I'm going to make a company.
Can it be too early to establish a business name? Social Media? Licensed business?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
Business Setup
Mon, 09/17/2018 - 16:55
Mon, 09/17/2018 - 17:08
#1
It's not to early
It's not too early :)
Kickstarter page. Twitter if you're a twitter person. Instagram. Etc.
You can make a free landing page if you sign up someplace like MailChimp.com, which may be helpful if you have art assets.
Business name is easy peasy to set up, if it's just a sole proprietorship. Probably some paperwork to fill out with the state and with your town. I had to pay a $50 fee I think to my town and answer some questions.
Tue, 09/18/2018 - 23:09
#2
I'd suggest an LLC; I
I'd suggest an LLC; I established mine through legalzoom and it was pretty easy. It'll cost you a few hundred bucks and depending on your state may carry an annual fee.
Find a few company names you like and make sure yo check them for uniqueness; check for the .com, BGG company guide, USPTO, etc. to make sure you can own your name. Do this first before any money or effort is spent on any branding.
Social media can begin as soon as you have your brand name decided and your company identity is defined; what types of games do you make, what will you echo (retweets, shares, etc.), and otherwise build your following.
I'd say just make sure your business plan is well thought out before you go too far (spend a lot of money); building a brand can be fun, but what will you do to build your business?
Wed, 09/19/2018 - 06:56
#3
Underscore the advice thus far
To Chris' point, an LLC is the way to go. Relatively painless and inexpensive. That's the financial/legal side of the equation. As to Social Media, you cannot begin early enough, however, you can absolutely wait too long to start. The KS site is littered with the remains of games which were sacrificed on the altar of poor planning. I conduct a monthly review of all Game entries, and there's a steady number of Games between 300-500, depending on the time of year, and more than 50% fail outright, and there's a large number that barely make their funding goal (arguably, a failure with funding, as it's reaching a small number of folks) as opposed to reaching 2x, 3x, 10x their funding goal.
Wed, 09/19/2018 - 09:30
#4
It's Never Too Early
It's never too early to start establishing your company! Make sure you have a presence on as many medias that is popular in the area you'd like to build your tribe.
Wed, 09/19/2018 - 22:12
#6
Meaning search BGG's list of
Meaning search BGG's list of active publishers.
What is the BGG company guide?