thedndgingerbreadman

[thedndgingerbreadman]

Week 13 Start-Up Venture

What is working?

As I finished my final report and started winding down my night I really sat back and realized how content I am at the success of this start up venture. My drive to continue is working, and despite the final report I feel ready to tackle this last week before the semester ends. The feedback has been great, the outcome of every tutorial successful and I feel like my whole business model really came together to carry me through this semester and keep going despite all the negativity this year has been surrounded with.

What is not working?

This week everything just fell into place. Besides the time crunch between last minute tutorials and Christmas season at D.Q conflicting with one another, STILL everything is fantastic!

How do you feel the project is coming?

Just handed in my final report and the customer showcase is gonna be a breeze, this project is on track and green to go!!

What are you learning from running a business?

I’ve learnt to keep expect the unexpected and prepare for every possible contingency in the past two weeks specifically. The Sink or Swim attitude has taken hold if you will.

What are you learning about yourself?

I’ve learnt that it’s okay to want to give up, its all about getting back up ready to go harder then I was before. It’s a lesson I’ve heard in movies and read in book but something about school has reinforced that in my brain. I could ramble on about other stuff but I’ll leave that for my final report.

[thedndgingerbreadman]

Week 12 Update

This week has been a rollercoaster that's for sure!

What's working?

I’ve managed to get some new interest in my Dungeon mastering tutorials instead of just player tutorials which are a bit longer but end with a lot more creativity flowing and in my opinion satisfaction from the people I’ve had the pleasure to teach. Along with this the enjoyment I’ve found from coming up with creative ideas with others has been fantastic and I now have new ideas to take to my own tables!

What isn’t working?

My predicted engagement with player tutorials dropped off the face of the earth this week with not nearly as many as I predicted. Maybe its the Christmas season a lot of people are busy with other things but it was certainly a hit to see. Understandably so and I definitely learned a lot from this circumstance.

How do you feel the project is coming?

Once i start working on the final report in the next week the full cycle will feel complete from start to finishing this business attempt. Editing my predicted timeline will also be enjoyable to see and compare the difference between my actual sales and the ones I predicted earlier in the course.

What are you learning about running a business?

This Christmas season has taught and shown me a lot about small businesses and running one during the holiday season. With marketing crashing down on every platform and almost everywhere you look its humbling to remember and see the small businesses around my area and to buy locally to support them. On the other side of the coin however hearing about some who won’t be able to keep their dream idea or shop open past this Christmas due to the restrictions and disinterest in local investment pains my heart.

What are you learning about yourself?

Going into December I’ve learned truly to appreciate the small things. The local coffee shop, the tattoo parlor around the corner or the corner store who’s clerk has known me since I was 7. Its the local things.... the small things that I cherish and having helped introduce people to my favorite hobby these past few weeks its been humbling to be apart of the small business scape even if I am a very tiny table top tutorial business. On top of this im also noticing how bad targeted marketing has become now. 

I hope everyone’s doing well and I wish everyone a very jolly and merry Christmas as we enter into December! 

[thedndgingerbreadman]

Week 11 Update

What is working?

As of this week I’ve been starting to work ahead on the final assignments we have, and tracking my profits along the way. It’s been pretty cool seeing the budget assignment we did earlier and the prediction of the 14 weeks really start to pan out with real numbers. It’s been rewarding still as I conduct my tutorials and the feedback i’ve been given has really helped me improve my overall structure when conducting them. Further refinement is fantastic!

What is not working?

TIME MANAGEMENT! Having my part time job on top of an interview for a possible second one as well as maintaining the tutorial scheduling and finding time for school has been brutal. I have certainly grown a few grey hairs with all the stress coming from this that's for sure!

How do you feel the project is coming?

I’m feeling very confident. in the next three weeks all of the effort will pay off and I’ll have a fantastic full showcase and the numbers to back it all up!

What are you learning about running a business?

I’ve really started to appreciate taking a day, Just to destress and do something other then work on the tutorials. I love it but too much of anything gets stale after a while!

What are you learning about yourself?

