Predicting the popularity of a new board game is a thankless task - once the publisher refused to distribute Monopoly. Tatyana Bondarenko decided to start this business not because she is passionate about board games s - the entrepreneurial instinct prompts the businesswoman to make successful decisions.
Publishing board games is a difficult business genre: no amount of focus groups can help you predict in advance the commercial success of a box containing a playing field, chips, cubes and cards.
In 1934, unemployed American Charles Darrow failed to sell the idea of Monopoly to a major publisher, but he took the risk of releasing the game at his own expense - and in the end it became a worldwide hit. His example still inspires newcomers to the difficult market. We decided to follow the adventures of one of them.
From the "Start" cell
Entrepreneur Tatyana Bondarenko and her husband started producing board games under the Bonko Games brand a little over a year ago. The calculation was absolutely commercial, and did not at all grow out of a hobby: no one in their family ever collected “board games”, did not disappear on gaming forums, and did not participate in fashionable game libraries.
But she already had entrepreneurial experience: at one time, Tatyana left a stable, but incredibly boring career as a bank employee and went to work, first opening her own small printing house, and then a private hotel for dogs. And in the meantime, she managed to work on “stream” copywriting, which taught her to write a lot and without creative crises. This useful skill turned out to be very useful in her new, board gaming field.
If you look at it, the board game market in Russia is very young. Just ten years ago it seemed that computer games won a final and unconditional victory in our country over board-print games, since of the latter, only simple “walkers” for young children could be found on sale, and if you’re lucky, expensive imported games, but without .
However, since then, Russia has had its own publishers and bestsellers - both domestically developed and released under a Western license - with circulations of over ten thousand copies. According to market players themselves, about a hundred new game titles are currently released in the country every year.
Meanwhile, Tatyana Bondarenko, with the maximalism characteristic of beginners, saw the weaknesses of the Russian market and opportunities for herself. According to her, domestic developers of high-quality board games are still in short supply, and store shelves are mostly filled with so-called localized games from Europe and America.
At the same time, licenses are often not purchased for the most popular games (since the rights to publish Western hits are expensive), and localization can be only partial - to the point that board game fans then have to independently download the game rules from the site in Russian.
So the niche for the creators of Bonko Games appeared obvious - to develop games on their own, to produce not “waste paper”, but a high-quality product with decent design and printing. The idea for the debut game came to mind quite quickly: they decided to take advantage of the socio-political situation and release – just in time for the presidential elections – a game called “Election Race, or Who Could Become President.”
It was fun to come up with game mechanics and surroundings: various “crusts” that allow you to solve a lot of problems, cars with flashing lights instead of the usual chips, trips to constituencies, lobbying for laws...
For example, I had to work hard on a deck of cards with bills. “Fifty of them were required, each with six bills: in total there were three hundred in just one deck,” Tatyana estimates the amount of work done.
To make the game information-rich, and the texts ironic and full of allusions to real life, it had to raise all the most high-profile political events over the past few years. To make the box with the game look more impressive, it was decided to style it as a strict black case.
When the idea lay down on a white sheet of Whatman paper in a simplified, schematic form, and then was played out dozens of times with several groups of “testers,” the moment came for the real investment of money. At that time, entrepreneurs had only 350 thousand rubles at their disposal.
“Initially,” Tatyana says with a smile, “we naively imagined ideal scenario: the game was invented, transferred to whatman paper, tested taking into account different game situations, and handed over to a good designer. What difficulties could there be? However, coming up with a game turned out to be much easier than publishing it and then selling it.
Obstacle race
Game design was initially a position on which the creators of “Election Race” decided not to skimp. Old-timers of the market will probably grin, but startupers spent 120 thousand rubles on it alone. “The artistic implementation of a board game for that kind of money, given that the entire turnover of the game can be only one and a half million, is nonsense,” agrees Tatyana Bondarenko.
However, “presentation” for the perfectionists from Bonko Games was above all: they wanted to maintain the brand, starting with the debut game. The playing field was printed on a hard cardboard, traditionally used for book binding, and playing cards and certificates were transferred to thick cardboard with a glossy surface. The invented surroundings significantly increased the final estimate.
“We could simplify our task and put plastic pyramids in the set instead of machine chips,” explains Tatyana. – It would cost only a ruble per set. Meanwhile, the machine cost us three rubles. Every detail here costs money. When you multiply all these rubles by the circulation, you get a rather large amount.”
The idea with a poker box and velvet upholstery inside was never realized. It turned out that all printing houses in Moscow and the region work only using ready-made templates, and there are practically no specialists developing packaging. I had to get out and look for more modest options. A box with a handle that was accidentally discovered at home became a clear example for the production of case packaging.
Now, when more than six months have passed since the release of the game, Tatyana regretfully points out the shortcomings: “They couldn’t make the inside of the box as planned. In theory, it should have consisted of two compartments, one of which would hold the playing field, and the other would contain all the other accessories.
