Interview with Juma Al-JouJou
A: You are running a board game business after successfully finishing a crowdfunding campaign. How did that happen?
J: Actually, I also did a Kickstarter in 2013 for my first game but that one failed. I took it as a market feedback and decided to not publish that game. In 2014 I launched another campaign for another game called Green Deal on StartNext. It was successful but the funding amount was not very big. But in 2017, my Kickstarter campaign for Clans of Caledonia was really successful.
A: What was different this time?
J: Both of my previous games were in the category Games for Change, games that want to make a social impact. These games tend to be unsuccessful. However, my game Green Deal received a very good review from the most reputed game reviewer world-wide (Tom Vasel). That’s when I realized that I am a good game designer, but people simply don’t buy these types of games.
A: You then managed to generate and meet demand for Clans of Caledonia. How successful was the campaign for you?
J: It was important to me to communicate that there’s no risk in purchasing the game. So I introduced a money-back guarantee in the Kickstarter campaign: If you don’t like the game, you can return it and will get 110% back of what you’ve paid. This motivated the people to share the campaign and get a lot of attention
A: You are also a solopreneur. Have you always been one?
J: Originally, for receiving the EXIST founder’s scholarship, I have partnered up with someone who took responsibility for business topics. Later in the process, he realized that the entrepreneurial part of our work was too stressful for him. In hindsight I also think that our competencies were too similar.
A: How does your work as a solopreneur look like?
J: I hire experts for small projects, for instance an illustrator for graphic works. I also have a volunteer/fan from the US who has helped me a lot. He occasionally supports me in topics that he finds interesting. It’s great to work with someone who is completely intrinsically motivated.
A: Will you remain a solopreneur?
J: I am thinking about hiring someone. It is a bit scary because my work will change. I want to continue doing the strategy and game design, basically doing things that are fun to me and that are my core skills.
A: Do you have tips for prospective entrepreneurs?
J: Learn from other founders. Reflect their actions, instead of just copying them. What are they doing well, what not? What can I do better? I have learned a lot by following other Kickstarter campaigns. I’ve learned that I had to lower the perceived risk of my customers and I’ve learned that customers decide very quickly if they like something. This brought me to my 110% money back idea and also to hire a well-known illustrator whose style is very recognizable.
A: Looking at your IME studies. What did help you the most?
J: Being confronted with entrepreneurial subjects so often really made me consider this as a career option. Only after beginning my IME studies, I have started to think about founding a business. Since I did not find the ultimately fulfilling job as an employee anyway, I am happy that IME has steered me towards entrepreneurship.