Counting Chickens, or Branding Them

So I'm knee-deep in forms to secure my beer & wine license and carry bottled/canned beer at my shoppe. It's got me thinking about the future of my store and what it will mean to come to AQ. I made a post on Reddit asking how sustainable my business plan for this license would be, with some success. One of the big questions that popped up at me was: "Will this change the market of gamers who visit your store?"

I think the obvious answer is: Yes.

The big point in bringing people into a game store, especially one they might not have visited before, is what my brand exemplifies. I've spent the past year preaching "Casual gaming, small town feel, play what the community desires." Going forward, I don't think much of that will change, but with beer comes different questions. Will my shoppe be less kid-friendly? Perhaps.

I think if I've learned one thing from living in Colorado this past year and a half it's that families go to bars and breweries all the time. The creation of a bar/game store is the first step in bridging the gap between families only thinking about games as "for kids" and gamers thinking bars are an "after gaming" place. To put the two in the same place is to encourage people to consider that table-top gaming is an adult activity, to be enjoyed with all the benefits of a bar atmosphere and a game store vibe.

As I close in on finishing this process of licensing, I've told folks off the street about my ideas,  (in the past, we had the idea, but never planned on when to follow through, so I never bring it up anymore) and the response has been "Huh, that sounds awesome. Never would've thought of that." Which ultimately makes me wonder if I am at the cusp of discovering the one thing Coloradans haven't followed through on yet and what that might mean going forward. I'm hopeful I can get beer off the ground, make it a profitable venture for the success of the store in the next 12 months, and if it is look at remodeling and expanding the idea into a fully fleshed out bar concept.

Obviously I'm counting my chickens before the forms are turned in, but I'm hopeful so far. I think this could be the key to jump starting the store into a venture worth talking about. I won't just be a "game store" in the Denver area anymore. I'll be a new thing; worth seeking out, worth taking the adventure to visit.  In the end, that's the brand I'd really want for my livelihood. An adventure.

Marketing, or "How to Drive your Competition Crazy"

I've been reading a copy of  "how to drive your competition crazy" by Guy Kawazaki to brush up on my business knowhow, and it's pretty interesting. Getting involved in a small business means you know your competition pretty well, as there aren't more than a few other game stores in the Denver area. All of them are fairly fair away, but those stores that are considered my competition by customers are namely about one thing: Magic or discounts.

Game stores in my area do a lot of Magic sales and that's only 1 night of the week for me, though I compete with them online by having better pricing. The discounted board game market exists pretty fiercely with Black & Read but they lack any kind of playspace or knowledge of the product, which gives me a slight edge in the long term. Discovering how to drive them crazy is mostly about knowing the product better and keeping it in stock or getting in special orders for nerds that need it.

A few questions that were posited in the book are pretty useful for considering the future business strategy of the store itself:
1. What business is your company really in?
2. Where do you see your company in 5, 10, 20, 50 years?
3. If a prospective customer doesn't buy from you, where do they buy it?

1. My business is one of customer service and trust. People come to me because I'm building a community to find like-minded individuals who want to play together, so organized play basically. Coming to me, people know I try to know as much about games as possible and will personally try to find a game that is up their alley and in the vein they require. I have my finger on the pulse of gamers in my area and try to fill their needs and develop relationships for the future.

2. In 5 years, I will hopefully capture a larger Magic market that other stores cannot. Given that based on past experience, 2-3 shoppes in the area will go out of business and won't immediately be replaced, I have to be ready to take their customers when they leave and know how to provide space and product for them. Ideally, I will be doing something different (like beer & wine in the store) that will help me stand out against any store in the area so that I'm not just a well run business people can trust, but a shop innovating on the edge of gaming.

In 10-20 years (hopefully I'll still be here!) I can hope to have a few employees running the shoppe in my stead, able to provide the same services I maintain, and can build the shoppe towards being a destination for gamers all around Denver to venture out to. With the light rail coming to Arvada and the revitalization of the Ralston neighborhood surrounding me, the walk-in/drive-by traffic will increase almost 50% over what it is now, given the trends, so providing a catchy spot to drop in and game will be critical for that. In 20 years, I can hopefully be a pillar of the community that is a one-stop-shoppe for all things gaming that never runs low on stock and always has in the newest games.

3. If people don't buy from me, they go to Black and Read locally, or to Amazon. I can't really prevent that, except by keeping a more flourishing stock of games and being aggressive about getting in preorders in a timely manner. Success in this market requires a constant restock and a full store, as well as the openness to stay clean and friendly for anyone who might come in.

The future is bright, but getting to the point where I can be satisfied with the level that the store is at requires constant diligence over the product I carry. Never letting something get out of stock and finding that new hot thing that people want to play is critical. Hopefully I can remain vigilant and eventually get sales spiking even higher so that I can be paid a living wage and eventually provide for an employee to do the same. I think examining the future marketing needs of my shoppe through watching other stores is a part of it, but getting the revolution of tabletop going myself is key to success, not just survival.