When we verbally explained what we wanted to see as a result, we were offered a terribly inconvenient design that would complicate the already complex production technology and would take half a day to assemble.”
The agonies over just one box, which cost Bonko Games 65 rubles apiece, led to a disappointing conclusion: there are no opportunities for producing truly high-quality board games in Russia. In China, as it turned out, the ideal poker version with velvet upholstery would cost no more than 40 rubles. But in this case, a lot of time would have to be lost on coordinating the game layout and solving production problems.
The printing house had to gradually adapt to unfamiliar production, and Tatyana had to go through all the “circles of hell” that major market players describe annually at specialized exhibitions. Director of the “Correct Games” project Ivan Tulovsky, speaking about the prospects for publishing board games in Russia, admits that over the 10 years of market formation, we have not learned how to print high-quality games.
During the production process, according to him, it is necessary to constantly be in the printing house, otherwise the output can be a product that is very far from the designed layout. In addition, you should be prepared in advance for a decent percentage of defects in the form of broken cards, uneven fields and mismatched color shades.
During the creation of the “Election Race”, one hundred playing fields were damaged. “When they were printed, it turned out that no one in the printing house could cut them out correctly,” recalls Tatyana. “My husband and I had to show how it’s done.”
In front of the surprised employees, we applied the ruler to the playing fields, cut the mouthguard with a large breadboard knife and folded it into the box.” Having “served themselves” in this way at the printing house, the startupers received playing fields at a price of 28 rubles apiece. And the printing house acquired invaluable experience in the production of “tabletops”.
Old-timers of the board game market like to joke that any task that is technically any more complex than the production of puzzles is beyond the capabilities of the vast majority of Russian printing houses. Each publisher solves the problem in its own way.
Thus, the company “World of Hobby”, which introduced domestic consumers to such Western bestsellers as “Colonizers”, “Carcassonne” and “Munchkin”, long ago came to the conclusion: it is still possible to print games of European quality in Russia - only for this you need to create your own production. Therefore, the company carries out all post-printing at two of its own production sites in the Ivanovo and Kaluga regions.
In the end, the Bondarenko spouses spent about 700 thousand rubles to publish “The Election Race” with a circulation of 2 thousand copies - a very modest amount, according to Tatyana’s estimates. However, production problems put Bonko Games behind schedule: the game was released not by October 2011, as planned, but only by February 2012.
We made it in time for the real March elections in Russia, but missed part of the time that could ensure effective sales: summer was just around the corner. “Summer is the time when all toy makers are in poverty,” Tatyana admits. – We are very dependent on wholesalers who select goods depending on the season. From June to August, they prefer to buy inflatable rings, balls and jump ropes rather than board games.”
Try and sell
The idea of exploiting election themes for commercial purposes seemed to be in the air. Six months before the release of “Election Race,” a similar socio-political game appeared on the market – “Presidential Elections” from “Drofa-Media,” a developer and manufacturer of children’s gaming products. Everything was in order with the release dates of this old-timer of the market, and it seems that the company managed to skim off the cream.
According to Olga Poseva, head of the sales department at Drofa-Media, at first their “tabletop” had good sales, but after the March event, interest in it cooled. “The game didn’t become a bestseller, but we didn’t place much emphasis on it,” she comments. “After the election, it became an average product that simply added to our product line.”
Unlike its more eminent competitor, Bonko Games is placing a high bet on its first-born, since there is nothing else in the Bondarenko couple’s portfolio yet. And now, right on the march, they have to build sales channels. Working directly with large stores, bypassing the wholesale link, turned out to be troublesome and required labor costs that were unreasonable for a publisher with a still meager product line.
Retail has already demonstrated waywardness in relation to the publishers of “Election Race”: one Moscow trading house did not appreciate the irony of the game, apparently sensing some kind of “dangerous” political overtones, and unexpectedly withdrew it from sale and removed it from the store’s assortment list. But through wholesalers we managed to put the game on the shelves of some Auchan stores and sell 120 copies in the first three months.
Why the shelves of many Russian stores are mostly filled with economy-class board games also did not remain a secret for young publishers for long. It turned out that this was the initial attitude of both retail and wholesalers.
It is, in principle, more difficult for a product in the “above average” and “premium” price categories to get onto the shelves than for “waste paper”: additional arguments are needed in favor of the fact that the game will sell well, and it can be difficult to offer them to a little-known publisher.
According to Natalya Urusova, owner of the online board games store Igrocity.Ru, the price range of the most popular games in Russia is from 500 to 1,500 rubles. In this case, preference is given to games for families or for groups. And “Election Race” from Bonko Games turned out to be expensive.
“Offline” it appeared at a price of 1,600 rubles, in the online stores “Komus” and “Superfishka” - 1,150 each. The wholesale batch went to the Urals at a price of 750 rubles, but we can safely assume that further markups in wholesale and retail links increased the cost at least twice.
