Starting up from scratch in the UK

[wraith_2021]

Hi I’m wondering if any publishers from the UK could tell me if there is any funding for starting your own publishing group.

I'm just wondering if it’s feasible to start up via grants and loans and weather it’s actually possible, or do you have to have the capital to start in hand?

[GB Steve]

The traditional fee for this kind of info is buying lunch for James Wallis who'll give you the lowdown. You should be able to find his email address on this site.

At a guess I'd say you can get small business loans in the UK, even Gvt grants but you usually need capital or collateral of your own.

Cheers,

[James Wallis]

I'm not up to date on the situation with getting Government and local-authority grants: a lot of that depends on where you're starting the company and even how old you are. Any good book on starting a UK business will give you the basics; your local council or local CAB should be able to point you at someone who'll help with the rest.

As for buying me lunch, I will talk to you about business models and business plans, printing, marketing, distribution, getting your products into the US and European markets, not making the same mistakes we made, and I'll be honest about whether your product appears to be commercial or not. And I probably won't order dessert either. I'm a cheap date. Well, I'm cheap generally.

[Aries]

Originally posted by James Wallis
I'm not up to date on the situation with getting Government and local-authority grants: a lot of that depends on where you're starting the company and even how old you are. Any good book on starting a UK business will give you the basics; your local council or local CAB should be able to point you at someone who'll help with the rest.

As for buying me lunch, I will talk to you about business models and business plans, printing, marketing, distribution, getting your products into the US and European markets, not making the same mistakes we made, and I'll be honest about whether your product appears to be commercial or not. And I probably won't order dessert either. I'm a cheap date. Well, I'm cheap generally.

Yeah, the nice thing about starting a business in the US is there are many different places to go to find start up money.

But you are in the U.K so I digress...

[Matt M]

You might also talk to the local Chamber of Commerce, they often run free one day courses that give you info on how to start a business. I went to one when I got made redundant last year and picked up all sorts of info.


Matt

[Aries]

Originally posted by Matt M
You might also talk to the local Chamber of Commerce, they often run free one day courses that give you info on how to start a business. I went to one when I got made redundant last year and picked up all sorts of info.


Matt

Yeah if you call related government offices they are bound to be able to point you in the right direction.

[wraith_2021]

Thanks a lot, I’m currently looking into government funding at the moment, and I have as bit of capital behind me and an artist plus most of the stuff which is needed, all I need the money for is printing, advertising and packaging and a few other minor things.

I will do lunch with James Wallis at some point after i have got over this first bump in the road. I look forward to meeting up.

Anyway, thanks for the advice, and take care.

[NPC Wraith UK]

I have looked for funding in the UK and it is there. They will pay for a portion of your equipment but not stock. It is to do with local business start up schemes. Unfortunately they are usually too slow to be of any use. Delaying for weeks or months to buy equipment will probably cost you more than the grant.
I think the Prices Trust also funds upto 30 year olds now check it out.
I have seen one or two other companies offering grants and looking official. But they were just reeling in new businesses, saying you are not eligible for a grant and offering a loan. A bit underhand if you ask me.

Good luck

[wraith_2021]

Originally posted by NPC Wraith UK
I have looked for funding in the UK and it is there. They will pay for a portion of your equipment but not stock. It is to do with local business start up schemes. Unfortunately they are usually too slow to be of any use. Delaying for weeks or months to buy equipment will probably cost you more than the grant.
I think the Prices Trust also funds upto 30 year olds now check it out.
I have seen one or two other companies offering grants and looking official. But they were just reeling in new businesses, saying you are not eligible for a grant and offering a loan. A bit underhand if you ask me.

Good luck

yeah, i have checked these out, its not a big problem though, i have decided to go via POD printing and have enough capital to get me started on doing small runs, and work my way up from there.

Take Care

[nobledragonuk]

The Problem of getting Grants in the Uk is the fact that Banks and such tend not to view RPG companies favourably, it's the initial sell that posses the problems, we want to produce a game. Unlike major industry or manufacturing where you have a tried and tested customer base, RPG sales are not based around a solid foundation, these days.

There are so many companies that appear and disappear that it seems banks do not like to offer good rates or loans easily.

But there are ways around this if you are willing to work at it.

The biggest problems are the over enthusiasm of players who just pop down and with a bit of paper and say we need money, to make a great new game, I joke not.

Having some business experience is a good start, local colleges and Uni’s often offer basic business courses, and or start your own business courses. These are invaluable, as you can get a good start from this type of learning.

Try going to your local Job centre or Careers office (Same type as at school) They have a wealth of information and offer services that are aimed at helping you find capital or grants, Prince’s trust is a good one, but you need to have a good idea and a lot of information to back up your idea, getting feed back from players, having evidence that you have researched the market, having a professional business plan, they can help you with this.

If you do go to a bank, it is often a good idea prior to meeting the Business loans manager to have a pre-prepared pack that covers, What (What RPG’s are) , Who (you are and what you are trying to do) and Where a suit and look smart, it helps, when you get their they have information as to what you are planning then it cuts out the stuttering and trying to explain exactly what your game is, not every one knows what a RPG is, a sox’s manufacturer, is simple to figure out what they want you are not. It also helps stop the attitude that the Bank manager is a moron for not understanding you.

At the end of the day you need to make sure your game is sellable, well layed out and will make money, this means that you have researched and have found potential buyers, and places to market and sell your product, and can show that you will make money over the long term, say 5-10 years.

Worse comes to the worse, if you can get some of the capital together, see if you can interest one of the already established smaller companies to take your game on if you help invest capital into the game. This can be a double edge sword, and can lead to ownership problems, but it is one option as they have experience over you.

I suspect James Wallis could answer that one best; he is one of the longer running companies in the Uk and does produce some nice stock.