Do I need or want an investor for my board game

Good day my fellow board game developers,

Now the time has come to talk a bit about investors...
As a board game developer - you'll undoubtedly face to question - "Do I need or want an investor for my board game?" - So do you?
I'll try to go over some of the important aspects about including and excluding an investor for your board game production.

I won't be talking about how to find an investor or investments in general - but you can be sure I'll be posting an article about this topic later on :)
 

Pros and cons for having an investor
First - let's talk a bit about the pros and cons of acquiring an investor for your board game production.

Pros

• He/her can give you know-how concerning the business part of having a board game company.
• You have a gatekeeper for your new board game ideas.. and this person keeps the gate closed unless you've been through the financial aspect of your ideas.
• You might be able to get a new network and gain access to publishers and other well established board game companies.
  
• You'll have to keep the projects on track and maintain discipline - which might be very hard without anyone to report to.
  

Cons

• You'll have to share the "decision power" with another person.
• The investor (depending on the contract) might be able to pull the plug at any time.
• You're process and work is suddenly affected by an "external" factor that you're not able to fully control.
• Though you might be able to push some of the accountancy and budget work on to the investors shoulder (again, depending on the contract), you'll have to work with new subjects like "shareholder management" - keep 'em happy no matter what.

I'm sure you can think up even more pros and cons... so grab a pen and paper and get on with it ;)
 

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Your board game dream
Another question you need to answer is this - "What's my board game dream?"
Do you want your game to be kicked off like a huge movie theater release? Or do you want your business to grow like a young tree in your garden? Can you put the time an effort demanded of an investor?

If you get an investor for your board game business - there's only one way - and that's forward! So you better be ready for this!

More than 1 board game
I've talked to very few investor-minded who would settle for 1 board game release. When getting an investor you talk about long term strategies and business deals - so you need to have the materials, creativity and time to keep on producing new board games...
First board game = home run?
If it's your first board game - you'll have to be 100 percent sure that your board game will break some records or at least bring back the investment. That might be a heavy burden to put on your first board game production... I would definitely recommend you to get as much experience with development, production and general business handling before including an investor in your board game venture.
 
There's another way
Even though the word "investor" always seems to solve a lot of thought process whenever money challenges arise... it's not the only solution to the problem.... there are many aspects you want to look into, so be sure to think it through before contacting a potential investor.

Happy gaming and good luck with the board game investment :)

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