Digital Tree Games – Business Plan

Digital Tree Games Logo

For a the fourth and final project for our Multimedia Industry Prospectives module we were assigned the task of writing a draft business plan. Myself and Graham decided to work on the project together because we are both games students and felt we could think of a business that highlighted our strengths. We came together and discussed ideas we thought would be successful and also something that would interest us, we thought of a couple of ideas but finally came back around to our original idea of a games company.

Another reason for our choice was that we are both designing games for our FYP project and thought it would fit well with the purpose of the business plan because we actually have something tangible to work with. We found it easy to communicate during the project because we live together, so communication wasn’t hindered by distance or technology. Before we started writing out the business plan we had to decide on a name for our games company. A lot of game company names are quirky and interesting so we threw around a few ideas before we agreed on Digital Tree Games – Time to branch out!

We followed a business plan layout and covered all the essential points that are required to get across your business i.e. executive summary, business/product, the market, competition, and risk and opportunity. We also covered all necessary expenditures and potential income by researching thoroughly the office space and technology devices that we would need to get the business started. In the business plan below you will also find a Financial Projection outlining the calculations of our potential income/expenditures.

Digital Tree Games Business Plan

Nexus Innovation Centre – IDF Marketing

For our third assignment in the module, Multimedia Industry Perspectives, we were paired with a company from the Nexus Innovation Centre located in the Tierney building. The Nexus Innovation Centre is a place where international entrepreneurs can make their business ideas come to life. It helps that it’s situated in the heart of the University of Limerick, one of the largest university’s in the country. The the Nexus Innovation Centre works with the businesses on an intense business incubation system by helping businesses get on their feet in a short period of time whilst offering office space. Office space isn’t the only benefit of starting up a business in the centre, the programmes on offer also provide one-on-one consultations with industry experts, business workshops, and being around a number of businesses allows for collaborations and information transfers. ‘Studio to Street’ is one of the programmes the Nexus Innovation Centre has to offer to aspiring entrepreneurs.

During my 20 hours, spread over four weeks, in the Nexus Innovation Centre I was assigned to work with IDF Marketing in a group with two DMD students, Joanne and Catherine. It was apparent straight away what Kevin Meaney (Director of Digital Strategy) was looking for when were first introduced, he wanted us to implement a short (2 mins) showreel video getting across everything IDF Marketing does in a fun and interactive way. Even though, I’m a games student, I had the most experience using Adobe After Effects because during my cooperative experience I created a graphical information video similar to what Kevin was looking for.

Kevin provided us with a storyboard which cut down a lot of the work. We went through the storyboard with Kevin as a group, scene by scene, voicing our ideas on how we thought we could improve on the scenes and changing other ones depending on our limitations. Once the nitty gritty stuff was over and done with we got started on creating the video with the graphics provided by Zara Moynan (Senior Designer). We organised our office hours by splitting our time over two days (Wednesday and Thursday). Unfortunately, due to sporting commitments by myself, some weeks we had to do the full five hours on one day and I want to thank the girls and IDF Marketing for their flexibility.

The process for making the video was tedious at times when adding transitions and getting the timing right, but all and all we were pleased with the outcome of the video, even though we unfortunately didn’t get to completely finish the video due to time constraints. This assignment was beneficial to my teamwork and design skills and I feel I gained a lot of experience working with Joanne and Catherine.

Scene 1 Sketch

Scene 2 Sketch

Scene 3 Sketch