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What is your business called and what is it about? Tell us about the people involved too.
Edugames Ltd – We design & produce educational games. Our initial games have been designed specifically for New Zealand – they are card based games – Kiwi Quiz which was released mid-2006, and Time Zone which was released Feb 2007.

How long has your business been operating?
Started in 2006 …. So has survived one year so far (and is looking good)

Did you start from home and/or are you still operating your business from home? Tell us about any benefits of being at home Started from home, and hope to keep operating from here as long as possible (having a large garage helps).

We have six children, so its great to be able to work from home. I usually start work early, and then have breakfast with the kids.

One big advantage is being available for the business 24/7 – thankfully we aren’t a business that gets urgent calls – but it’s nice to be available and able to respond to people quickly.

What prompted you to start your business?
The need to change employment, and the desire to start something creative & entrepreneurial which has long term value.

What have you achieved in the time you have been in business? What adversity have you overcome?
We’ve successfully designed and launched two games, and managed to market them ourselves. The first game, Kiwi Quiz, has sold well and we are now on our second print run.

We’ve managed to put bread on the table (without much butter so far), and are enjoying what we do.

Learning about a completely new area on a shoestring budget has been challenging – learning about printing and marketing and intellectual property and importing etc has been stretching.

What are the most important lessons you have learnt?

• Make sure we enjoy what we are doing. There’s no point in working for yourself if it is stressful as working for someone else
• Choose a business that has a variety of potential success paths (rather than having all its eggs in one basket) – our first game was designed so it could be marketed to 1. retail shops, 2. schools as a resource, 3. schools as a fund-raiser, 4. tourist shops. This gave a wide variety of marketing options.

What resources have been useful along the way?

• Computers and good computer skills.
• Networking – a few good doors have been opened through unusual connections.
• A good work ethos – I’m personally self motivated and hard working.

What is your goal now? What is your vision for your business?
Continue to grow the business steadily, expanding markets & products, without getting tied up with too much stock or development costs

Contact details
David Allis
Director
Edugames Limited,

M: 021-655 485    P: +64-9-445-1296   F: +64-9-445-1294

E: david@edugames.co.nz W: www.edugames.co.nz