I’ve started to really debate whether my own business idea really truly interests me. It’s something I’ve always debated actually doing but now that its been roughly 10 straight weeks that idea has fully come into the light. It’s certainly something I’m gonna process over the next coming weeks.

To anyone reading this I wish you well! I hope the festivities and the cold aren’t annoying! Cheers!

[thedndgingerbreadman]

Week 10 Progress Update

A quick one for this week, I tried a audio update for last week and I guess My prof didn’t see it. But regardless I’m here trying! 

What has been working for this week is reeling in my booking process. Scheduling has got a lot easier since I got a new calendar with time slots on it. Honestly a true life saver for anyone who needs to slot out their days on a calendar rather then on software. My advertising initiative has also started to help, The word of mouth people have been putting out for my business has brought in a few direct customer so cheers to that!

What hasn’t been working? Honestly I can’t think of anything. Just more advertising which I can’t seem to manage. Although I did debate putting my service up on fiver as a general D&D tutorial guide but I vetoed against it. Otherwise just staying motivated. I took a zero for the last weeks update even though I did the audio Version, Haven’t managed to email my Prof but honestly I don’t care enough to try and get the mark back. I’m starting to drop off the motivation train. Definitely gonna need some more juice soon.

My project currently I feel is exactly where I want it to be. I don’t want this to rule my every waking moment so I’ve become content on where I am. Although this does make it so I’m not putting 100% of my effort into expanding my business but I can live with that. 

I’ve learnt a lot about running a business thus far.besides budgeting and taking time for myself. Time management has started to come a little easier and I’ve found that I’ve mastered my 35 minute tutorial sessions. They all go smoothly and without hiccups now. Over all i’ve just enjoyed learning the process of providing my service as effectively as I can.

As for the lessons I’ve learned about myself. I’ve definitely got better at not holding too high of a standard for myself. Earlier it was hard to feel I was doing ‘enough’ but now I’ve started letting myself relax and not beat myself up for a fumble of words or a confusing question answer period. I’ve fully embraced the process of learning from my mistakes

More to come soon. Cheers!.

[thedndgingerbreadman]

Week 9 progress update. Had a lot of fun experimenting with recording software. Great experience.

[thedndgingerbreadman]

This is my attempt at a customer showcase, it kind of started turning into a commercial the first 2 takes I did of it so I kind of tried an in character sort of hook. I didn’t obviously bold where the 6 points are for the assignment but I hope they come across in the video. Pardon the beginning and ending, I don’t have editing software so I couldn’t cut out me opening and then closing my recording software. I wish everyone the best, Cheers!

[thedndgingerbreadman]

Progress so far

This start up venture has been an interesting experience to start planning out let alone execute. Its definitely been fun to see what works and what doesn’t and what has been working is the structure I came up with for providing people with D&D Tutorials. The 30 minute sit downs have been awesome & its amazing seeing new players to table top RPG games come out with enough know how to make them feel more comfortable at their own tables. I still think I could build in some more things to my tutorials to make them worth a bit more but for the basics its been working well. 

What hasn’t been working is the scheduling system I’ve been using. I don’t use a day planner or anything, I have my own notes I use to remember and luckily I haven’t missed anyone. This has sorta forced me to rethink how I organize/slot peoples times into my day for tutorials. I have learned a lot about time management in general running this start up and its going well so far, Just need to iron out pricing and build in some costs to my service to speed up the rate at which I make my investment into this assignment back.

This project thus far has been very enjoyable and I’ve learned a lot about time management as mentioned above. I’ve also really clued in to how useful word of mouth can be when starting a business and it’s made me want to share and endorse businesses that I enjoy buying from. I’ve also discovered while running this start up just how much I truly enjoy D&D and tabletop gaming in general which has made this whole assignment a lot more enjoyable to do. I'm excited to see how the next few weeks go as we wrap up this semester.

[thedndgingerbreadman]

Where would I get the money?

