Entrepreneurship
I have started two businesses, one in the video game industry and another in the health and fitness industry. My start-ups have seen various levels of success, but were not profitable enough to remain a going concern.
Red Prince Games was founded as a video game development start-up focusing on play store app development. Initially, I ran RPG solo until hiring a programmer and composer in 2016.
In first half of 2015, RPG focused on developing a rhythm game called 'Tappy Beat', that utilised cellular automata to procedurally generate music. This project lasted 6 months before cancellation. It was discovered that procedurally generated music was a massively ambitious concept and would not work well as a game.
During this time I was responsible for development, programming, art and design of RPG products.
Tappy Memo
In the latter half of 2015, work that had been done on 'Tappy Beat' was transferred to a new project called 'Tappy Memo', which utilised a working memory diagnostic tool called n-back to improve cognitive performance in psychometric testing and general problem solving aptitude. Tappy Memo was not successful commercially, but a psychometric testing organisation and the Queensland University of Technology showed interest in the game and its design.
While working on Tappy Memo I was responsible for design, research, implementation, development, UI and marketing for the game as well as small business administration and management.
FTC: Fleet Tactical Command
After the completion of 'Tappy Memo', RPG started a new project in 2016 titled 'FTC: Fleet Tactical Command', a roguelike space simulation game for the PC platform (Steam). FTC was under development for 8 months. A programmer as hired to assist with development, an artist was commissioned for artwork and a composer signed on to provide music. During development, it was discovered that the scope of the game was too large for a 2 year development cycle and the programmer left the project to pursue a full-time studies. The composer left soon after to pursue their own projects. At this point development of FTC was halted and any assets, code or art were packaged and sold on the Unity asset store to recoup losses.
During the FTC project I was primarily the project manager while providing development support, game design, UI, implementation, documentation and task allocation, while also covering small business administration and management.
BrightStar
After development on FTC ended, work began on a new project titled 'BrightStar', which would utilise much of the work that had been done on FTC, but with a greatly reduced scope for rapid development and release. A dedicated artist and part-time programmer were brought on-board. BrightStar was a digital trading card game set in space using spaceship fleets in tactical battles.
Development on Brightstar continued until mid 2017, when a fire destroyed the artist's home, equipment and large parts of in-progress art and assets for BrightStar. After the fire the artist gave notice and was given a payout, which strained the bootstrapped budget of the business. The programmer soon followed suit citing more lucrative job prospects in other sectors. Development on Brightstar ceased and I decided to wrap up the business after two and a half years.
During the development of Brightstar, I was primarily the project and business manager, providing the design, UI, documentation and task allocation for the project.
Ikari Dojo Pty. Ltd.
In late 2017, I started another business called Ikari Dojo Pty. Ltd, a martial arts dojo that would specialise in health, fitness and self-defense. Ikari Dojo began fitout of a property in November.
During this time I was primarily responsible for the management of the business as well as the fitout of the property including sourcing and purchasing equipment from suppliers, building a training area and fitting out an office.
Ikari Dojo Pty. Ltd. officially opened in January of 2018, but the morning before the opening my car spontaneously combusted underneath the dojo office causing serious fire damage to the building and damaging the business frontage for the opening night. Fire services later concluded it was an electrical fault in the vehicle that caused the fire. Insurance didn't cover the whole cost of the vehicle, reducing initial capital for the business.
In late 2018, after severe financial pressure on the business, it was discovered that termites had eaten through the dojo training area causing tremendous damage to equipment and flooring. At this time I decided to close the business and try to recoup losses by selling off equipment and business assets.
2015 (Red Prince Games)
Red Prince Games was founded as a video game development start-up focusing on play store app development. Initially, I ran RPG solo until hiring a programmer and composer in 2016. In first half of 2015, RPG focused on developing a rhythm game called 'Tappy Beat', that utilised cellular automata to procedurally generate music. This project lasted 6 months before cancellation. It was discovered that procedurally generated music was a massively ambitious concept and would not work well as a game.