Another well-established way to promote board games, not yet used by Bonko Games, is gaming events in clubs, bars and pubs. The interest here can be mutual: the establishment receives an influx of visitors, and the publisher, in addition to popularizing the game, can count on the fact that one of the participants will decide to purchase a copy “for home, for the family.”
The publisher’s costs are purely organizational – to provide their own animator who will hold the event at a high level. It is noteworthy that publishers of popular games can even count on a small reward from the establishment.
A logical question arises: is it worth going to all the trouble of producing and selling board games yourself? Can't we just develop the mechanics and design of the game to sell to a publisher?
Large Russian publishers, it seems, have indeed already grown to the point that they are ready to buy such a product on the side - and have even begun to publish relevant advertisements on the Internet. The conditions, however, turn out to be not very attractive for the developer: 20 thousand rubles or a dollar per box sold.
An “effective” circulation, as industry participants themselves admit, starts with a thousand boxes, and sales of most games amount to no more than a thousand or two copies. It turns out that you can’t earn much by selling a game idea: this is more likely the lot of single amateurs who develop for the love of art. So the creators of the “Election Race” initially did not even consider this option.
According to Tatyana Bondarenko, in the first month and a half of presence on the market, they managed to sell 400 boxes of “Election Race”, and in six months - more than half of the circulation. By the standards of the Russian board game industry, the result is not bad.
The first experience, however, encourages introspection. The obvious conclusion: you can’t live on one game, you need a briefcase. A little less obvious: the company should not live by “premium” alone; good “economy games” in the assortment will not harm it either.
Taking it to the next level
The element of chance that gives games such excitement is fully present in the board business itself: you never know which game will really “pop” at retail. The economy also leaves its mark: a game with a brilliant “engine” may well turn out to be so expensive to produce that, given the prevailing price level on the market, it will not find its buyer.
Ivan Tulovsky from Correct Games explains the large percentage of localized Western products on the market by the fact that Russian publishers are trying to follow the path of minimizing risks. A game that has become a hit abroad is at least some guarantee that such a product will sell well in Russia.
And yet, Bonko Games still intends to take risks by releasing games of its own design. Limited financial resources, however, force a change in tactics.
The ideal scenario for an established and profitable production now seems to Tatyana Bondarenko like this: you need to launch a line of games in the economy and mid-price segments, which will provide a more or less stable cash flow and will allow you to earn money to publish a truly serious and expensive game from time to time.
A portfolio of five titles should be enough to start consistently releasing 3-4 games a year to the market. “It will be possible to celebrate the victory when the assortment reaches at least 30 games, and our brand becomes recognizable in the market,” Tatyana estimates.
Entrepreneurs already have several economic games in their “proprietary” ironic style, the cost of which at retail should be 350–400 rubles. In one of them - the card game "Akulin" - the characters are stylized in the 18th century, and the game will come with unexpected surroundings - glasses and a dark scarf - to create the image of an unsympathetic heroine for those who lose.
A more distant goal is the expensive Gold Rush game, which invites players to strike it rich in a mine; game mechanics and a set of game items have already been invented for it - a dummy gold bar, metal coins, an aged leather money bag and non-standard packaging in the form of a miner's backpack.
In total, Bonko Games has more than 25 projects in development. Some of them are thought out to the smallest detail and are almost ready for game design. Unlike financial resources, startupers have plenty of ideas.
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How to launch an international network of educational board games
Sergei did not find suitable board games for his son and came up with them himself.
Masha Shapoval
talked to business founders
Together with a friend, he opened an online store in St. Petersburg. After six years, this business brings in 1 million rubles a month.
The games are now sold in Russia and Eastern Europe, Israel and Chile, Japan and Taiwan. This is how the guys came to this.
How they were launched
In 2012, Sergei launched a club to teach his son and his friends basic school skills: counting, multiplying, understanding the basics of physics, modeling, and recognizing geometric shapes. He wanted children to learn this through games. Sergey photographed the classes and talked about them on his blog on LiveJournal. Within six months, 1,000 people subscribed to the blog.
Sergei is a psychologist by training, and at that moment he worked in consulting: he conducted trainings for office workers. He studied elementary school textbooks, found many difficult moments for children and came up with board and outdoor games on these topics. Sergei showed the layouts to his friend Anton: they decided that such board games could be successful.
Sergei prepared layouts for the first four games: three about numbers and counting, the fourth about geometric shapes. Familiar designers drew the guys a website layout for barter: for training and consultations on business presentations, copywriting, public speaking and infographics. We spent 50 thousand rubles on the development of individual elements.
50,000 R
Entrepreneurs spent on designing game layouts
All that remained was to print the board cards on large cardboard sheets, and then cut them out and assemble them into decks. Few printing houses knew how to do this, so the first edition was printed through friends. For the second, larger edition, it took a month to find a printing house.
First sales
The sale of games was registered under the name of Sergei, an individual entrepreneur. At that time he was already an entrepreneur - he conducted trainings.
In October 2012, entrepreneurs sent the first games to the game library organizers for evaluation. These are events where people gather in a cafe to play board games.
