If our own feed is anything to go by, I imagine most readers of this post have already seen waaaay too many opinions about what the next big thing in gaming, tech and/or business will be this week.
The fact that about half may have been written by ChatGPT surely only adds to the delight..?
In fact, whilst big trend predictions can be sometimes be interesting…if they never become anything more than just that, then what is the point? The question is really how does that actually help you with your business i.e. are these predictions useful?
In most cases they are not, and these predictions / trend analyses / “hot takes” end up acting as a bit of a distraction – far easier to think abstractly think about the billion dollar swings in industry giants, than to face up to the real (usually less glamourous) challenges facing your own company:
“Hey…did you see that worldwide gaming revenue will increase by 2% to $182bn?”
“No…but I do see that you still don’t have a marketing strategy for your next game”
In reality, at least 90% of the things a leader needs to do to make their business successful are consistent from year to year. Without a strong foundation and a clear sense of who they are, a company that simply tries to follow the latest trends & predictions will fail. Trends are important to help to fine-tune (or even pivot) the direction of a company that is already running well, but if you don’t have the fundamentals right first, you’re going nowhere
So…in the grand tradition of putting out a list at the beginning of January…here are 5 actual things you can do that will grow your business in 2023:
Develop a pin-sharp view of what you are ultimately aiming to achieve (Vision), what you actually do as a company that makes you better / special / unique in the market (Mission), and the set of principles & rules you want your team to live work to (Values)
If you already have a clear idea of who you are and where you want to go, ask yourself if games portfolio/pipeline reflects this. Define which are the right projects to accelerate, alter or kill to ensure this alignment. Identify your target audience(s) – who are the people who will absolutely love what you’re offering, and where can I find them? Go looking for the data and insight – the answers are out there somewhere!
Get proactive in clearly defining and then executing your strategy. Adopt a project mindset for your whole business, not just individual games. Build a master workplan, know what you want to achieve at each key milestone, and regularly check in on progress. Of course the unexpected will happen, but you’ll be better prepared to adapt if you already have a solid baseline from which you’re working.
You’ll get nothing done without the right people. A great team will likely make any strategy successful, but there is no strategy in the world that will elevate a mediocre team! Take the time to get the very best people on board (it always takes longer than you think!), set them clear objectives and structure your companies processes to allow them to do their best work.
Okay…there is of course value in knowing what’s taking place in the market, and where things might be headed in future – companies do not operate in a vacuum. The key factor here is not to passively absorb the info, but to turn in it in to actionable insight. This means understanding what these market trends actually mean for you, adapting your strategy accordingly and then rapidly making the changes needed thereafter.
If you can nail these 5 things, then 2023 could be a really sweet year for your business!
Lets not kid ourselves though – doing this on your own is really hard…especially when business as usual keeps getting in the way.
Luckily that is what Player One Consulting is here for. We have many years of experience helping games successfully manage these challenges and we are always looking for new ambitious clients who want to thrive and grow with our support.
If you want to make 2023 the year that your games business rises to the next level, please comment below, send a DM or head to www.playeroneconsulting.com to set up a free introductory chat with our CEO, Chris Bain, PhD
[And finally… we promise, this was definitely not written by ChatGPT! ]