During this time I was responsible for development, programming, art and design of RPG products.
Tappy Memo
In the latter half of 2015, work that had been done on 'Tappy Beat' was transferred to a new project called 'Tappy Memo', which utilised a working memory diagnostic tool called n-back to improve cognitive performance in psychometric testing and general problem solving aptitude. Tappy Memo was not successful commercially, but a psychometric testing organisation and the Queensland University of Technology showed interest in the game and its design. While working on Tappy Memo I was responsible for design, research, implementation, development, UI and marketing for the game as well as small business administration and management.
2016 (Red Prince Games)
FTC: Fleet Tactical Command
After the completion of 'Tappy Memo', RPG started a new project in 2016 titled 'FTC: Fleet Tactical Command', a roguelike space simulation game for the PC platform (Steam). FTC was under development for 8 months. A programmer as hired to assist with development, an artist was commissioned for artwork and a composer signed on to provide music. During development, it was discovered that the scope of the game was too large for a 2 year development cycle and the programmer left the project to pursue a full-time studies. The composer left soon after to pursue their own projects. At this point development of FTC was halted and any assets, code or art were packaged and sold on the Unity asset store to recoup losses.
During the FTC project I was primarily the project manager while providing development support, game design, UI, implementation, documentation and task allocation, while also covering small business administration and management.
BrightStar
After development on FTC ended, work began on a new project titled 'BrightStar', which would utilise much of the work that had been done on FTC, but with a greatly reduced scope for rapid development and release. A dedicated artist and part-time programmer were brought on-board. BrightStar was a digital trading card game set in space using spaceship fleets in tactical battles.
2017 (Red Prince Games)
Development on Brightstar continued until mid 2017, when a fire destroyed the artist's home, equipment and large parts of in-progress art and assets for BrightStar. After the fire the artist gave notice and was given a payout, which strained the bootstrapped budget of the business. The programmer soon followed suit citing more lucrative job prospects in other sectors. Development on Brightstar ceased and I decided to wrap up the business after two and a half years.
During the development of Brightstar, I was primarily the project and business manager, providing the design, UI, documentation and task allocation for the project.
Ikari Dojo Pty. Ltd.
During this time I was primarily responsible for the management of the business as well as the fitout of the property including sourcing and purchasing equipment from suppliers, building a training area and fitting out an office.
2018 (Ikari Dojo. Pty. Ltd.)
Ikari Dojo Pty. Ltd. officially opened in January of 2018, but the morning before the opening my car spontaneously combusted underneath the dojo office causing serious fire damage to the building and damaging the business frontage for the opening night. Fire services later concluded it was an electrical fault in the vehicle that caused the fire. Insurance didn't cover the whole cost of the vehicle, reducing initial capital for the business.
Aside from the fire, initial membership and interest in the dojo was strong with a starting student count of 9. This number grew to 15 within the first few months, but the business was not breaking even. During this time I experimented with different products such as fitness classes, women's self-defence, strength training, seminars and online training videos.
Mid 2018, I received interest from the Australian Army to provide training to soldiers at Enoggera Barracks, however the martial arts branch at the barracks could not secure enough funding for the training, so the deal fell through.
In late 2018, after severe financial pressure on the business, it was discovered that termites had eaten through the dojo training area causing tremendous damage to equipment and flooring. At this time I decided to close the business and try to recoup losses by selling off equipment and business assets.
Ikari Dojo Pty. Ltd. closed with a loss.
During start-up and operation of Ikari Dojo Pty. Ltd. I was responsible for the administration, management and day to day affairs of the business. I was also the primary instructor and managed marketing, design, video editing, creating profit driven campaigns and products.
On Reflection
The greatest takeaway from my experience in business start-ups is that everything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and then some. These four years have been the most difficult of my life and getting knocked down repeatedly has tempered my spirit and made me realise how difficult it is to create and run a successful business.
Although I swore I would never start another business, I'm certain that after the bitter taste of failure has worn off (in a few years) I will be at it again in the future.
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