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Updating Administration

Being the first of the month all business activities are concerned with updating the administration. First was the VLC Advisory administration. This was the first time and we are in a transition of systems. The consequence was that it took a while and needed some manual corrections because of the transition. I had to take some time to get to know the systems and the rationale behind the numbers. On top of that we are sharing some of the financials with the complete Advisory team so I also prepared those numbers. When the accountant verifies it all, these will be shared so everyone can take a look at their performance. We want to be transparant about this and show were we can help each other.

Up to now I was busy with the financials of NZwijn.nl. Making a number of invoices and updating the administration. My wine administration is a lot more simple but it gets the job done. But the most important things is that it enables me to make the smart choices for the future!

In both systems improvements can be made but that is the case for almost all IT systems. For my wine company that is a lot easier and actually only time and Excel are limiting my options here. One thing they both have in common that changes of the systems need some time and the people that are using them have to learn to use the system. At first working with these systems takes much longer than before but after a while it will get much faster. Actually this will be true for all changes within organizations and IT systems.

Credits for the photo is to Chris JL!

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Time for a new challenge

Last month I quit my job at YNNO. A brand new challenge came on my path so I am joining VLC in january 2011. This month I am just relaxing at home together with my 14 month old son. Recharging my batteries is not the right thing to call it because it is actually hard work. But mentally it is on a different level than regular work. During my sons nap time I can put some energy in my new company NZwijn. Connecting with my customers and working on my store.

Last september I started a online wine company, NZwijn. I started this company to let others enjoy excellent wines from New Zealand and learn what it is to be an entrepreneur. At this moment I want the wine business to be a learning experience and to be a wine (semi) professional besides my regular day job.

My first observation is that although online wine sales are growing the market is mostly a brick and mortar world. Which is strange because how often do you taste a bottle of wine in a shop. On the other hand tastings are a real amplifier for sales. In this case tasting is believing and buying. The old principles of doing business still apply to most of the wine business. There are some people that are changing the game. One of these guys is Gary Vaynerchuck, who adds more dimensions than just a bottle of wine. Another example from The Netherlands is 94wines. This company is making wine personal and an modern, internet product.

My ambitions do not go that far but I want to take advantage of my knowledge and skills in the internet world to make my company a success.