If I ever decided to take this business venture past just a home run tutorial business online I’d definitely consider investing in my own capital before looking to outward sources. I’d rather flop and lose money and owe no one else but myself rather then take a loan out and then have to pay that back knowing the only reason I took it out was for my business. Besides self investment in capital I’d definitely look at ‘Angels’ as a method for securing some investment in my capital. A share in the ‘company’ probably wouldn’t go over well since I don’t know how long term I could make this business venture. However I realized perhaps finding an investor who has similar tabletop enjoyments could lead to some interesting ventures of splintering to different markets down the line. If I had an idea so good I knew I could source and make a return on investment only then would I take out a loan and begin my business. But that would take a lot indeed!

[thedndgingerbreadman]

Summary thus far

Alright so I missed out on the designing an advertisement but you know what we come back stronger from that mess up. Business operation setup has been stellar and the feedback I’ve been getting from friends and clients have been fantastic! I have everything I need to keep my tutorial business idea rocking with my books sourced from my local bookstore I don’t need to outsource any of my purchases and I can keep everything I need local. 

I’m already ready to start getting people into tabletop gaming and my service is ready to be delivered to my desired market. I’m slowly as the weeks go by doing more and more sit downs with people. I’ve only done 3 so far but they’ve been incredibly for learning new and interesting ways to get my clients engaged in learning. 

Since wizards of the coast has an open end user license I don’t need permits or licenses to conduct my tutorial classes and besides getting some modes of advertisement to spread the word I’m doing tutorials I think my vision of spreading tabletop games and specifically D&D to new people interested in rolling dice is well underway!

I’m honestly so excited this semester is gonna be awesome! I hope everyone else is having a wonderful time as well!

[thedndgingerbreadman]

My Customers “Persona”

From getting to interview a few of my interested clients -Mostly friends or local acquaintances interested in getting into the Hobby- I found some interesting common denominators 

About them: Creative, socially orientated with a drive to collaborate with a group (Mostly larger then 5 other friends or family members). Mostly a desire to play but some have a desire to run a game indicating a few leaders or referees amidst just generally interested players. Most came from a Acting or Dramatic background professions i.e; enjoyed drama, arts, vocals or other group based drama activates sometime in their lives. Most are working service industry jobs -Mostly due to younger ages in the survey sample- but others some far older come from business or I.T workplaces.

Use Case/Benefits: The drive to get a tutorial in D&D is all for the time saving factor, instead of having to refine the knowledge in-between the players handbook pages or scour the internet forums for answers the quickness and ease of firing ideas or just straight up learning from scratch from a tutor is easier then having to self teach. 

Buying Trigger: A common buy trigger was an altercation at a pervious D&D Table that ended negatively, whether its a rules dispute or a character concept dispute. Both negative experiences brought the buy trigger, sometimes in the hope of reassurance that their character or rule thought wasn’t too outlandish.

Buying Process: I had nothing official set up so e transfer worked fine AFTER we went through our tutorial session because I wanted to make sure the tutorial was worth it. 

Choice Factors: Multiple meet up formats i.e Phone call, facetime, skype, discord. Chance to screen share and confirm questions. A PDF of the players handbook to search through and ask questions about. 

And I call this Persona :Easy Earl...After a Drama friend I met who embodied a lot of these choices and factors when we first started playing back in highschool.

[thedndgingerbreadman]

Local Competition -D&D Tutorials

D&D has been out for so long now and with a huge surge of internet popularity bringing Dungeons and Dragons back into the spotlight I had no trouble finding few businesses or just friendly people willing to help each other out.

1. WebDM https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7XFmdssWgaPzGyGbKk8GaQ

WedDM is a YouTube channel that started small but built up a rather large following due to the two gentleman that make the videos. Their charismatic and knowledgeable in everything Dungeons and Dragons. Although not 100% a business they are certainly competition as their videos on tutorials and basics of D&D are really good in the long run considering your not spending money to watch their YouTube videos. Their business sort of revolves around hooking people with their knowledge and then offering their patreon as a means of making some money while offering further knowledge and videos to watch exclusively for patrons.

A weakness I’ve noticed with their structure is that they do go off on tangents in their videos regarding the basics of DND and besides their twitter it is hard to get a hold of or ask personal questions too these two as they are so busy pumping out new videos for their wider audience to engage with and they close themselves off to non patreon supporters.

