A few new gaming economic development startup ventures became top performers last year, according to the Porco Esteban Annual Report, an industry watch dog group
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009“In the case of our gaming economic development marketing venture, we initially started out with a simple website, and then slowly grew as sales increased,” replies Kiera Zenz, the COO of the Aery Taglialatela Co-Op, “Then, the website expanded into a data warehouse - essentially a store of all things related to our marketing campaigns - which allowed us to study and refine subsequent efforts.” “Don’t forget about accounting,” warns Jame Demelo, CFO of the Lapolla Bystrom Corporation INC, “Many gaming economic development companies go pel mel spending money when there is a good cash flow. While there is nothing wrong with wanting to expand, it has to be done in accordance with accounting standards and detailed record keeping. This is especially true for public companies. Private gaming economic development firms can sometimes let this aspect of the business slide alittle.” Without a doubt, planning for the launch of your gaming economic development firm is crucial. Think of it as the launch sequence of a space shuttle. Every last detail, figure, and step is checked and double checked. This is the only way to succeed in the gaming economic development industry and get the competitive edge. Annette Corneille, Human Services director of the Otelia Coriz and Partners gaming economic development firm, states that the working dynamic and human capital of your company should not be ignored. Cornelious Urrea agrees: “I’ve seen companies with nearly everything - perfect budget, great IT, good distribution - but a terrible working dynamic between the employees. Though the gaming economic development product makes it to store shelves, the people working within the company feel miserable, unappreciated, and unmotivated.” “Starting up any gaming economic development business is difficult. In our case, it took about 6 months of planning, a year of fund raising, and then another 6 months of building infrastructure before we made our first sale,” states Gretta Delallo of the Hester Ikzda Partners and Ltd. Company. Also key to success in the gaming economic development field is logistics. Believe it or not, even though we live in the world of the internet and instant information exchange, postal, parcel, and delivery services are still extremely important. Many gaming economic development proprietors recommend getting a Fedex, UPS, or DHL business account setup right away, so as to avoid comming out-of-pocket for routine mailings and shipments. Additionaly, fundraising for any gaming economic development business venture can be a daunting task. It is always hard to ask for money from others, especially when then nature of the request is highly speculative. Steenrod Stuczynski, a highly successful gaming economic development capital management consultant, believes that planning is the key to selling your idea: “If you walk up to someone and say, ‘I’ve got a great gaming economic development business idea, would you contribute $100K’, they’ll probably laugh and consider you a lunatic…but, if you approach someone and say ‘Look, I have this great idea, and my plan is the following…’, it will reassure an anxious investor that things will move forward with thought and purpose.” One often over looked area in online gaming economic development businesses is infrastructure. Many focus heavily on budget, growth, and employment indicators, but fail to acknowledge tell tail warning signs generated by insufficient hardware and networking software. For any gaming economic development business, this can spell disaster. And as always, when setting up a business, the following applies: ‘There’s no right way or wrong way, just the profitable way’. Once you’ve found out how to get your gaming economic development firm off the ground and it is generating ROI, you’ve won half the battle and are on your way to continued success.