Grow with your Passion

by Draco
(Hamilton, NJ)

Starting a small business can be the most exciting thing you do your whole life (unless you are a skydiver).

It is even more exciting if you can combine your passion with making money in business.

I loved to play card-based role playing games.

There are many different series of cards to choose from.

Each one has great art, characters, and stories.

Role play games soon become a great passion of mine.

Soon I spent more and more time buying cards, selling cards, and playing games.

The players become a second family.

I became aware of their style of play, common strategies, and personalities.

When I really got into playing role play games, I realized had to work to keep on playing...until I realized how much fun it would be to turn my passion of playing role play games into a business.

Suddenly it occurred to me that I could get qualified as a judge of the games and earn some money, and even run a store buying, selling cards, and running tournaments (games).

Because of my passion for role play games, I knew that my store would be the very opposite of most stores.

1. It would be the place that players love to hang out.
   
   
2. AND as a store owner, I would make money when the players wanted to buy new cards or sell their old cards.
   
   
3. I also make a fee for judging local tournaments and games.
   
   

So, here's what I did to set up my game-playing tournament business:

1. I created a great inventory based on the games and styles of the players I already knew.
   
   
2. I knew what the players were buying somewhere else and bringing with them to the tournaments.
   
   
3. I stocked the store with drinks, snacks, equipment, t-shirts and more.

Also, my store location proved to be very advantageous.

The store is located few blocks away from the local high school and draws buyers and players from the whole area.

Parents love the store because their kids are in a safe place and the prices are reasonable.

Parents also love the idea of knowing where to come to buy great gifts for their kids.

I have set up gift certificates and credit card accounts to make it even easier to make gift purchases.

Whenever the holidays come around the players bring their parents to the store to shop for their gifts.

And as a result of my passion for role play games and passion I have for my customers...my role play game business is getting more successful by the minute!

Here's the coolest thing of all...

I do very little traditional advertising, but yet the store continues to grow with word-of-mouth referrals.

This is because I've found the secret to true business success: happy customers are the best form of advertising.

Going with a business that you really love will help you through the tough times and make it even better when there are good times.

Many of the card players go to regional tournaments and brag about the great store that caters to the players.

Now players are coming from further and further away to buy and to play.