Behind the Scenes at Global-Roam

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Ironically, I read this book back in September up in the Whitsundays (yes, home to the lucky bugger who’s got the best job in the world – at least for 6 months).

You see - in the book, Richard regales the reader of his prized Necker Island (in the Caribbean) and of the value it has represented to him and the group.  Might be a few more years, yet, before we can splurge on our own island!

1)  Binary Review

This book was a quick easy read.

The Book	What we thought
“Screw it, Let’s do it”by Richard Branson	.Upbeat, entertaining stories, with some good lessons

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As you would probably expect (the title’s a bit of a give-away) the book is all about such “simple” concepts as:

1)  Don’t plan to the nth degree – just get started and learn as you go (for me, this resonated with what I have been learning about Agile Software Development)

2)  Have fun along the way.

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After a mere five hours sleep and with a nose that was running faster than Usain Bolt I really should not have gotten out of bed, let alone drive an hour and a half to the Gold Coast to attend an all day AIM seminar. Yet I am somewhat masochistic and managed to drag myself out of my warm, safe bed and drove the hour and a half to the Gold Coast. After getting lost in Robina for half an hour I finally found the AIM office and managed to make it just in time for the first of seven presentations.
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Following Stephen’s review of the presentation made by Phillip Di Bella, I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had also bought us a copy of Phil’s new book “Roasted Passion”.

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Binary Review

The book was a quick read (over and done with in 4 hours flying time to and from Melbourne this week).

The Book	What we thought
“Roasted Passion” by Robert Norton	. . Not a classic, but gets a gong as it has a few good points, and is a quick read

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Di Bella Coffee

Phillip Di Bella, in 2002 started a coffee business with $5000. The empire that he spawned was listed in the BRW Fast 100 three years running, which would have been four years except his accountants forgot to file the paperwork on time (d’oh). He recently turned down a $28 Million offer for Di Bella Coffee. Suffice to say Phillip knows how to do business.

I did not really know what to expect when I went to the presentation as I had no idea about any of the information listed in the previous paragraph. All I knew was that this presentation was going to be made by someone who had a successful coffee business. Coffee being essentially a commodity market in Brisbane today (think of all the coffee chains and independents around the place - Coffee Club, Zaraffas, Gloria Jeans and even McCafe), I wanted to know what it was that he had done to make his business successful. In the end I took five pages of notes, which I think is about the same amount of notes as I took in my whole time at university. While I would love to expound upon every single point taken I will take mercy on you, the reader, and only highlight the points that really stuck out.
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