At the same time, pre-orders were launched at the St. Petersburg parent forum. There the guys found an intermediary who collected pre-orders and money from clients for a percentage of sales. Teachers of children's clubs and leaders of developmental classes became interested in the games - they ordered boards for students and advised parents. For the first batch, Sergey and Anton printed four games, 500 copies each.
There were some mistakes. Some boxes had to be printed several times: the cardboard was too thick and the glue was not strong enough to hold it. The batch cost 450 thousand rubles - Anton borrowed this money as a bonus from his main job.
Sergey and Anton decided to deliver games immediately after the New Year holidays. Time was running out, so the guys came to the printing house to help: they cut cards, assembled decks and put them in boxes. The circulation was stored in rented cells in a warehouse.
RUR 450,000
Sergey and Anton paid for printing the first batch of games
In the first month, entrepreneurs sold 900 games and earned 240 thousand rubles from them. Three months later, we found our first wholesale partner - it was an online store of children's toys, the head of which read about the guys' project on LiveJournal. The store took 100 games.
Launch costs, 2012 - RUR 510,000
Printing 2 thousand games
RUR 450,000
Game layout design
50,000 R
Rent of cells in a warehouse
10,000 R
for free
How games are invented
Children in primary school are not yet involved in the learning process. To interest them, you need a game form. The mechanics used in the Gang of Smarties games are not new. For example, some work on the domino principle: children find and match identical pictures and at the same time learn to count.
All board games can be played without a leader - with children of the same age or even with adults. For example, “Animal Letters” is often played by families. The game has two sets of cards: with letters and with animals and their names. Participants take turns opening letter cards and comparing them with the letters that are included in the names of the animals. The one who gets the last letter in the name of the animal takes the card for himself. The participant with the most cards wins. A child can beat an adult without even knowing the alphabet. He matches the letters he draws and remembers them in the process.
Usually Sergey works on several topics at the same time. It takes from a day to a year to come up with one game.
Prototypes are reviewed by the team: employees try them out, write down what to change, and estimate how much it will cost to produce. Before release, they sell a thousand copies to private clients and small wholesalers. After the first circulation of 5 thousand, reviews are collected and the games are improved based on them.
Today “Gang” has 21 games in its assortment. Topics: counting, multiplication, geometry, logic and reading. The most popular are “Animal Letters” for 790 rubles, “Read-Grab” for 890 rubles and “Turbo Account” for 490 rubles.
790 R
in the "Gang" there is one of the most popular games "Zverobukva"
In addition to educational games, Sergey and Anton launched two new lines: entertaining quests and educational notebooks. Quests are a quest to find a gift with cards and riddles. Gift shops buy them. Notebooks prepare children for school: they teach them to count, write and learn letters. Both quests and notebooks are usually cheaper than educational games.
Another direction is corporate gifts. "Banda" prints its games for the children of employees with company branding.
Team and office
For the first year, the guys worked together, combining business with their main jobs. Sergei invented games and ran social networks. Anton communicated with private and wholesale customers, monitored income and expenses, collected and sent orders through couriers.
In 2013, the flow of orders grew to 6 thousand games per month, and the guys hired a remote worker - a mother with children. She communicated with customers and sent orders.
Sales continued to grow, and after a year the three of them could no longer cope. Sergey and Anton quit their main jobs and found a salesperson, a sales manager, an assistant and a storekeeper at Headhunter. An office with a 45 m² warehouse was rented for the team.
Currently, Banda employs 45 people. The guys do not have a hierarchy - employees are united by projects. For example, for a gift project for New Year The team consists of designers, sales and marketing specialists.
Sergey and Anton divided the business 50/50. Anton conducts operational activities: he is responsible for ensuring that orders arrive, money is paid, and promotions are carried out. Ideas, content, games, strategy and brand are Sergei's sphere. The partners agreed that each makes the final decision on his own block. This is how they avoid quarreling.
Entrepreneurs use a multi-stage selection process: they conduct an interview, give test tasks, and set a probationary period with specific indicators. But even with such a system, finding employees is difficult.
One day the guys hired three interns for a designer position, but no one came up. Two candidates failed to cope with the tasks and pace. The third completed a paid one-week internship and expected to return to work the very next day.
But "The Gang" always takes a break for a few days to think. That same evening, the intern gave The Gang a negative recommendation on an employer review site. The team decided not to cooperate with him.
Clients and promotion
The main clients of the “Gang” are parents, organizers of joint purchases, online stores of games and gifts. There are also companies that purchase games as corporate gifts for the children of their employees.
For each category of clients, the guys create a landing page with a selection of newsletters. If a child cannot learn multiplication, a series of 7 letters are made for his parents. Parents read newsletters, follow links on social networks, subscribe to other newsletters and receive discounts on games. Such customers trust the company and are ready to buy more than those who are immediately led to the game page.
