The “Aha” Moment: Why we started the business
In the previous post, we went into how Little Creature got its name. But how did Little Creature, the company, get started in the first place?
Sky creating the first prototype of our in-development card game.
A few weeks after this year started, Skyler (my life and now business partner) and I were visiting family and were enjoying a nice Sunday afternoon in from the cold. After a few rounds of Ultimate Chicken Horse and Smash, we somehow got onto the topic of some of Sky’s old game ideas. There are quite a few, but the flow of the conversation reminded Sky of one idea in particular.
Sky scrounged up some index cards lying around the house and picked up an old clipboard and pen. He settled into a chair in the corner of the room, then started jotting down numbers and doodling on color index cards as everyone else continued to play video games.
Within the hour, a new, fully functional prototype deck was born. Even though it was a limited proof of concept, we all had a blast learning and playing the game! Round after round, we looked forward to seeing more of the cards and trying different approaches to hopefully win the round.
As cheesy as it sounds, this experience really was the “aha” moment that got us thinking about forming the company. But why go through all the trouble of forming a company instead of working with an existing publisher or selling the idea?
Our reasons
We gave it a lot of thought and finally established Little Creature, LLC over half a year later. The main reasons we decided to go through all the trouble include the ability to:
Maintain complete ownership of our Intellectual Property
Have full creative control over the entire game development process and financing
Have our own, established brand to publish many other game ideas under
Although this is our first time forming an official business entity, we have connections and transferable skills applicable both to business admin and game development, as well as the drive to learn. We wouldn’t go through with this if we didn’t believe we have what it takes to run the business.
Starting a business is not easy, but here are some things that helped us in our journey.
What worked for us
Doing the research. This is obvious, but seriously taking time to look into what skills and resources are needed to establish, maintain, and grow a potential business was essential. We read a lot of articles and asked mentors to gain clarity and ask ourselves if forming a business made sense at this point.
Writing a full business plan helped us gain a deeper understanding of both the logistics and the direction of the business.
Being honest with ourselves about our current financial situation, how much we’re willing to risk, and what we realistically expect in return.
Taking advantage of the many, excellent free resources available through SCORE, SBA, and our local library! This included mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs.
Staying organized. Creating a backlog and sprints in JIRA helped us stay on top of everything we needed to do, from researching specific topics to setting up finances.
Using a registered agent to help file the establishment of the business and take care of state-specific rules (i.e., New York state publication requirement).
While this is not a comprehensive list, these were the biggest factors that contributed to a relatively smooth start to the business.
Conclusion
Despite the amount of work it has been and continues to be, we are happy about our decision to establish Little Creature and are truly excited for the future!
Speaking of the future, to receive notification of company and game dev updates, be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media.
Resources
General Resources
Your local library (in-person and/or online)
New York City small business resource center: https://www.nypl.org/help/services/smallbiz
SCORE business mentoring and resources: https://www.score.org/
Small business administration (SBA): https://www.sba.gov/
Tools and Services
The Profit-First method: https://relayfi.com/blog/profit-first-method
General info about Registered Agents: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/what-is-registered-agent/
Consideration about virtual business address: https://www.incfile.com/blog/virtual-address-service-providers-for-your-small-business
Accounting software for small business: https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/small-business/accounting-software
