The joys are few, but the responsibilities and hassles are many!
One of the most interesting things has been dealing with suppliers. The AyrMesh Hub is a radio we buy from Ubiquiti, via one or more of their distributors. Ubiquiti is a pretty good company: they design really good stuff that's inexpensive and fairly bulletproof. However, they have a very difficult time managing their own supply chain, and the result has been that they just run out of product every so often.
Their distribution model somewhat exacerbates this: they manufacture in China, and their distributors have to buy in full container (roughly 20'x8'x8') lots. This is a LOT of little radios, and a LOT of capital tied up in them, so they manage their inventory so it's just about empty when the next container load comes in. If Ubiquiti is a couple of weeks late (due to a manufacturing glitch, or a facility problem, or parts unavailable, or any of a zillion other things that go wrong), then these products just disappear out of everyone's inventory as everyone who uses them scrambles to get them.
To this point, we have been lucky - the two times they have run out of product, we have been able to get enough inventory to tide us over, but it has been both expensive and nerve-wracking.
The other major "supplier" hassle has been web hosting... a critical "commodity" for a web-based business.
We have two websites: ayrstone.com, which runs Joomla and is all content-based, and ayrmesh.com, which is the "backbone" of the AyrMesh system and is all code-based. Ayrmesh.com, because of the nature of the information, also is dependent on SSL encryption - all connections must be SSL encrypted.
We started off with GoDaddy, and it worked pretty well. We had a couple of short outages, but, through our early days, it worked just fine. The only problem I had with GoDaddy is their clunky interface for managing all the functions of the website. It is terribly slow, not very convenient, and, every so often, it just wouldn't work (possibly because it is Javascript-heavy and will tax the browser to the max). I also found it worked best with Windows and IE, but I use Linux, iPhone, Firefox, and Safari mostly.
When we launched AyrMesh, I wanted to go with a more solid, commercial hosting provider. A friend recommended Media Temple, so I started with their basic "Grid" web hosting. The tools and interface are WONDERFUL! Their tech support is great, and, for simple web hosting, they have been very good. A few short outages, but, overall, very good. The caveat here is to note I said, "simple web hosting." Ayrstone.com has been on Media Temple's "Grid" service for a year now and has been flawless. Ayrmesh.com, however, experienced an outage for several hours one night. Something in the configuration went wrong in serving SSL pages; eventually, after I called and tweeted the support folks, they got it fixed. I was put on notice.
Some weeks later, it happened again. This time ayrmesh.com was down for about 5 hours, including a time when a reviewer was trying to install an AyrMesh system. Same mysterious problem, and no explanation from the support people that gave me any confidence that it wouldn't happen again. Apparently they just don't monitor the software that provides the SSL support for their web servers very well.
That, of course, was the last straw. The next day I rented a "Virtual Private Server" from GoDaddy (they seem to have the best deals on the web... of course, it's very difficult to compare apples to apples) and moved ayrmesh.com to it. We have had one short glitch for "scheduled maintenance" (they swear they sent me an email notifying me), but otherwise it has run perfectly.
So, for the moment, ayrstone.com is still running on Media Temple and ayrmesh.com is running on the GoDaddy server. There is plenty of room/resource on the server to move ayrstone.com there, but everything is working pretty well right now and I don't mind blowing $16 per month on Media Temple for now.
The next frontier: IP cameras. Here we step into the murky world of importing, and all the fun that comes with it. Stay tuned...
Showing posts with label Ayrstone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ayrstone. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
A real company is born...
Well, in case you haven't seen our ads or mentions on the web, we are truly up and running. In the last few months, we have been working on our website, particularly the Support page where all the instructions and FAQs live. We have added articles on the Community page, and worked to make sure it is more "SEO friendly" so we show up first in searches.
Most exciting, we have sold about 200 AyrMesh Hubs at this point. Some have come back because they didn't do what the purchaser had hoped, and we have even seen our first defects in the last couple of weeks. However, the VAST majority have found "happy homes" out across the U.S. and Canada - it's incredibly gratifying!
Now, while it's true that we have some revenues and expenses (hey, that's the sign of a real company, right?), there are still a few things separating us from being a REAL company:
1. When you call technical support, you talk to me.
2. When you call sales, you talk to me.
3. In fact, any number you call, if I'm not on the phone already, you talk to me.
4. I'm on the phone most of the time.
5. If you send an email to sales, support, info, or just about anything else at ayrstone.com, you're talking to me.
Of course, an awful lot of folks end up talking to my voice on the answering service, so we're going to get some people (who probably know more than I do anyway) to answer the phone.
In the meantime, AyrMesh has started showing up all over the web. Clay Mitchell has been a beta tester, and has mentioned it in his blog. Willie Vogt also wrote a good article about us on his blog, and a very nice article in Farm Progress. Finally, more and more of our customers are sending us great testimonials and reviews on our Amazon store.
