Earlier this week I answered 3 great questions posted by Stonemaier Ambassadors. I actually had 6 total questions, but I got wordy in my responses, so I split half of the post into today’s article.
What is the most important habit you’ve developed to support your entrepreneurial endeavors?
I feel like this is a constant work-in-progress, and there are a few ways I could answer this:
- My goal is always to serve and add value to customers. I try to ask myself about this in everything I do: Is this decision adding value to customers? Will this time-consuming activity create more joy for people? How would I feel as a customer if I choose component A over component B?
- I try my best to block off time for different types of work, maintaining a variety of tasks every day. Over the last 11 years, I think this has played a significant role in me not burning out. I record videos on Tuesdays; I limit interviews to 20-30 minutes; I clear my inbox in the morning; I reserve the last 2 hours of every day for creative time; etc.
- Unless a topic necessitates a real-time discussion, a test/experiment that requires multiple people, or a personal connection for a sensitive topic, I do it over email, not in a meeting. I find this far more efficient and satisfying, and the added bonus of email is that I have a written record to refer to when my memory fails me.
- I try to work with awesome people and to let them know how awesome they are. This goes well beyond my 5 full-time coworkers; a publishing company like Stonemaier Games thrives on the efforts of hundreds of specialists and independent contractors. When we sign a new game, for example, we’re just as interested in the quality of the designer as we are in the quality of the game.
- I thrive on scheduled reminders and checklists.
- Purely in terms of entrepreneurship, I think a major habit I’ve embraced over the years is that I put my work first. I have friends, other hobbies, a partner, and a cat, but I spend most of my time and most of my brainpower on Stonemaier Games. While everyone has a different work/life balance, I believe that customers–and the people who depend on your business–deserve more than partial efforts and shortcuts.
Have you considered creating ambient sounds/background music for your board games to be part of the immersion aspect of the game?
We have a little bit of this type of music, falling into two categories: (a) music created/commissioned by our digital game partners (like for Scythe) and (b) music composed and created by Joel Winbigler for our teaser trailers. Beyond that it probably isn’t something we’ll pursue–especially with the ability for anyone to create or find an existing playlist (like these), but perhaps it could happen for the right game. I’m curious how many people like to have background music while playing games.
How to learn about starting/owning your own business on the practical side, especially for someone coming from a family with zero entrepreneurial experience?
Research topics you’re aware of (i.e., read these articles), then start something small and learn what you don’t know as you go. That’s really the best you can do. It’s impossible to know everything you don’t know before you try to create and sell your first product or service, so some trial and error is to be expected. But I also believe in the power of researching, planning, and budgeting using resources available to you–as I mentioned above, every customer (including your first) deserves your best effort.
I’d love to hear your thoughts or follow-up questions in the comments!
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16 Comments on “The Most Important Habit for Entrepreneurs (Plus 2 Other Questions)”
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I enjoy having music in the background during board games. It helps set the mood. And it can be nice to have something to listen to during those occasional silent moments when everyone is too busy thinking to talk, ha. I usually use the melodice website that was mentioned in an earlier comment, and my backup plan is usually a playlist that I create on YouTube of 1-2 hr long instrumental tracks based on the theme of the game – fantasy, sci-fi, etc.
Also, I play this music on my laptop, which I plug into my tv for better sound quality, and I try to pair that with a screen saver that displays artwork from the game – or if there isn’t enough artwork of the game available on the internet for a screen saver display, I’ll at least put on a desktop background of the box cover or thematic artwork.
Thank you for answering my question Jamey! I appreciate all of the entrepreneurship articles linked on that single page and the work you put in to sharing all of this knowledge. :)
[…] hot topic that emerged from last week’s blog post was music. When you’re playing a tabletop game, do you listen to thematic […]
I believe incorporating music enhances the overall gaming experience by engaging more senses. This is especially crucial in digital board games where omitting music can leave a noticeable gap in immersion.
“Purely in terms of entrepreneurship, I think a major habit I’ve embraced over the years is that I put my work first. I have friends, other hobbies, a partner, and a cat, but I spend most of my time and most of my brainpower on Stonemaier Games. While everyone has a different work/life balance, I believe that customers–and the people who depend on your business–deserve more than partial efforts and shortcuts.”
This is huge and I am very happy that you had the guts, on this day and age, to say it.
I started putting on music back when I was an promotional envoy running tournaments and events for WizKids’ Pirates and Star Wars brand lines. When my wife was still alive, we played X-Wing and Star Wars RP from Fantasy Flight with our genius pre-teen son.
Aside from Scythe and Wingspan soundtracks available from Steam, I also open Charterstone and Viticulture digital versions in Steam (because they don’t have the separate music download) to put on in the background for thematic tone.
The FrostPunk board game that was recently on KS also comes with a free (I think) Google Play app that guides turns and solo play, but also has ten or so tracks of “Little Ice Age”-themed mood music to match phases/turns/events happening in the 1880s+ Europe.
I learned a long time ago that music definitely makes a difference when playing games, and – depending on the style – can make it an almost cinematic experience.
Re: music. I use background music sometimes (not always, I don’t need full immersion thing every single time).
https://melodice.org comes very handy
Are you still taking questions?
How do you balance work and life when you own a business? Namely, I’m talking about that nagging feeling that I should be working and feeling guilty when I relax / take time off.
Of course! My approach is to designate time for each part of my life, and remain flexible as needed. I can definitely relate to feeling guilty about anything that isn’t moving Stonemaier Games forward…and maybe that’s okay? If I’m feeling that way, there’s probably a reason for it.
My university has a Small Business Development Center that helps entrepreneurs with plans getting started or overcoming hurdles. You might check your local college or university to see if they have a similar institutional arrangement with the community.
I’ve used the custom soundtrack while playing The 7th Continent. Most of the time, I play board games without music. But when I do play music, it’s either ambient (or it gets too distracting) or, if we’re all in the mood, upbeat pop tunes.
…Also, this is such a great question, Jamey. And it makes me wonder: have any efforts been made to mass-survey gamers for their preferences like this? I know the sales speak volumes of what people want. But I’m curious as to whether anyone has started generating a pool of data.
I’m curious about that too, Adam–I haven’t seen a wide survey about it. Though as Francis points out below, I think it’s much easier/effficient for a fan or publisher to curate a public playlist from existing music (used legally) than to compose and create a new soundtrack for a specific game.
A lot of big popular games have fan-created soundtracks on YouTube or Spotify (we just did this for Twilight Imperium), so we usually use those. Otherwise we try to find movie soundtracks where the theme is similar to the game we’re playing. We find that music almost always elevates the experience :)
That’s a great point, Francis: These playlists often exist (or can be created) from existing music.
We really enjoy listening to music in the background while a game is being played. Playing with kids often (ages 11-6) ot seems to keep them in it a bit more.
No connection between the two, but last time we played Charterstone we listened to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack and it was so fun and enjoyable! 😂
I can see the Shire music working quite well for Charterstone. :)