Pet Frenzied2
1.) Giving back is the right thing to do, but be prepared.
-- From our first game invention of Fur-Ever Home®, The Animal Rescue Game, we decided that giving back is the right thing to do. Our give back program is called Choose Rescue Charities. This program gives back a portion of profits to local animal shelters and rescues across America to help them get more people to choose rescue. But, be prepared. Everybody likes to ask for free stuff. You do have to learn to say no, or you may give back your way out of business.
2.) Be ready for criticism.
-- Everybody is a critic on your game invention. Sometimes the criticism is good, other times the criticism is not so good. Listen to all of it, and try to take one piece of the criticism to make your game invention better for the future.
3.) Don’t underestimate the power of social media.
-- Social media is everywhere. Use it regularly as one way to market your games.
4.) Many things are out of your control.
-- Our second game, Pet Frenzied® was scheduled to release on July 12th, 2012. We received a call from our manufacturer on July 11th, 2012, stating they caught a small imperfection in the packaging, and need to push back a week. Yes, this is upsetting, but it is also out of our control. We were happy our manufacturer caught this error instead of a retailer or customer.
5.) If you get a “no” from one person in a company, the door may still be wide open elsewhere.
-- It is easy to take that one “no” from somebody and assume the door is closed forever. Don’t. Instead, take that one “no” and push somebody else for a “yes”. This win will be one of the happiest wins you can obtain as an inventor.
6.) Your well researched business plan will change.
-- A business plan should be created to get to know your game invention and its’ market viability and opportunity better. Know that this plan will change very quickly upon execution and this is OK.
7.) You have to spend money to make money.
-- Sorry, most people are not sitting at home waiting on a new game to land in their lap. This is why you have to spend money to make money. Spending only starts at the invention, it then grows with the sales and marketing of the game. Doing all of this spending does not guarantee sales, but you have to spend to find out.
8.) Every single sale matters, and should be celebrated as a success.
-- We want to sell millions of our games, and so does every game inventor. But, the reality is as a start-up you sell some here or there, sometimes hundreds, or thousands. Celebrate every sale. There is something amazing about a product you invent coming into the market and selling at all. Millions sold is a great goal, but in the meantime enjoy each and every sale as if it were your first sale.
9.) Expect to be in business for the long haul.
-- We have received calls from folks stating that they want to pay for their kid’s college next year through their game invention. If you are thinking you want success this quickly, game invention, or most inventions, may be the wrong business for you. Expect to take years to figure out whether your game invention is viable.
10.) Be the change you want to see in the world…
-- Change in the world can be made through inventions! The change we want to see in the world is more people choosing rescue when they get their next pet. We feel we are contributing to this change by creating family friendly, fun, and educational games for animal lovers, where the main characters are based on animals from rescues and shelters, and where players help these animals in game play.
So, do you still want to invent a game?
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
