he designed it to be an unobtrusive and uncluttered work space as well as a guest house and meditation room (Peter teaches meditation).Not only does it have a marvellous view, it even has a green roof so blends into the scenery perfectly. Interestingly, Peter works standing up for health reasons.You can see more - with more details about his working regime - at his Flickr site.
Via Lifehacker
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Shedworking annual holidays

Shedworking is now on holiday for a bit, but while the staff is away sunning itself in a hammock and unable to answer any queries, there will still be a post every day so please do keep coming back.

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Wednesday's posts are sponsored by The Garden Room Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here.

Enterprise Nation - brochure website for shedworkers

This week's column from Emma Jones of Enterprise Nation looks at the pros and cons of brochure website packages on offer.

This was the question on the Enteprise Nation forum that started a chain of responses:

“We are currently setting up our home business and sourcing products to sell via a website. We will be selling home accessories, gifts and seasonal products. We have had some quotes for websites of which are out of our price range, we want the website to act as a brochure for our products then to sell using Paypal or something similar. Does anybody know of or has used a product we can buy to create our own website to get a professional finish?"

The responses started well. Mike from Mike’s Computers was the first on hand to help and did so by suggesting that Steven and Zoe check out www.oscommerce.com. So far, so good. Friend of the forum, Emily Coltman was next to step in but with a warning. ‘Beware of template websites’ she wrote ‘they have a nasty habit of looking like they came out of a box and can spoil the individuality of your business.’ Point well made. At this point, Steven and Zoe may have started to wonder which way to turn. So let’s try to offer some clarity.

Box-set versus Pro-designer
In the 20 odd responses to Steven and Zoe’s original question, it was about 50/50 in terms of who suggested a package versus professional designer. The main points were:
* Buying a website package means having to build the site yourself. This can take technical know-how and pressure to keep up to date with changing technologies so your site stays up to date
* Turning to a professional designer will cost you more but think about the time saved and the fact you’re outsourcing what could be a key element of your business to an expert.

Package options
What also became clear is there are a number of packages on the market. If you do decide on the DIY route, here are the ones mentioned:

Oscommerce - an Open Source online shop e-commerce solution that allows store owners to setup, run, and maintain online stores with minimum effort and no costs or fees. Recommended by Mike Sheppard

Wordpress - Wordpress with an ecommerce plugin. Comes complete with a tutorial on Youtube on how to set up your store in less than 5 minutes. Recommended by Edward Robson

Cube cart – e-commerce shopping cart used by >1 million store owners. Recommended by Sarah Barnard

UK2.net - uses wizards to set up your site and ‘for a starter website, it's been pretty good’. Recommended by Lol Lowe

Shopify.com - a hosted system (you don't need your own hosting for the website although you will for email) that can link in a number of payment options (PayPal etc.) and the admin section of the site allows you to easily manage all your orders.

Trading Eye – a highly featured ecommerce package which costs in the region of £350 + VAT (a one off cost) which comes with a simple template design. Both recommended by Andrew Armitage

Emma Jones is Founder of Enterprise Nation, the home business website, and author of ‘Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home’

Last shedworking stand at Edgbaston

BBC Five Live cricket reporter Pat Murphy talks about the end of a shedworking era at Edgbaston on the BBC site as the third Test draws to a close. As he says:

"High up in the gods, above the Victorian pavilion, this small, cosy little hiding place has been my home for England Tests since 1982. Now the relentless march towards modernisation means we have to move out and re-locate to the other end of the ground, as new media facilities will be in place for the next England Test match in a year's time. It'll be swanky but lacking in atmosphere. We'll probably be behind glass, unable to appreciate the special revivalist atmosphere of an Edgbaston Test, the most patriotic and raucous of international grounds in this country."

It's a lovely piece, looking back at famous shed-related stories and well worth a browse.
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