As I write this, Needy Cat's been going for just over six months. That seems baffling to me. On the one hand, it feels like it's been no time at all; on the other hand so much has happened. The good news is that, in that six months, the business has made a crazy amount of progress.
I've never been short of work, for which I'm very thankful, but since the end of 2017 projects have been flying it at a very impressive rate. I sat down with Sophie (more on her in a minute) at the start of this year and did some scheduling, and we realised that I had work booked in until the middle of August. Since then I've had clients enquiring about half a dozen more projects, all of which look like they could happen (it's just a matter of when). With all of this going on, the time felt right to start taking things a little bit more seriously... and the first step was to enlist some help!
Sophie's another tabletop games industry veteran with a similar but different skill set, focused more on management, organisation and administration - just what I need! Since she's been handling scheduling and communications, things have been so much easier. She runs her own small business, offering freelance business support to Nottingham's stressed-out creatives, but is going to be joining the Needy Cat team on a flexible basis, working out of our new office.
Oh, did I mention the office?
Yep, Needy Cat Games is going official. We're at the point where the spare room's becoming impractical - I've got several prototypes on the go at once, and I'm running out of room to store them! I spent a couple of weeks exploring various options around Nottingham, from large corporate business centres (too expensive and impersonal!) to desks in converted warehouses full of artists (too shabby and not secure enough!), and ended up throwing in the towel. Then, out of nowhere, I was offered a lovely, sizeable room in a small business centre for a very affordable price. It's not the world's largest office but it's an incredible upgrade from where I'm currently working, with plenty of room - for the first time ever, I'll be able to have multiple prototypes set up at the same time! We're moving in tomorrow, and I couldn't be happier.
It really feels like Needy Cat Games is taking off. When I started this I had a good feeling about it, but I wasn't sure how sustainable it would be. I'm still cautious, but I'm so much less worried about the future. Yeah, there might be a few bumpy months ahead from a financial point of view (if anyone feels like investing in the business, by all means speak up) but overall, the future's looking very exciting indeed. I can't wait!