Awarded the
“RodinStar” Post
of the week!!
I have been a silent follower of this wonderful community, taking in advice from various entrepreneurs and learning heaps about the tough journey of entrepreneurship. At 24, I own a lean startup with a handful of freelance employees and being the introvert that I am, I find pleasure in solo activities: reading, writing, annoying my pets, and playing Minion Rush on the iPad as and when I manage to find time. Until recently I felt guilty about wasting my time playing a silly game (despite having overworked. Yeah, geeky much!) Reading and writing are always justified, especially in my case because they are my bread and butter. Minion Rush? Not so much. Or is it?
While playing the incredibly cute game over the weekend, I suddenly realized I was learning quite a few things from it and sub-consciously implementing them in my entrepreneurial life as well! I was astounded by my findings and proud because, finally, all the minutes I spent playing it were justified! 😀 Thus, formed the idea of sharing what I learnt and here I am with my first post.
Lesson #1: If You Don’t Research Before You Start You Will End Up Learning The Easiest Lessons In The Hardest Ways
I have to admit, I took the game for granted. I opened it and started playing without so much as navigating through the settings, the rewards, and other areas of the game. In my defense, the game seemed quite simple: Each level comes with games. Collect bananas, reach the target, and advance to the next. For every level you complete successfully, you will earn rewards. Moreover, it seemed like Temple Run, which I spent quite a few hours playing in the past. I found no reason to research. Boy, was I wrong!
In my quest to meet the challenges, I realized a few of them were quite difficult and my character kept dying before reaching the goal. To resurrect, I needed 20 tokens but had none. To earn tokens you either have to pay real money (which I find completely unacceptable) or you have to complete the task and keep running. If you are excellent, you will be able to collect 2 tokens per run but that’s it. It got frustrating that I wasn’t able to finish my runs successfully or earn enough tokens from previous runs. I tried, and tried, and tried but to no avail! I hardly earned 11 tokens. When I was on the verge of giving up, I finally decided to look through the options offered and other areas of the app. There I found a whole bunch of ways to earn free tokens! Earning 50 tokens was as easy as logging into Facebook! Also, completing a few simple tasks, such as accumulating a few bananas in total, helped me earn 20 tokens! When I claimed all of them, I had over 500 tokens with me, and I cruised through many levels after that. I also discovered that my character had a few costume choices that I could pick from to give myself a few perks in the levels.
If I had researched before I started, I would have saved many an hour playing the same game and being stuck at the same level! Similarly, if you start a business without research, you can be sure that you will learn easy lessons in hard ways and you’ll pay for your mistakes not just in money but also in time!
Lesson #2: There is NO Such Thing As A Smooth Ride
During the runs you’ll see slides that you can seemingly sail through. But the moment you take the slide lightly, you will find big craters in your path, ready to end your game for you! I fell prey to this quite a few times. To make matters worse, the first slide you take is smooth. You would think every slide would be like that and that’s when you perish! Swoooshhhh and then Whooshhh!!! Entrepreneurship is no different. The minute you think everything is going fine and begin to relax, you will find a nice deep pit in your path. Do NOT take entrepreneurship for granted. It is a bumpy ride but it is FUN! Enjoy the challenges and steer around them.
Lesson #3: Do Not Get Carried Away When You Start Earning Revenue and Making Profits
When I found out that I now had more than 500 tokens in my kitty, I started getting reckless. I used them in just about every game to finish it off in one shot. I knew some of the runs were easy and another try could get me over the line without the help of tokens but I couldn’t resist the temptation. I was in a hurry to get to the next level. What happened as a result? I came back to square one. I was left with 14 tokens in no time and there I was – my journey stymied. I thought I saved a lot of time by finishing off the runs quickly but I realized that I just multiplied the minutes going down the drain. D’uh, so stupid! Now I had to earn all over again and this time, it would be much harder because all the easy ways to earn them were exhausted. Also, the levels were harder and I would need more tokens to reach the finish line.
Use your revenues wisely, thinking about the future and planning for it. Irresponsibility and haste will leave you with peanuts and a truckload of expenses!
Lesson #4: An Entrepreneur Needs To Wear Different Hats On Different Occasions to Make The Most Out of Each
If you are in love with the CEO’s chair and want to do nothing else but dictate, you are not fit for entrepreneurship. No successful entrepreneur got too comfortable in his mighty CEO’s chair. He played the role of a mentor for his employees, a team leader, a team member, a manager, a motivator, and a friend depending upon the situation. Healthy startups are formed when the leader leads from the front and leading from the front requires you to get out of that chair.
In Minion Rush, you have plenty of costumes and not all of them are suited for every run. Depending on the perks that each costume comes with, you may choose. Likewise, depending on what an issue or circumstance calls for; you may have to change your job description.
Minion Rush: A cute game, an addictive game, and an unlikely entrepreneurial teacher! I am still new to the game and there are probably more lessons. I will be back when I learn more! 😉