gameclucks has 4 chronicles

1. GCGuy ToTO - I Am A Business, That Makes Me Different
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Mar 04 2010

   So as you all should by now know, I own a game center,
   GamersHaven LLC dba GameClucks/TourneyPlay.
   
   This makes every aspect of what I do at a tournament different then what you do. It may look and feel the same, but I have to think about it differently, react to things differently and do some things that you do not have to do.
   
   I have a business license. This means I can legally run events of some types, take money from you and distribute money (and prizes) back to you. It also means I pay taxes on the money I take in and if you win enough money, you pay taxes on it as well, because I am obligated to turn it in on a 1099. I have to report business activity on a Quarterly basis and pay taxes on it Quarterly as well. Now, the government is not likely to screw around with you for your 10-20 person house event. Even some much larger, but they _could_ if they decided to.
   
   I have insurance. Since I have a business, I also have liability insurance that protects me from many things in the business world. In most cases, unless the issue is going to cost me a lot of money, its not worth using my insurance, but I have to hold a policy that covers about $1,000,000.00.
   
   I am licensed by game companies to make money on their product. Not all companies care about this, but many do. I am part of an organization that helps me to get licenses for games. It is illegal to profit from another companies video game, unless they give you permission too, which generally costs money. Anywhere from $1000.00 per year per title (Blizzard does this) to $25.00 per year total. Should you be running a tournament and the game maker finds out, it’s a big deal if they wish to make it so. So I am licensed for those games that I believe I need to be, and if I was not, that is where the insurance would kick in should something come up.
   
   Since I am a business, I have to make a profit. I will likely address this one more in a future blog, but bottom line is, I do this to make money. I do not make much, at this time, but the goal is to make money on running events, large and small. In a future blog I may break down the pricing/costs of everything involved with how I attempt to do this.
   
   How Do These Things Make My Events Different? When I go about planning an event, I have to keep these things in mind. Is the game one I am licensed for? If not, does the game maker care? Does my insurance cover me if I am outside of GameClucks? What are my costs associated with the event (Rent, Insurance, extra utility costs, etc…)? I have to price an event to cover these things. When you do an event in your house or garage, you do not really have any of these costs (esp if you live with your parents still). So a $3 entry fee works for you… I have to charge $10 per event at GC and significantly more at TP’s to cover the costs. I can not pay out 100% of entry fee’s often as I do not charge a “venue” fee at GameClucks, so I keep 25% of total entry fee’s.
   
   You all are my Customers, not friends, not buddies, but Customers. This is pretty key to the whole thing. While I maybe friends with many of you, you are Customers first. If GameClucks does something to make you mad, you can choose to not come back. If you decide to not come back, I have to find a new customer to replace you, and really prob 4 or 5 new customers, because you will convince a few people to not come back.
   
   So when I talk with you, deal with you, associate with you, I have to keep in mind customer service. If you run a house event and piss a few people off and they never come back again, no big deal… you are not making a living off of it, I am though. I have to charge full price to EVERYONE for things they do at GameClucks/TourneyPlay. If I discount people for no real reason, then everyone thinks they should get a discount. If I give you a free pop or water, then everyone thinks they should get that. I can not give things away free. That puts me out of business, and since I count on GC/TP to pay my bills, I can not do that.
   
   That would be like at work, your boss one day just deciding to pay you $6.00/hr instead of the $9.00/hr you are suppose to get. Or paying a co-worker $10.00/hr for one day when you are only getting $9.00 and you two are in the same job, same productivity, same seniority. If you are not Ok with that at your job, why should I be OK with it at mine?
   
   So how do these factors make my events different? I have to run a “better” event then the normal TO. Why pay me $10.00 when you could go to a house event for $3.00? My hope is because I run an event that is worth the extra money, which also leads to larger payouts. I try and make sure the rules and bracket are run as professionally as possible. For larger events, I try and cover all of the details as well. I try to do new things. Not that you all do not try to do these things also, but I _have too_ do this, because I have to make sure you keep coming back, because if you do not, I go out of business and have to get a real job again LOL (please do not make me get a real job again!! Hah).
   
   With TourneyPlay, this goes even a step further then GameClucks events. My goal with TP is to run 4-6 large scale events per year in the Western US (Pacific and Mountain Time Zones more or less). I want to payout $10,000.00 per event by 2011. I want to sponsor players also for other events and for TP/GC events.
   
   In order to do this, I have to get repeat business. I have to make sure all of you, my customers, leave those events believing they are the best you have ever been too. They are expensive though, because those events cost a lot more to produce and hold. So with an expensive entry, they need to be some of the best events you have ever been to.
   
   The only way I pay outs $10,000.00 at an event is to get a lot of people there. The only way I do it 4-6 times per year is to get sponsors. Sponsors want happy customers. My job as a business is to make customers happy.
   
   Long and short, I am a business. My job is to make clients (customers) happy and feel like they got their moneys worth at a GC/TP event. The only way to do that is to run the event, on the whole, better then anyone else runs their events.

   
   

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