What is the right touch base for entrepreneurship? A BMC Game? Part I
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To all the people reading this without reading the previous articles, I am in the middle of making a startup themed boardgame and am documenting my progress as I move forward. I keep on discussing the various roadblocks, the attempted solutions and my next step through these articles.
The objective behind the game is to get entrepreneurship and starting up in the mainstream and I find boardgames as an excellent way to do it. If you like the idea or would like to contribute in some way, please visit entrepi.world and reach out to us!
The objective behind the game is to get entrepreneurship and starting up in the mainstream and I find boardgames as an excellent way to do it. If you like the idea or would like to contribute in some way, please visit entrepi.world and reach out to us!
As of now, I was not able to fix one theme of the game. I had been shifting from one theme to another every week. At the first, I had a game on funding and valuations. Rejected that theme because funding even though being extremely eye-catching, it is not supposed to be the objective of a startup.
Then, I had the idea of making a game that allowed people to discuss ideas and then work towards reaching the optimum valuation in the game for their venture. Realised it was too objective to play.
Next came the theme of customers, wherein the players in the game had to get the most number of loyal customers in a fixed period to win the game. Fun theme, but encapsulates only a certain aspect of entrepreneurship.
With every theme and game, I thought this was it. The final theme has been decided and from now on, there would only be certain changes to it here and there. And yet, I would find myself staring at a whiteboard almost every week with the documentation of the previous versions of the game at the side and thinking, what is one thing that sums up entrepreneurship or at least its path and is digestible for beginners?
The problem was not whether there existed a theme or not, but rather more focus was put on whether the theme is something that I would want to convey to people interested in entrepreneurship, whether would it make people interested in entrepreneurship and most importantly, whether it would be digestible for people across all ages, primarily high school and college going or not.
Thinking about this, I recollected my own first professional touch base with entrepreneurship. It was when I used to pitch different startup ideas in different college-level competitions just to get an idea of the industry and to network with people (and to also get funds if possible because I thought at that time that I cannot startup without funds). The first unknown thing that I got introduced to during this period, was the Business Model Canvas, or BMC for short.
For the uninitiated, a BMC is a blank slate on which an entrepreneur’s vision can be crafted. A living document that evolves with the needs and aspirations of the company. Imagine you want to start your own business. You have an amazing idea for a new toy that no one has ever seen before. But, you need a plan to turn your idea into a real toy that people can play with.
That’s where the BMC comes in! The BMC is like a treasure map that helps you turn your idea into a real treasure.
On the map, you have to mark down different things like who your customers will be, what your toy will look like, how you will make it, and how much you will sell it for. Just like a treasure map has different landmarks, the BMC has different sections that help you plan out your business.
Once you have your map, you can follow it step-by-step to make your toy business come to life. It’s like following a recipe to make a delicious cake, but instead of sugar and flour, you’re using ideas and planning.
At its core, the BMC is a living document, evolving with the needs and aspirations of the company, and enabling entrepreneurs to stay nimble and responsive in a rapidly changing world. By capturing the essence of a business model in a single page, the BMC offers a visual shorthand for communicating complex ideas to stakeholders, from investors and customers to employees and suppliers.
In short, the BMC is an excellent tool that can be used and is also widely used among serial entrepreneurs. However, personally speaking, I have seen the other side more: the non-usage of BMC.
Then, I had the idea of making a game that allowed people to discuss ideas and then work towards reaching the optimum valuation in the game for their venture. Realised it was too objective to play.
Next came the theme of customers, wherein the players in the game had to get the most number of loyal customers in a fixed period to win the game. Fun theme, but encapsulates only a certain aspect of entrepreneurship.
With every theme and game, I thought this was it. The final theme has been decided and from now on, there would only be certain changes to it here and there. And yet, I would find myself staring at a whiteboard almost every week with the documentation of the previous versions of the game at the side and thinking, what is one thing that sums up entrepreneurship or at least its path and is digestible for beginners?
The problem was not whether there existed a theme or not, but rather more focus was put on whether the theme is something that I would want to convey to people interested in entrepreneurship, whether would it make people interested in entrepreneurship and most importantly, whether it would be digestible for people across all ages, primarily high school and college going or not.
Thinking about this, I recollected my own first professional touch base with entrepreneurship. It was when I used to pitch different startup ideas in different college-level competitions just to get an idea of the industry and to network with people (and to also get funds if possible because I thought at that time that I cannot startup without funds). The first unknown thing that I got introduced to during this period, was the Business Model Canvas, or BMC for short.
For the uninitiated, a BMC is a blank slate on which an entrepreneur’s vision can be crafted. A living document that evolves with the needs and aspirations of the company. Imagine you want to start your own business. You have an amazing idea for a new toy that no one has ever seen before. But, you need a plan to turn your idea into a real toy that people can play with.
That’s where the BMC comes in! The BMC is like a treasure map that helps you turn your idea into a real treasure.
On the map, you have to mark down different things like who your customers will be, what your toy will look like, how you will make it, and how much you will sell it for. Just like a treasure map has different landmarks, the BMC has different sections that help you plan out your business.
Once you have your map, you can follow it step-by-step to make your toy business come to life. It’s like following a recipe to make a delicious cake, but instead of sugar and flour, you’re using ideas and planning.
At its core, the BMC is a living document, evolving with the needs and aspirations of the company, and enabling entrepreneurs to stay nimble and responsive in a rapidly changing world. By capturing the essence of a business model in a single page, the BMC offers a visual shorthand for communicating complex ideas to stakeholders, from investors and customers to employees and suppliers.
In short, the BMC is an excellent tool that can be used and is also widely used among serial entrepreneurs. However, personally speaking, I have seen the other side more: the non-usage of BMC.
To further the spread of this tool into the world of budding and future entrepreneurs, I thought of converting the BMC into a game. It provided several benefits for players who want to learn about entrepreneurship and business planning in a fun and interactive way. Here are some of the benefits I thought of while turning BMC into a game:
- Engaging learning experience
By turning the BMC into a game, players can engage with the material in a more interactive and fun way than they would with a traditional business plan. According to a survey by the Harvard Business Review, 70% of respondents said that using BMC helped them to develop better business models. - Interactive and collaborative
The game can be designed to be played with multiple players, making it a collaborative and interactive experience. This encourages players to work together, share ideas, and learn from each other. - Creative problem solving
A BMC-based game can challenge players to use creative problem-solving skills as they work to plan and strategize their business ideas. - Real-life application
The game can provide players with a practical and realistic approach to planning a business. The game’s scenarios and challenges can be designed to mirror real-world situations that players might encounter when starting a business. According to a report by Startup Genome, startups that use BMC are 152% more likely to obtain venture capital funding than those that don’t use it.
Overall, these statistics suggest that using a BMC-based game can significantly improve the chances of people’s success in startups even if minutely. By engaging with the material interactively and collaboratively, players can develop better business models, become more adept at creative problem-solving, and better understand real-world situations that they may encounter when starting a business.
All of this, while playing a game with your family and friends! This seemed like THE theme and hence started ideating towards how this game would pan out. Head over to the next article that explains Version 4!
Overall, these statistics suggest that using a BMC-based game can significantly improve the chances of people’s success in startups even if minutely. By engaging with the material interactively and collaboratively, players can develop better business models, become more adept at creative problem-solving, and better understand real-world situations that they may encounter when starting a business.
All of this, while playing a game with your family and friends! This seemed like THE theme and hence started ideating towards how this game would pan out. Head over to the next article that explains Version 4!