Hi, I recently finished a 55 pages detailed game design document for a free-to-play, microtransactions-based browser-based game. I am now in the process of making the pitch that I will give to potential investors. I pitched to a game development company and they are really interested in the venture. They offered to do the research and gather the data for the implementation part of the venture. What I need also is the business part that the pitch requires to be completed and ready for a presentation. Do you know any company that specializes in making business plans for online games? Thank you in advance, GamerGamer

You probably need a consultant, but it's not exactly clear what business parts you need for your business plan.
You say that "the implementation part" is to be "researched" by the "development company." Does that mean they're willing to provide the portion of your business plan that covers the development budget and schedule that they would need in order to develop your game?
And then does that mean that the part of your plan that needs fleshing out is the anticipated sales, the target audience, the competitive analysis, the return on investment...?

Moving to Business (this is not a Breaking In question).

Quote: Original post by Tom Sloper
You probably need a consultant, but it's not exactly clear what business parts you need for your business plan.
You say that "the implementation part" is to be "researched" by the "development company." Does that mean they're willing to provide the portion of your business plan that covers the development budget and schedule that they would need in order to develop your game?
And then does that mean that the part of your plan that needs fleshing out is the anticipated sales, the target audience, the competitive analysis, the return on investment...?

Moving to Business (this is not a Breaking In question).

Exactly mr. Sloper,

The development company is willing to provide the portion of the business plan that falls in their specialty for a certain fee.
Anticipated sales, The target audience, The competitive analysis, The return on investment, the conversion rate of free players to paying players, expertise the CEO of the company must possess,How much can we charge for product placements and advertising, Professional resources (accountants, legal and financial) etc.

I contacted a few consultants but they are all too busy to spend any minute meeting me even though I offered to pay for their time.

Any thoughts?

Thank you in advance,

GG

Quote: Original post by gamergamer
The development company is willing to provide the portion of the business plan that falls in their specialty for a certain fee.
Anticipated sales, The target audience, The competitive analysis, The return on investment, the conversion rate of free players to paying players, expertise the CEO of the company must possess,How much can we charge for product placements and advertising, Professional resources (accountants, legal and financial) etc.

If the developer is willing to help you with all that, I don't know what you need another consultant for. But if you've tried a few consultants and they turned you down, then try more.
I think the main problem is that you haven't got any game industry experience and that makes professionals reluctant to get involved with your project. Also, if what you have is an idea for one game, then you don't have an idea for a business.
One game idea is not a business idea.
You need an idea for a whole viable business that can grow, not just an idea for one game. And you need to have worked in the game industry so that you have an insider's view on the industry before you can start a business. What you're trying to do is fund a startup. I wrote an article about that at http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson29.htm and there are more articles about game startups to be found.

Quote: Original post by Tom Sloper

Quote: Original post by gamergamer
The development company is willing to provide the portion of the business plan that falls in their specialty for a certain fee.
Anticipated sales, The target audience, The competitive analysis, The return on investment, the conversion rate of free players to paying players, expertise the CEO of the company must possess,How much can we charge for product placements and advertising, Professional resources (accountants, legal and financial) etc.

If the developer is willing to help you with all that, I don't know what you need another consultant for. But if you've tried a few consultants and they turned you down, then try more.
I think the main problem is that you haven't got any game industry experience and that makes professionals reluctant to get involved with your project. Also, if what you have is an idea for one game, then you don't have an idea for a business.
One game idea is not a business idea.
You need an idea for a whole viable business that can grow, not just an idea for one game. And you need to have worked in the game industry so that you have an insider's view on the industry before you can start a business. What you're trying to do is fund a startup. I wrote an article about that at http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson29.htm and there are more articles about game startups to be found.

Dear mr. Sloper,

Thank you for your reply. I believe I need a consultant because neither me nor the developers can answer important questions like: The return on investment, the conversion rate of free players to paying players, expertise the CEO of the company must possess,how much can we charge for product placements and advertising, the pricing strategy for the virtual goods.

The numbers are the most important thing especially because I am going to pitch it to companies that are not related to the gaming industry (did I mention that?) which their brand names and products are related to the game's theme, because they can have a much better use and and benefits from the game. Of course I can go with only the data that the developers will provide me with but the pitch will be incomplete and that puts at risk the whole pitch.

I would be glad if you could point me to any company/consultant who could provide the needed services to me.

Best Regards,

GG

Quote: Original post by gamergamer
I would be glad if you could point me to any company/consultant who could provide the needed services to me.

I would be glad, too.