Transcript from: Starting your own business

Casual Connect Europe 2006

In this session, Wade Tinney from Large Animal Games, Alexander Fernandez from Streamline Studios, Konstantin Ewald from Osborne Clarke and Haralad Riegler from Sproing discussed what it takes to get your own gaming company started.

Getting started

The most important part when you start your own business, is that you have a vision of how you want to run that business. None of the panel members did any real planning when they started out, but they all knew how their business was going to be different. If you have a partner, make sure that you're on the same page, sharing the vision.
Another question you should ask yourself is: how far am I willing to go? Bootstrapping is a very bumpy ride and you need the right personality to deal with all the problems that come up. In the beginning you will have less than no money, so you'd better be willing to give up some comforts.

Legal issues

The first legal decision you'll have to make about your company, is what legal form you want to use. Pretty much everyone on the panel agreed that you sleep better at night if you start a limited liability company. The problem is, though, that different countries have different entry requirements for a limited liability company, so depending on the country you're in, starting a limited liability company may not be feasible at first. You should check with both a lawyer and an accountant to find out which legal form works best for your situation.
Which leads to a problem. When you start out, chances are that you have very little money to spend, so how can you hire lawyers and accountants? At the beginning, you might not need to. If you're running just a single project, working on your first game, you usually don't have any real legal issues. Once you start signing contracts, though, you really need to find legal advice.
Legal advice doesn't have to be expensive. For some documents, like employment contracts, you can get standard versions which need only very little change to adapt them to your situation.

Being successful

If you want to be successful, you need to have a clear business idea. Again, it comes down to having a vision. Also, spend some time on getting organized, developing a business plan.
Another piece of advice is to not rely on a single client. If anything goes wrong with such a relationship, either on your side or on the side of a client, you'll lose all your income streams. It's much wiser to spread the risk by taking on lots of small projects instead of one big one.

Hiring

At a certain point, you will need to hire people. Everyone on the panel has tried several different strategies to find personnel: online job lists, magazine ads, recruiters. There is no single method that always work; each of them is largely hit and miss. The location of your company might be a factor in the hiring process. If you set up your company in the middle of nowhere, then it will be hard to hire local talent.

Wade points out that Large Animal Games doesn't put a direct e-mail address in their ads, but instead refers interested people to a web form. That form only has some very basic questions, but it's invaluable as a first filter. After that, you need to really take your time to screen prospective hires in various ways. A wrong hire can be very expensive.

Delivered at Casual Connect Europe:West Amsterdam, Winter 2006

Wade Tinney (email)

Wade co-founded Large Animal Games (www.largeanimal.com) with partner Josh Welber in 2001. Large Animal was founded in 2001 and has since released dozens of web-based games and eleven downloadable PC games. Wade serves on the IGDA Casual Games Special Interest Group steering committee and is the founding editor of the Casual Games Quarterly. He is also the Coordinator for the NYC chapter of the IGDA and has taught game design courses at Parsons School of Design and New York University.

Alexander Fernandez (email)

Konstantin Ewald (email)

HOME \| LECTURES & ARTICLES \| STUDIO BUSINESS \| STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS Transcript from: Starting your own business Casual Connect Europe 2006 In this session, Wade Tinney from Large Animal Games, Alexander Fernandez from Streamline Studios, Konstantin Ewald from Osborne Clarke and Haralad Riegler from Sproing discussed what it takes to get your own gaming company started. Getting started The most important part when you start your own business, is that you have a vision of how you want to run that business. None of the panel members did any real planning when they started out, but they all knew how their business was going to be different. If you have a partner, make sure that you're on the same page, sharing the vision. Another question you should ask yourself is: how far am I willing to go? Bootstrapping is a very bumpy ride and you need the right personality to deal with all the problems that come up. In the beginning you will have less than no money, so you'd better be willing to give up some comforts. Legal issues The first legal decision you'll have to make about your company, is what legal form you want to use. Pretty much everyone on the panel agreed that you sleep better at night if you start a limited liability company. The problem is, though, that different countries have different entry requirements for a limited liability company, so depending on the country you're in, starting a limited liability company may not be feasible at first. You should check with both a lawyer and an accountant to find out which legal form works best for your situation. Which leads to a problem. When you start out, chances are that you have very little money to spend, so how can you hire lawyers and accountants? At the beginning, you might not need to. If you're running just a single project, working on your first game, you usually don't have any real legal issues. Once you start signing contracts, though, you really need to find legal advice. Legal advice doesn't have to be expensive. For some documents, like employment contracts, you can get standard versions which need only very little change to adapt them to your situation. Being successful If you want to be successful, you need to have a clear business idea. Again, it comes down to having a vision. Also, spend some time on getting organized, developing a business plan. Another piece of advice is to not rely on a single client. If anything goes wrong with such a relationship, either on your side or on the side of a client, you'll lose all your income streams. It's much wiser to spread the risk by taking on lots of small projects instead of one big one. Hiring At a certain point, you will need to hire people. Everyone on the panel has tried several different strategies to find personnel: online job lists, magazine ads, recruiters. There is no single method that always work; each of them is largely hit and miss. The location of your company might be a factor in the hiring process. If you set up your company in the middle of nowhere, then it will be hard to hire local talent. Wade points out that Large Animal Games doesn't put a direct e-mail address in their ads, but instead refers interested people to a web form. That form only has some very basic questions, but it's invaluable as a first filter. After that, you need to really take your time to screen prospective hires in various ways. A wrong hire can be very expensive. Delivered at Casual Connect Europe:West Amsterdam, Winter 2006 Wade Tinney (email) Wade co-founded Large Animal Games (www.largeanimal.com) with partner Josh Welber in 2001. Large Animal was founded in 2001 and has since released dozens of web-based games and eleven downloadable PC games. Wade serves on the IGDA Casual Games Special Interest Group steering committee and is the founding editor of the Casual Games Quarterly. He is also the Coordinator for the NYC chapter of the IGDA and has taught game design courses at Parsons School of Design and New York University. Alexander Fernandez (email) Konstantin Ewald (email)