It is gratifying to have gotten the company finally off the ground and moving in the right direction. However, now is when the hard work really begins.
Onwards and upwards!
Most exciting, we have sold about 200 AyrMesh Hubs at this point. Some have come back because they didn't do what the purchaser had hoped, and we have even seen our first defects in the last couple of weeks. However, the VAST majority have found "happy homes" out across the U.S. and Canada - it's incredibly gratifying!
Now, while it's true that we have some revenues and expenses (hey, that's the sign of a real company, right?), there are still a few things separating us from being a REAL company:
1. When you call technical support, you talk to me.
2. When you call sales, you talk to me.
3. In fact, any number you call, if I'm not on the phone already, you talk to me.
4. I'm on the phone most of the time.
5. If you send an email to sales, support, info, or just about anything else at ayrstone.com, you're talking to me.
Of course, an awful lot of folks end up talking to my voice on the answering service, so we're going to get some people (who probably know more than I do anyway) to answer the phone.
In the meantime, AyrMesh has started showing up all over the web. Clay Mitchell has been a beta tester, and has mentioned it in his blog. Willie Vogt also wrote a good article about us on his blog, and a very nice article in Farm Progress. Finally, more and more of our customers are sending us great testimonials and reviews on our Amazon store.
It is gratifying to have gotten the company finally off the ground and moving in the right direction. However, now is when the hard work really begins.
Onwards and upwards!
Friday, September 7, 2007
A movement to the side, perhaps to move ahead
As the summer progressed, it became clear that the current operations for Ayrstone weren't going to start making a living for me, and the opportunities we were seeing weren't looking like they'd "blow up" fast enough and large enough to deliver enough money to keep our household afloat.
Furthermore, while I'm still excited about the idea of a farm equipment review site, RateItAll, while intriguing, just doesn't seem to be robust enough to do what I had hoped (I did an experiment to rate precision ag sites). That leaves me with the option of building a ratings engine or using a pre-built one (like RedQueen), which is very time-consuming. Since I didn't have the time to consume, I decided to look for a paying gig.
Happily, about that time I was contacted by a recruiter from Cisco Systems, who was looking for some help in their Networking Academy. The Networking Academy is a fascinating group at Cisco: they create curricula in networking technology to help schools train students to get good jobs in networking, and they give it away, for free, and help the schools adopt it. It's self-serving, of course, but it actually does good for the schools and students - people learn critical skills to get a good job and move up the economic ladder.
This seems like a step sideways, but I don't see it that way. I think one of the most exciting opportunities coming up is networking the farm and getting more farm operations onto the web. This gives me a perfect seat to understand the technology and products available better.
So I'm excited, but I still want to build the review/rating site as I have a chance. Watch for more on that...
Furthermore, while I'm still excited about the idea of a farm equipment review site, RateItAll, while intriguing, just doesn't seem to be robust enough to do what I had hoped (I did an experiment to rate precision ag sites). That leaves me with the option of building a ratings engine or using a pre-built one (like RedQueen), which is very time-consuming. Since I didn't have the time to consume, I decided to look for a paying gig.
Happily, about that time I was contacted by a recruiter from Cisco Systems, who was looking for some help in their Networking Academy. The Networking Academy is a fascinating group at Cisco: they create curricula in networking technology to help schools train students to get good jobs in networking, and they give it away, for free, and help the schools adopt it. It's self-serving, of course, but it actually does good for the schools and students - people learn critical skills to get a good job and move up the economic ladder.
This seems like a step sideways, but I don't see it that way. I think one of the most exciting opportunities coming up is networking the farm and getting more farm operations onto the web. This gives me a perfect seat to understand the technology and products available better.
So I'm excited, but I still want to build the review/rating site as I have a chance. Watch for more on that...
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Progress and setbacks...
Ayrstone is up and, well, limping, if not running. The product is available, the store is online, payment processing is going fine, but the product just isn't selling as quickly as we had hoped.
The "big idea" was to try to reach farmers who aren't yet tied into the web to find information, and who may want independent advice and assessment instead of just swallowing what the GPS vendors say. So we decided to focus on direct mail, using lists from the major farm magazines - a sales rate of 1% would have gotten us to cash-neutral, and 2% would make us profitable.
After two mailings, we have a sales rate of significantly less than 1%. The majority of growers are out in the fields now, so there's no real point in trying to sell them now - they're not going to pay attention to anything.
It's disappointing, of course - the product itself is no great shakes in terms of production values, but it's a valuable resource in terms of information, and the "buyers only" website is excellent. Most of all, it's an attempt to start a business based on honesty and openness - the information, our approach, and the product itself is portrayed honestly, the subject we discuss is approached in the most objective way possible, and we are completely independent of the various GPS vendors we discuss. Given how important it is to most growers to get an independent view and not trust what the salespeople tell them, one would think they'd be crowding in to get what we have. But they're not.