The support service communicates with clients in the Omnidesk system. Managers track what mailings the client received, what he was interested in and what questions he has already asked. This way the team can suggest a game that suits him best.
Entering the international market
In 2014, “Gangs of Smarties” games began to be ordered from abroad. For example, the guys received 15 orders from Australia. The head of a local math camp recommended the games to children from Russian-speaking families.
When the dollar rose, gaming costs remained unchanged, but profitability international market games have grown. The guys went with their stand to the annual exhibition of children's goods in Nuremberg - this is the largest exhibition in this field. They paid 2.5 thousand euros for participation.
The Gang games immediately attracted the attention of the participants. In two hours, 15 representatives of network children's centers and publishers from Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Finland and the USA visited the guys' stand. They asked where to buy games and if there was a translation into their language.
At first we managed to reach an agreement with Hungary. Sergey and Anton sell games in this country to only one store - this scheme is called exclusive. The “Gang of Smart Guys” produces games, creates pages for them and gives advice on promotion, and partners take this advice into account and sell the games to their customers. Later, exclusive partners appeared in Israel, China, Taiwan, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Japan.
In countries like Germany and the UK it is not possible to work under such conditions. These are highly competitive markets, and no one knows “The Gang” there yet, so partners expect that they will be sold a license for the games or given 80% discounts. “Banda” does not sell its license: then the partners would release the games themselves, and the guys would not influence this process in any way. Sergey and Anton are also not ready to provide such large discounts.
In order for German partners to agree to terms that are beneficial to the “Gang,” entrepreneurs increase the popularity of games in the local market. Our heroes found an employee with knowledge of German, started social networks for a local audience, sell games on Amazon and continue to participate in exhibitions. Now in Germany, Sergey and Anton receive six new clients a week. Entrepreneurs are confident that after a while the partners themselves will offer to cooperate on exclusive terms.
Sales of board games in Russia increased by RUB 3 billion in 2017. When the market supply is covered by 25-30%, this type of activity allows you to make good money. Business payback can be achieved within 3-6 months. You can write games yourself, enter into contracts with authors, and adapt Western analogues. The option of purchasing a franchise is relevant. When investing from 300 thousand rubles. You can count on profitability of up to 200%. “Hobby World” and “Igroved” are striking examples of organizing similar businesses in Russia, which managed to reach multi-million dollar turnover and conquer the Western market.
Are board games a profitable business niche?
IN last years Board games are actively gaining popularity in Russia. In 2016 alone, the turnover of this market amounted to 10 billion rubles. How is this possible in the age of information technology, saturated with mobile applications and computer programs for gamers?
The reasons most often cited for the active spread of tabletop entertainment are:
- the desire of people to take a break from gadgets that have become an integral part of modern life;
- the opportunity to communicate live with loved ones among family or friends.
Reference! More than 50 thousand varieties of board games have been created and distributed in the world today.
Source: RBC
In Russia 10 years ago, on the market you could only find children's games with chips and cubes from the Soviet past, checkers, chess, lotto, dominoes and several world bestsellers - Monopoly, Carcassonne and Scrabble.
The situation began to change in 2010-2011, when the first companies appeared that began to produce Western models as franchises and develop their own versions of this kind of fun.
Currently, only 25-30% of the board games market is covered, which means you can make good money on this. It is important to take into account the features of this segment of the Russian economy:
- Competition between sellers is active in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In other regions of Russia it is felt weakly.
- Games are most often an unplanned purchase. Therefore, it is important to know how much residents of a particular region are willing to spend on goods not on the list. In Moscow it is 1,000 rubles, in St. Petersburg - 700 rubles, in small cities - 300-500 rubles.
- IN major cities Such entertainment is sold more effectively in specialized board game stores, and in medium-sized and small cities - in the departments of toys, recreational products, and gifts.
- The minimum circulation of one game is 500-600 pieces. - It is unprofitable to produce such a product in smaller quantities.
Interesting fact! The segment is characterized by the phenomenon of “chain advertising”: out of 10 players who have completed several rounds of Scrabble, Uno or other board game, 2-3 people will purchase a separate copy for themselves.
Source: Vedomosti
Business model: board games as a way to earn money
Why can the idea of producing and selling board games be considered a profitable business option in Russia?
- Firstly, according to statistics, even during the crisis years of 2014-2016, sales of computer entertainment fell by $150 million, while the board game market continued to grow.
- Secondly, when independently developed and sold to a publisher, the profitability can reach 200-300%.
- Thirdly, you don’t have to wonder where to find start-up capital - you can start with 5-10 thousand rubles.
- Fourthly, it is important to understand that games with simple rules are in greatest demand.
Reference! Higher demand for Russian market enjoy the games medium difficulty for children and teenagers in the price segment of 100-500 rubles. Expensive and complex board games for adults (500-3,000 rubles) are less popular.
Source: RBC
Business organization options
There are several options for organizing a business based on board games:
- Buying a franchise. A way for beginners to quickly find their clients and achieve payback in a few months.