2.Critical Hit Gaming Lounge https://criticalhitgaminglounge.com/pages/dungeons-dragons

I have personally played at the Critical Hit lounge in Courtice a few times and they have done a fantastic job to branch off their services beyond just offering a place to PLAY tabletop games. I take this is a fantastic example of what a good business is and Dom has done a fantastic Job. The website is neat in my opinion, there is a bunch of ways to reach them whether its Instagram or a phone call and they offer everything you’d need to get started like the books, dice and actual people. On top of this anyone I ask about Critical Hit always had nice personal reviews to say and the comments I could find on their Instagram back that up.

The only weakness I’ve seen is the lack of a dedicated FEW days to LEARN how to play. they throw a learn to play D&D day on Thursdays if I recall but with how limited some peoples schedules are its very hard to commit. On top of that table renting fees are hard to find unlike event pricing.

3.Tabletale Games https://www.tabletalegames.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwh7H7BRBBEiwAPXjadphP9P6D6FwhfGCB9yvN7-4sAB6pJR3gL7BkN6BRFvhZ-p1A1SXlkBoCjzgQAvD_BwE

First off I love their website. It captures the D&D aesthetic perfectly and its very pleasing to scroll through. Its very easy to find the key 3 sections of what Tabletale offer which is public or private learnings of the game, Open tables to join and then private table and one shot booking. Their testimonial section at the bottom of the page helps re-assure new customers that they have come to the right place and all in all it looks very professional.

My only critique they have is limiting the game teachings to an online software which if you don’t know the basics can add a whole other layer of confusion on top of just learning the game mechanics and what all of your characters stats mean. 

[thedndgingerbreadman]

Something I threw together for my pitch revolving around a DnD tutorial guide buisness. A nice easy little map for what I would touch on in my pitch.

[thedndgingerbreadman]

Entrepreneurship I (Wk1 Work)

Strengths & Weaknesses 

I’ve been a manager at the local DQ in my home town for a few years now and have thus learned a lot about myself in those few years when it comes to this course and the skills/weaknesses that go along with it. Charisma has always been my natural ability score and I can confidently say I would’ve been a bard in a different life. Thus Sales & negotiation along with people management -Both necessary entrepreneur skills- I have been gifted with and learned to develop through my time as a manager. I enjoy talking to people and engaging with others who have different view points compared to myself. Listening and understanding everyone’s side has always been a goal of mine. Through this you can assimilate the points and key areas of a discussion and contrast them with your own to further develop your own path of thinking. Doing this respectfully is key and when you liken this to a negotiation of a good or service they both have the same outcome. A happy transition of either thought or finances that leaves both parties happy. In this respect I feel like both of these I have strengths in whether it be discussing topics with friends or coworkers too dealing with upset and angry customers at the till at my workplace.

Where I most certainly do not strive is financial planning; a key skill for entrepreneurs. I have always lived very spontaneously and likewise has been how I spent my money. Lately I have tried reeling myself in on my spending especially now that school is back in session. I’ve started switching my brain into a more long term finance sort of mindset and it’s been hard not wanting to buy the latest and newest thing but its been helpful both for my mind and my wallet. Working on this particular skill throughout this semester will certainly help me in the long run with how I handle my life finances and if I end up starting my own business later down the line!

Thanks for reading, Happy Thursday!

[thedndgingerbreadman]

One day I’ll make my own table. and get the old gang back together to slay some goblins!

I was somewhat jealous of the cast of Critical Role and their fancy game table. I wanted something for dedicated gaming but couldn’t afford anything close to what I had in mind. So me and my wife decided to build our own. Let me know what you all think!

Decided to name it the Monstah because that’s the only way I knew how to describe it in one word.

Not sure who to credit this image to but Pike’s enthusiasm and joy is what I feel right now.

[thedndgingerbreadman]

Seeing these inspires me to want to make my own

White roses with gold flakes and turquoise numbers.

Available here

[thedndgingerbreadman]

They never do and then you go 2 months without DnD stuck staring at your cieling contemplating life!

Oh just me? Aha well ima go this way.

And then no one's schedule matches up.