In the meantime, I'm using Google AdWords to bring traffic to Ayrstone.com and looking at other revenue sources. I went to a Meetup last night and met the founder of Rateitall.com. I think they have an interesting site that may be useful for some ideas I have. Check out their widget on this blog.
The "big idea" was to try to reach farmers who aren't yet tied into the web to find information, and who may want independent advice and assessment instead of just swallowing what the GPS vendors say. So we decided to focus on direct mail, using lists from the major farm magazines - a sales rate of 1% would have gotten us to cash-neutral, and 2% would make us profitable.
After two mailings, we have a sales rate of significantly less than 1%. The majority of growers are out in the fields now, so there's no real point in trying to sell them now - they're not going to pay attention to anything.
It's disappointing, of course - the product itself is no great shakes in terms of production values, but it's a valuable resource in terms of information, and the "buyers only" website is excellent. Most of all, it's an attempt to start a business based on honesty and openness - the information, our approach, and the product itself is portrayed honestly, the subject we discuss is approached in the most objective way possible, and we are completely independent of the various GPS vendors we discuss. Given how important it is to most growers to get an independent view and not trust what the salespeople tell them, one would think they'd be crowding in to get what we have. But they're not.
In the meantime, I'm using Google AdWords to bring traffic to Ayrstone.com and looking at other revenue sources. I went to a Meetup last night and met the founder of Rateitall.com. I think they have an interesting site that may be useful for some ideas I have. Check out their widget on this blog.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
How to screw up a good schedule.
Honestly, I have discovered many ways to screw up schedules. It's not hard, really - procrastination is both cheap and effective.
But there's nothing more simple or effective than spending a few days with a three-digit fever. It's not just that you lay in bed during those days, unable to move or think, never mind do productive work, but, after the fever breaks, you feel like your brain has been tossed into the blender with the switch set to "Frappe." Smooth-n-tasty...
The Ayrstone project is still coming along, with the first draft of the finished DVD in circulation to some key individuals. Comments back so far are generally positive, with some suggestions of minor changes that shouldn't entail more than 50-80 hours of work.
I went down to Tulare to the World Ag Expo on Tuesday of last week (just before the flu) and handed out flyers for the DVD. I had hoped to hand out 1000 but got 500 into the hands of passers-by in the Pavilion C tent that houses most of the GPS vendors.
We've seen a little pickup in orders, but not what I had hoped (is it ever what we hope?) The next step is to fire up the direct mail machine.
But there's nothing more simple or effective than spending a few days with a three-digit fever. It's not just that you lay in bed during those days, unable to move or think, never mind do productive work, but, after the fever breaks, you feel like your brain has been tossed into the blender with the switch set to "Frappe." Smooth-n-tasty...
The Ayrstone project is still coming along, with the first draft of the finished DVD in circulation to some key individuals. Comments back so far are generally positive, with some suggestions of minor changes that shouldn't entail more than 50-80 hours of work.
I went down to Tulare to the World Ag Expo on Tuesday of last week (just before the flu) and handed out flyers for the DVD. I had hoped to hand out 1000 but got 500 into the hands of passers-by in the Pavilion C tent that houses most of the GPS vendors.
We've seen a little pickup in orders, but not what I had hoped (is it ever what we hope?) The next step is to fire up the direct mail machine.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Beginning...
OK, it's not "Soul of the New Machine," but the new company is up and moving forward. The grand idea: use the combined energy and knowledge of two people, one a Silicon Valley tech veteran and one a midwestern ag expert, and produce something useful to help farmers get a handle on GPS steering products.
The new company is called Ayrstone Productivity, LLC.
I'm one of the principals - I used to be a marketing exec for a small GPS company called Novariant, and worked on their AutoFarm product line. The grand idea we came up with was to capture all the information I had in my head about all the companies in this space and put it into a DVD to give farmers more of a fair shake with the folks selling this stuff.
The result is Ayrstone's first product, shown here. You can preview the first module on YouTube.
We're also hosting a new forum for GPS users in Ag at forum.ayrstone.com.
The new company is called Ayrstone Productivity, LLC.
I'm one of the principals - I used to be a marketing exec for a small GPS company called Novariant, and worked on their AutoFarm product line. The grand idea we came up with was to capture all the information I had in my head about all the companies in this space and put it into a DVD to give farmers more of a fair shake with the folks selling this stuff.
The result is Ayrstone's first product, shown here. You can preview the first module on YouTube.
We're also hosting a new forum for GPS users in Ag at forum.ayrstone.com.
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