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So almost a year ago i decided...hey, lets make games and earn money!
now we have a team of developers working on games in their spare time for free...with the vague promise that we might actually become a real company.
And that is what is happening right now.
We are currently in conversation with an investment company, they told us that our odds on a positive evaluation are pretty good, so they redirected us to an accountant to start a real company.
The start up costs here in belgium for a company are almost 2000 euros.
But the thing is, game development is not a 80's training montage...its alot of work, alot of frustration..and this for months without end in sight (not even speaking about parents complaining that you need to find a real job!).
And if simply developing wasnt a big enough challenge...enter the world of business...
Where your investment company tells you to make an Osterwalder business model canvas and you basically end up reading a 300 page book to basically write a few words on a "canvas" and have it make enough sense for your investment manager that they actually want to invest.
Now thats not everything, here in belgium if you start a company you need to make a profit of atleast 18k within the first few years, or you can forget about it!
So here we are, a few developpers who wanted to have some fun making games now suddenly need to make money.
Luckly we have a mobile game that is ready to release besides our larger long-term project. But oh wait, you know that a good portion of mobile games barely makes profit? Its high risk/high reward. So in the end we might end up taking loans simply to support development on our larger project....which will put us in debt even more. And unless we can get a return on invest, we are basically screwed. (not even going to talk about the scenario where some asshole decides your business plan was flawed or that you made an error resulting in the failure of your company, meaning that the limited liability part of your company is suddenly nullified and you can have fun working many years for free, just to get out of debt)
Perhaps we can offer business to business services then to make sure we break even in the end? But who wants to take services from a newcomer?
I tell you, the movies are a lie, when you start business, you wont be driving Lamborghinis any time soon. Its the most stressful and challenging thing i have done in my life so far, and everytime we think: ok, now its just going to be an easy ride! Something new pops up...an even greater challenge..and if we dont manage to overcome it, we just become part of the statistics....the stories you never hear about.
Life's a bitch, failure is always around the corner, but at the same time, i guess thats what makes it intresting....like a game of starcraft :D.
  
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I have a close mate who started his own iOS dev company a year or two ago so I can sympathize
He takes on business services though and makes games on the side
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Meanwhile in Vietnam, some dude made millions of Flappy Bird, a game he made in a couple days using sprites and sounds from Super Mario...
Life's not fair, good luck with your company.
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I'm also starting a business. Our first product is a consumer electronic device. The initial cost is through the roof, and I can't imagine being able to sustain itself off of just early profit. The sad part is that the bigger the initial investment, the less risk you end up taking because the costs go down dramatically for the hardware, but then you have debt....
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Nice try guy. You just don't want us to compete with you so you make less passive money and can't take as many golden showers.
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On April 04 2014 02:40 obesechicken13 wrote:
Nice try guy. You just don't want us to compete with you so you make less passive money and can't take as many golden shower.
do me a favor and google that last phrase.
OT: A friend of mine runs a small business (took over from his father so he didn't have to go through the start up costs) and he's always telling about how stressful it can be! Can't honestly imagine doing something like that...
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I find it funny that you want to turn a hobby/skill (game developing) into a business yet you are angry at the people who lend you money because they want you to understand how to do business.
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On April 04 2014 05:28 Grovbolle wrote:
I find it funny that you want to turn a hobby/skill (game developing) into a business yet you are angry at the people who lend you money because they want you to understand how to do business.
Nah, you are mistaking anger with frustration  .
Its fun to learn about business....just alot of work. Imagine combining that with team management, development and other administrative work...aaaalot of work.
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what do you do for exercise? being on a comp all day is bad
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I'm really surprised that you guys didn't anticipate the amount of work and money that it takes to start up a business like you are trying to do. I don't know all that is required to do what you're trying to do exactly, I just know it's much harder than some would imagine and requires a good amount of planning to even determine if it is feasible. Looks like you're already pretty deep in it though, so gl!
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On April 04 2014 07:25 SupplyBlockedTV wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2014 05:28 Grovbolle wrote:
I find it funny that you want to turn a hobby/skill (game developing) into a business yet you are angry at the people who lend you money because they want you to understand how to do business.
Nah, you are mistaking anger with frustration . Its fun to learn about business....just alot of work. Imagine combining that with team management, development and other administrative work...aaaalot of work.
I work in IT-consulting, so I can relate
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I find the idea of bootstrapping more appealing than getting money from investors.
It may take forever until you can get traction, but at least you can walk your own pace and nobody's gonna push you around.
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On April 09 2014 16:52 urboss wrote:
I find the idea of bootstrapping more appealing than getting money from investors.
It may take forever until you can get traction, but at least you can walk your own pace and nobody's gonna push you around.
Yea your right. I hope we can take this route, alot will depend on the revenue our mobile game will create...hopefully it will be enough to cut investors out of the picture. My only concern right now is that time is not my friend. Currently 24 and living with my parents...that cant go on forever. Also its hard to keep a team motivated for a long time when they are working for free...i mean..we could probably still do it....but money would make things alot easier.
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EPT
