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'Ultimate gamer' turns dreams into business franchise
McCOOK, Neb. -- It was 10 years ago. He was working several part-time jobs, -- four he thinks --when his schedule freed him up for a weekend with friends. Over board games, cards and video games, the friends lamented about their diminishing time spent together and that McCook really needed a place like his. Some place they could all hang out. Their own community.
Those friends. That idea. It was the beginning of a dream that has turned into a business that keeps evolving and expanding. Cody Dame of Game On opened his fourth store earlier this month and his blueprint for success has become a shining example of what those in the entrepreneurial community -- like the Ben Hormel Entrepreneurial Competition which he won in 2007 -- are striving to bring to their own home towns.
The deadline for applications for the next $25,000 Hormel Entrepreneurial Competition is Dec. 2. McCook Community College's Business and Community Education and the Hormel Family Foundation are looking for potential business ideas to be part of that next competition. Applications are due Dec. 2.
The competition is open to new business development in seven Southwest Nebraska counties including Chase, Dundy, Hitchcock, Hayes, Frontier, Red Willow, and Furnas Counties.
"If it is something you are passionate about you shouldn't be scared of failure," Dame said. After opening Game On in 2007, he just opened a fourth store, this one in Grand Island.
The perspective of that weekend off with friends a decade ago simmered -- until a looming deadline approached for the very first Ben Hormel Business Plan Competition.
As the deadline for the next competition approaches, Dame empathizes with those who are wrestling with their own ideas for a new business. He almost didn't apply because one of the requirements was to present a business plan, but he ultimately decided it was the only way he could finance his dreams.
"I was scared to write a plan, terrified to put it out there and feared something or somebody might tear it down," he recalls. "I completed the rest of the application, but I kept putting off the part about writing a business plan."
These days he knows that business plan is a critical element not only for the Hormel Entrepreneurial Competition (HEC), but for his own businesses and models within his businesses. He jokes that he no longer dreads writing business plans and that he actually really enjoys reading, studying and developing them and he looks for opportunities to study anybody's business plan.
The Hormel committee did accept Cody's first plan. He won the inaugural competition, rented a store he could afford and made his first sale in 2007 -- a pound of dice. Since shortly after opening, he has become aware that the business plan dictates what happens next: the need for more square footage, higher traffic, changing inventory, even a model for opening new stores.
"None of this happens if I hadn't taken the chance to compete and maybe more importantly -- to put my dreams and ideas 'out there.'"
That self-investment helped him plan how best to grow and respond to the changing market of his product inventory. About three years after opening his McCook store one of his contacts from the HEC led him to consider the possibility of opening a second store. He went back to his business plan and in 2010 opened a Kearney store. Last year he tweaked his plan and opened a store in North Platte. Earlier this month, he opened another store in Grand Island.
"I'm really quite jealous of the way the elements of this competition has improved over the years," Dame said. "I just think that getting applicants involved in the business plan by taking classes at MCC is a great benefit."
The HEC attracted him because he was looking for investors and in the end he got that and a desire to invest in himself and keep investing in himself. He also continues to reformulate his business plan.
He said for example over the past 10 years, certain products run hot, then cold. He's seen the popularity of items like comic books explode, then fall off to almost nothing, then rise to a new level of popularity today. Over the years he's also expanded from selling video games to selling all styles of games including miniatures and disc golf. Especially for his industry, it's imperative to try and be out in front of what the market and his customers want and need.
"I've got one customer, he's in his 80s, he subscribes to the latest 'Spiderman' comic and picks them up every month," he said, "And I've got 5-year old girls who come in every Wednesday to get their favorite new comics like My Little Pony. Comics are truly for all ages."
For him it all started when he used to ride his bicycle to the card store to buy "Magic: the Gathering Collectible Cards." When the store closed, he and his friends continued to try to play together including sessions at McCook Public Library. The essence of Game On Games has turned into exactly what he and his friends wanted to do back when they were riding their bicycles to the card store.
He's also been pleased that the market for family-style card and board games has become popular. He's become very knowledgeable of board games and can "prescribe" a suitable game for almost any family or any situation.
"If I go somewhere, I'm probably going to bring a board game I think people might like," he said. "Everybody plays games, card games, board games, video games and we like to have a full line of almost everything imaginable. We know people are going to like these games once they give them a shot."
It's not uncommon for an entire family to walk through his doors in the Westview Plaza and try out a board game to see if they like it before they buy it. He's been invited to several area schools to supply all the fun for "board game nights"
He's excited about the Christmas Season and said the store is already jam-packed with releases of new products and he plans demonstrations, special events and special promotions almost every Saturday until Christmas.
The one thing he admits he struggles with is preconceived notions of what people think the store is all about. When they finally walk through the doors he frequently hears something like, "Oh I thought you were just a video game store, I didn't even know they still made Archie Comics..."
"We like to think of Game On as one of those stores that carries enough different items from pop culture, that everybody has got to find at least one thing you like when you step inside. From TV shows and movies to the presidential election, we've got games, toys, comics and other products that cover all bases."
When he's not looking over business models for new stores or helping families come up with a fun new game for their own game night, he always likes to stay current with the next wave of new business plans for the 2016-2017 Hormel Business Plan competition.
Multiple contestants are awarded with up to $25,000 in prize money to develop their business ideas or expand on current business with no strings attached. Applicants will receive assistance in writing business plans, money to help develop businesses, and professionals to provide expertise in several areas.
During the last bi-annual competition in 2014-2015 a revision in the format helped produce a record number of 37 applicants for the last competition. Almost half of the applicants were named as semi-finalists and received a scholarship to attend, the on-line Entrepreneurship Business Plan writing class offered through Mid-Plains Community College during the spring semester.
Local sponsors will allow the college to keep the program going every other year, for at least the next five years. Gold sponsors include Community Hospital and MNB Financial Group, McCook Community Foundation Fund and McCook College Foundation. McCook Economic Development Corporation is a silver sponsor. Bronze sponsors are AmFirst Bank, First Central Bank, Adams Band and Trust -- Imperial. Media sponsors include: McCook Daily Gazette, Hometown Family Radio, and High Plains Radio.
For more information about the competition please call the MCC's Community and Business Education at 308-345-8122, email: HormelEntrepreneurshipCompetition@mpcc.edu
For competition rules, deadlines and complete details please visit the Mid-Plains Community College web site and click on the "Hormel Entrepreneurship Competition":
http://www.mpcc.edu/community/hormel-entrepreneurship-competition
For More information about Game On, contact the store at 308-345-8888 or online at www.gameongames.com