- Independent development of games and their sale while maintaining authorship to a specialized publishing house. Initially, the author sends a prototype of the game to the publisher. If the latter is interested, an agreement is concluded. The publication bears all the costs of producing and selling the game and appropriates the proceeds, paying the author 3-10% from each box released.
- Independent development, production and sale of tabletop entertainment. Such a risky and bold idea can be further diversified by printing based on prototypes from third-party authors.
Note! You can open a retail outlet by registering an individual entrepreneur. It is also worth considering the possibilities of using the simplified taxation system (STS).
Product characteristics - first steps in business
Before starting a business based on board games, it is important to work out in detail a number of important nuances:
- The target audience. It is important to understand who the product is intended for: boys 15 years old or youth 25.
- Subject. Any board game has a different theme - knights, wars, dinosaurs, movies, etc. This determines which shelf in the store it will end up on.
Important point! The topic and target audience must be in strict accordance with each other. Any buyer looking at a game will always ask themselves the question: “Is this for me?” and “Why should I buy it?”
Before you start selling your game or franchise product, it is important to conduct a “cognitive resilience” test. To do this, you need to gather one or several groups of 6-8 people and, based on the results of the game, answer the following questions:
- Are the rules of the game clear?
- Is the plot interesting?
- Are there any shortcomings or errors?
If the test results turn out to be disappointing, then there is no point in building a business based on the chosen version of the game.
Important point! Technical issues matter. The quality of printed images and the presence of components in packs (chips, card cubes, etc.) should be monitored. A box with a board game should be elegant, neat, stable and have a bright and memorable design.
Technical side
Purchasing equipment for printing, laminating, and packaging games requires enormous costs. That is why you can use the services of third-party organizations.
Source: Habrahabr website
How to organize sales?
When opening a board game store, you can choose one of 3 options:
- Combined outlet. Along with the main product, toys, recreational items, hobbies, and leisure items are sold here.
- Leisure club with point of sale. In this case, the fee is charged per game. In addition, players can buy table entertainment for home, place bets, receive a prize, buy a hamburger and cola, etc.
- Online store. The most reliable option that reduces investment risk. You can start selling with popular games, and then expand the range.
Advice! The first batches of games can also be sold on the basis of agreements with the departments of toys and leisure goods in large supermarkets.
Advertising is the engine of sales
Advertising, based on word of mouth and social networks, plays an important role in sales. Leaflets (POS materials) are best distributed in shopping and entertainment areas. Advertising partners, consisting of the exchange of Lithuanians with toy and recreational goods stores, also works effectively. A less effective option is advertising on billboards, transport, and online ads.
The main segment of buyers is young people aged 25-35 years. In this regard, advertising near cafes seems to be effective, educational institutions, fitness clubs.
Staff matters
A sales consultant at a table for a specific product must meet a number of requirements:
- know in detail not only the composition of the boxes and the prescribed rules of the game, but also understand it from the player’s position;
- understand what can be advised to the buyer based on his age and interests;
- be able to interest in the game, explain its essence and order.
How much can you earn selling board games?
If the author transfers the game to a publishing house and expects to receive royalties, then his costs will be about 5-10 thousand rubles. to create a prototype of the game. Typically, royalties are paid on the number of copies published, not on the number of copies sold. If the minimum batch is 500 pieces, then you can count on revenue of 25 thousand rubles, because:
- the average cost of the game is 1,000 rubles;
- The average royalty percentage is 5% of the cost.
In this case, payback can be achieved already in the first month of activity. With other options for organizing a business, the situation is different.
| Cost item | Franchise business | Independent business |
|---|---|---|
| Rental and renovation of premises | ||
| Purchase of commercial equipment | ||
| Business registration | ||
| Lump sum franchise fee | ||
| Franchise royalties | ||
| Staff salaries | ||
| Costs of purchasing or printing the first batch of goods | ||
| Creating your own website | ||
* - Independent business does not require payment of royalties and lump-sum fees
** - The franchisor can provide the buyer with advertising materials and place advertisements on the website and in in social networks; He also partially bears the costs of design and printing of products.
Reference! According to statistics, an average of 50-100 sets of the game can be sold per month. The average revenue will be 50-100 thousand rubles. In this situation, you can count on payback within 3-6 months.
- Which franchise to choose
In recent years, board games have been gaining popularity again: they are often chosen as a gift; board games can be a great way to spend time with family and friends.
Step-by-step opening of a board game store
The benefit of board games is that they develop the child: his logic, fine motor skills, attentiveness, reaction, visual memory and other qualities. In addition, board games are useful for family communication - they take the child away from the computer and allow him to fully communicate with his parents for several hours a day.
From a business perspective, board game stores are not very common. The thing is that the consumer is little aware of the variety and types of board games. However, there is a need for tabletop entertainment. The profitability of such a business is achieved due to a bright assortment and competent salespeople.
The fact that there is simply no competition in this area speaks in favor of opening a board game store. In large cities you can hardly find 2-3 stores, what can we say about medium and small towns with a population of 100-500 thousand people.
