Business plan help requested

Kent Brockman

I know there is tonnes of info out there about this but my problem is trying to filter it down to what I actually need and can use.

How do I source relevant info to compile a business plan in order to convince potential investors/banks to give me the funding to manufacture and sell a new board game?

I am not business minded and do not have a business, just an idea for a board game.

I know how much it will cost to make the game.
Adults and children (relatives and friends) have played and enjoyed the game (we made a cardboard template)

Big toy shops are fobbing me off, manager at meeting/too busy this near christmas , join the queue etc. and without their input I have no idea about marketing, sales or advertising.

Any advice would be appreciated.

kenbrady

Kent Brockman wrote: »

I know there is tonnes of info out there about this but my problem is trying to filter it down to what I actually need and can use.

How do I source relevant info to compile a business plan in order to convince potential investors/banks to give me the funding to manufacture and sell a new board game?

I am not business minded and do not have a business, just an idea for a board game.

I know how much it will cost to make the game.
Adults and children (relatives and friends) have played and enjoyed the game (we made a cardboard template)

Big toy shops are fobbing me off, manager at meeting/too busy this near christmas , join the queue etc. and without their input I have no idea about marketing, sales or advertising.

Any advice would be appreciated.

First thing is to get your market analysis done.

1. How big is your market ? Ireland,uk, worldwide, English speaking, multi lingual
1.1 Whowill buy your game demographic ?

2. How many boards games are sold in your market each year ? #
2.1 How much is spent on each board game ? €
2.2 What is the best selling board game ?

3. When was a new board game last released ?
3.1 How many units did it sell ?

4. What is your unique selling point, why will people buy your game ?
4.1 Comapre your game to existing games
4.2 You need to do market research

Next step will be sales and marketing, but get above done first.

Bandara

A bit of a random suggestion;

I remember an episode of dragons den where a girl pitched a board game to them. The feedback was interesting but most importantly was they did a follow up show and the girl had got a stand in hamleys and she spoke at lenght about the difficulties she faced etc

From memory it seemed a savagely hard business with something like 50 or 60 new games attempted a year. If you look around the torrent sites etc you should be able to find the relevant episodes etc, I think you'll find it helpful

conolan

I did business years ago with one of the big board game companies in Germany. Very difficult business, lots of failures for the rare big hit.
Interested that you have a prototype. However, you asking frineds and family to play isn't a good enough test. You need to get strangers to play it AND YOU MUST NOT BE THERE! in fact you must not communicate with the players. Just written instructions.

mickbyrne

Firstly, you need to stop people from stealing your idea so get you trademarks etc in place.
The managers of big toy shops can’t help you. You would need to speak with the purchasers. But you are probably not ready for that yet.
The distribution channel is probably the most important aspect. You have a great idea, a great product, but how are you going to get it to your customers.
At this stage you have missed the Christmas market for 09 and will probably miss it for 2010 also as most major chains have pretty much all of their catalogues completed in the first half of the year.
Enterprise boards are great for the mentoring programmes and you should try to contact your local board. They will have mentors who can help you with the different stages.
There have been a couple of Irish people over the last 20 years who have developed very successful board games. You should try to search for these people and meet with them. They will have encountered all the problems you are encountering now. They may also be in a position to invest in your business also.

Best of luck.

Michael
www.perspective.ie

lion_bar

Hi,

I used Business Plan pro from www.paloalto.com, I found it very helpful in building the financial side of the business plan & a useful tool overall.

I'm sure there's other similar products out there.

Kent Brockman

Thanks for all the help guys.
We are now in the process of getting some orders for the game but the manufacturing prices are not very competitive and there is minimium orders required.
Can anyone recommend a manufacturer or does anyone have experience of manufacturing board games? (I believe it can be manufactured quite cheaply in china?)
Any advice is much appreciated

Graham

Can I recommend (if you haven't already) you google 'Destination London' or 'Rachel Lowe' or 'RTL Games Ltd'.

Rachel appeared on Dragons Den a while back with an idea for a new board game and subsequently was trashed by the dragons. There's quite a lot of info about Rachels struggle to establish her game, the ups and downs, the games apparent success, followed by the company going into administration.

It may at least open your eyes as to what you're letting yourself in for.

Just to clarify this post, it was originally intended as a triumph over adversity kind of thread until I discovered upon further research about the company going into administration. It most certainly wasn't meant to discourage you. Perhaps you can learn from what happened to rtl games and turn it to your advantage. It's unfortunate that you can't benefit from the kind of free publicity and empathy Rachel gained from her appearance on Dragons Den 'cough cough'. <-hint???