The key to starting a business is choosing the right location. The following indicators are important here: distance from the city center - the closer, the better (the residential area is not The best decision), and the trafficability of a retail outlet - for example, the first floor of a shopping center.
The next important step is creating a product range. For a small island department of 20-25 m2, it is enough to purchase 40-50 types of board games. The most popular games, those that you definitely need to have in stock, are mafia, jackal: treasure island, imaginarium and monopoly (classics of the genre). At the same time, one should not forget about the ratings of board games, regularly replenishing the store windows with new products from the gaming world. The average price level in the store is 1,500 rubles, the markup is from 30 to 200%.
How much money do you need to open a board game store?
- Trade equipment (racks, display cases, etc.) - from 50 thousand rubles;
- Purchase of the first batch of goods - from 100 thousand rubles;
- Registration of individual entrepreneurs, opening of a current account - from 2 thousand rubles;
- Deposit for rent for 1 month. — from 10 thousand rubles;
- Advertising and promotion - from 5 thousand rubles;
- Website creation - from 15 thousand rubles;
- Other expenses - from 20 thousand rubles.
TOTAL ~ from 200 thousand rubles.
The unique thing about a board game store is that it doesn’t sell a product - it sells a mood. As the owner of a Tula board game store (Igrotek LLC) jokes: “Our client is children aged 0 to 99 years.” More seriously, the store’s main clientele are children from 3 years old and adults up to 35 years old. It is important that the range of toys sold meets the needs of absolutely the entire target audience. There is really one problem. Many clients have a vague understanding of board games (except for classic chess and dominoes). Therefore, the main task of store sellers is to clearly explain the essence of the game, to make sure that the client is interested in the product.
According to the experience of Igrotek LLC, the main method of promoting a store is a live demonstration of games. It is difficult for a person to understand why he is paying 2-3 thousand rubles, simply holding a colored box in his hands and listening to the description of the sales consultant. It’s another matter when the buyer personally tried two or three games that he liked and was determined to buy one of them.
Another method of promotion that helps promote a store is organizing and holding regular board game tournaments in some popular cafe or club.
In the heyday of online commerce, having a store’s own website is a big plus. It is not necessary that the site sells more than the actual department. The main thing is that it should be laid out detailed description games, rules, recommendations for age groups, useful tips and articles. This will undoubtedly increase the status of the store and contribute to sales growth.
Which franchise to choose
For beginning entrepreneurs, there is the option of opening a franchise business. For example, you can enter into an agreement with the federal retail chain Mosigra. This network has 72 stores in 49 cities in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The conditions for joining the franchise network are as follows: lump sum contribution - 80 thousand rubles, total investment in the business - from 600 thousand rubles, business payback - up to 12 months.
Step-by-step plan for opening a board game store
- Choose a crowded trading place. For example, a shopping center.
- Select an assortment of board games that cover interests of different age groups.
- Complete documents and register with government agencies.
- Carry out an advertising campaign aimed at popularizing the store: organizing tournaments, interesting stories about board games.
How much can you earn by opening a board game store?
To determine the pricing policy of your business, you need to analyze competitors' prices. In the first stages of development, the markup should be a little smaller. You can also order board games in bulk directly from manufacturers. Simple steps will help the store pay for itself within 4-6 months. Each board game can be marked up from 30% to 200%: it depends on the demand for the product.
How to choose equipment for a board game store
For normal operation of the store, at the first stage you will need racks and shelves to place goods. In the center of the hall it is worth placing a table for advertising campaigns and tournaments. The store should look neat and interestingly decorated.
Which OKVED code to indicate when organizing a store?
When organizing a board game store, you should use OKVED:
- 65 - Retail and wholesale trade in board games;
- 91 - trade in board games by mail or via the Internet.
What documents are needed to open
To organize a store, you will need to register as an individual entrepreneur. Every citizen of Russia who has reached the age of 18 and is not an employee can register public services. Documents for registration of individual entrepreneur:
- Application in the prescribed form.
- Copy of passport, birth certificate.
- Receipt for payment of state duty.
Which tax system to choose
There are 3 optimal tax options for a board game store:
- A single tax on imputed income.
- Patent taxation system.
- Simplified taxation system.
When opening a board game store with an area of no more than 50 sq. m experts advise using PSN: there is no need to submit declarations, mandatory payment is made once a year.
It may seem surprising, but the board game business is a very promising area of work in the entertainment industry. The fashion for spending time playing the classic “Monopoly” or the more modern “Munchkin” has captivated children and adults. This pastime allows you to combine leisure with the development of analytical thinking and creativity. Selling ready-made board games and producing your own board games can become a source of stable profit, provided that the organizer approaches it wisely.
Creating board games is a very creative and at the same time analytical process. Every classic game has its own creation story. For example, classic Monopoly invented by one man, Charles Darrow, in the United States during the Great Depression. He personally produced and sold 5 thousand copies of sets for a new entertainment, the goal of which is to create his own business empire and the survival of other players from the market.
Other legendary game with a more complicated plot and a large number probabilities - Dungeons & Dragons or "Dungeons of Dragons". It was created in the 1970s by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The authors were inspired by another board game, adding fantastic creatures and magic to it. A younger, but no less famous detective story with quests and fights with monsters "Arkham Horror" was created by Richard Launis, basing the plot on worlds from the stories of the mystical Howard Lovecraft.
Board games are interesting for adults and children; they develop analytical thinking and creativity
From these examples it follows that plot development can be inspired by reality, fiction and even another game. The author creates a virtual world with its own laws, sets the rules and invites others to immerse themselves there. Of course, this is a creative process, but it can still be distinguished characteristic stages:
- development of plot and rules;
- creation of material resources (cards, maps, diagrams, cubes, tokens);
- testing;
- revision;
- mass circulation.
Game development as a business
It's safe to say that not everyone can make board games. But if you feel the potential to complete such a complex of works, proceed with confidence - there will be connoisseurs and demand. When developing a scenario and a set of cards, do not count on instant enrichment. The creators did not become very rich people in a short time, even if their work met with a massive response (as was the case with Monopoly).
Creating a complex game will take several months or even several years. The author needs to not only come up with a plot, but also work through the maximum number of possible scenarios so that the action does not reach a dead end. Creative thought alone is not enough. It is necessary to predict in what ways events may develop, what the players may do, how the plot ends, whether there is a winner, etc.
What could be the source of board game development:
- Existing board game. For example, the classic “Monopoly” is transferred to new countries, cities, even to a new reality, or the rules are completely changed to the opposite (“Antimonopoly”). This option is attractive because the most difficult part of the work has already been done by the creators, and the developer only has to change the design, surroundings and material base.
- Popular books and films. Simple adventure games and quests in the worlds of famous universes will resonate with their fans.
- Imitation of phenomena and situations from real life. Survival quests in extreme conditions and solving practical problems can serve both educational and entertainment functions.
If you plan to make money, it is better to create a board game on a computer by contacting an artist or designer. With its help you can create beautiful cards, tokens and other equipment. The author's memorable design will be a component of success, because it will give players aesthetic pleasure.
Game development at home
It's quite difficult to make money this way. You may well be interested in how to create a board game at home for personal use, without commercial plans. The rules are roughly the same: come up with a plot, prepare your equipment and try to play. The easiest way to draw classic “adventure” games at home: the player rolls the dice and makes moves based on the number that appears. At each stop, he must perform some action: buy something, sell something, defeat someone.
Such quests can be educational and educational for children. For example, at every stop the child learns new fact or tries a new action. The plot is limited only by the imagination of the creators. You can make a map and tokens together with your children - it will bring no less joy than the process itself.
The production of board games includes not only the development of the script, but also the colorful printing of cards, tokens, and booklets
Opening a board game store
Let's consider drawing up a sample business plan for a board game store. This is another faster and more reliable way to make money from this hobby. It can take years to create your own game, and tens of thousands of rubles to develop and print the material base. Making a profit by selling other people's works will be much faster.
It is more profitable to open an online store. The demand for this category of product is not so high as to cover the monthly rent of even a small space.
These are special products that are of interest to a very limited number of buyers. It will only be possible to stimulate demand through advertising to a small extent.
From this point of view, investing 15–20 thousand rubles at a time in an online store is safer than renting a retail outlet for a month for the same money. You can maintain the site yourself, and store boxes of games for sale at home. This approach is perfect for the first months of work. Selling via the Internet does not limit the number of buyers to residents of one city, but immediately brings the entrepreneur to the all-Russian level of trade.
Costs of opening an online store:
- website creation - from 15 thousand rubles;
- purchase of several categories of goods in several copies - from 30 thousand rubles.
- professional photo shoot for assortment - 5 thousand rubles;
- promotion of the website and accounts on social networks - at the request of the entrepreneur.
An alternative to selling board games is opening a club for players
Another option to make money without independent development and sales is to create your own club. This is an establishment where people come to play their favorite natsol quests with like-minded people or get acquainted with new leisure options. The demand for this type of vacation cannot be called massive either, so the business is very risky.
Costs for opening a club:
- rental of premises - from 20 thousand rubles per month;
- repairs, interior design, furniture - from 10 thousand rubles;
- purchase of games - from 15 thousand rubles;
- advertising - at the request of the entrepreneur.
It is advisable to combine this type of work with a traditional and online store: the total revenue will be greater. However, the costs will increase to 200–300 thousand rubles. The business is not highly profitable, so a good result would be to recoup the investment in 1.5–2 years of operation.
Conclusion
The creation and sale of board games is a specific business with a small target audience. Buyers are not limited to families with children. Many adults are open to this format of leisure. But there are not enough of them to make this industry profitable. Start with an online store and resell popular games, because developing your own product will take at least a year.
