Miguel Sanchez 0:00

Welcome to the First Gen 1 0 1 Podcast. This season we are covering specific topics for the first gen community. Today, Jacquie Carroll will share her experience of starting a business. Jacquie, I am happy to have you back on the podcast.

Jacquie Carroll 0:16

Thank you, Miguel. I'm excited to be here.

Miguel Sanchez 0:18

Jacquie shared her first gen story during episode seven of season two. Listen to her episode as it is packed with wisdom and great stories. On her first episode, she mentioned launching a game, and today we are going to focus on the business side of launching. This game she created GET 9. And for those of you watching here, it is nice set of cards, nice set of dice here. And I encourage everyone to buy the game. And most importantly, in my opinion is the instructions. The instructions are clear, they're easy to follow. For parents, that's always a good thing. And my son and I have been playing this game during the holiday break. And it has been a lifesaver. So Jacquie, let me thank you in advance for that.

Jacquie Carroll 1:06

Oh my God, I'm so excited. I'm getting goosebumps. Thank you, Miguel. That's awesome. My son. When the box arrived. So I opened the package I took out the game and I put it aside on my desk and within two days my son had opened it and said, what is this? Get nine game? And I said, oh, we're gonna find that together. So we started playing it and it's one of our evening games that my family and I have become used to, to doing now. And we were just talking about getting off the screen and it's just a great way to, to develop those skills. So let's talk about gate nine. How did you come up with this idea? It's funny how life works, right? It's basically a full circle. So my background has been in teaching and training and learner success and all that time I've always used games or activities to create authentic learning opportunities. So that's been my go-to, right? Because I believe everybody can learn. Everybody should love learning. Learning should be fun. And and when I did personal finance, I realized that there was a barrier for personal finance. And it happened to be that many people said, I can't do math. I don't do math, I don't like math. And I thought, wow, I wanted to change that idea, the relationship with numbers. And then I learned about a theory that if you. Nine is a magical number. If it divides into itself. You can do certain things. It always comes up nine, eventually you come up nine. I thought, maybe I can use that to make a game, right? And so I thought about it and I played and tested it, and I iterated it and came up with something. And so the idea is really, it's a very simple game. Like you said, it's got a couple of dice that has numerical multiplication, division, subtraction plus addition. It has a blank spot so that it means you can't use it. And it also has a question mark, which is a wild card, so you can use it. Everybody's dealt some cards and then you just, your goal is to. When you get your cards dealt, you roll the dice and then your goal is to come up with, to get to nine. That's it. It's always get to nine. And the great thing is, and I love the fact that you're playing it with your son because the great thing is that it will grow with you over time. So right now you're probably starting, when I start playing it with some kids from elementary school, we were using just the plus and minus. Because that's the level that they were at. And then as I played it with some middle schoolers, we started doing the division and the multiplication, but when I was playing it with 30 year olds and 40 year olds and stuff like that, we started using the, out of the box expansions, which is you can combine two cards together to make new numbers like 30 or 200 or any of those things. And so it just continues to grow. So it's a game. I think that can be a game for the family for. For your whole life. But the idea really is to reduce math anxiety. And to help people have a better relationship with numbers. Because with personal finance, if you feel like you can't do numbers. It really won't make any difference what I can try to tell you about, budgeting or this and that, because you just automatically kinda have that freeze. So it's twofold. One, it came out from just my lifelong journey as an educator. And two, the path that I was on, which led me to personal finance realized there is an opportunity here.

Miguel Sanchez 4:25

I want to, I wanna touch on a few things you mentioned and just in your response, there were so many things that came up. One of the things that you said is the game growing with the players. In this case, I'm just gonna use my son as an example. Yeah. When he opened the box, one of the first things he said was, oh, no divisions. And he's at an age group. He's in first grade and they haven't. Talked about or cover divisions. And so right now, just like you said, we've been focusing on the addition. The subtraction. We're doing some multiplication on the smaller numbers, when we get to division, that's where we'll be able to, to really, take the game to its full extent. So that's one thing. The second thing you mentioned that I want to stress, because this goes into the business part of starting this project. Is the numbers. And for those of you who have maybe watch watched Shark Tank or any other business, shows, et cetera, math is integral. It's part of running a business. So just starting a business can be daunting.

Jacquie Carroll 5:31

Yeah.

Miguel Sanchez 5:31

Especially for first gens who might not have the resources or networks. how do you create a business plan? We hear that very often, have a solid business plan. What does that look like? What are some key elements of a plan that people should be thinking about?

Jacquie Carroll 5:47

Yeah, no. A business plan really is, it is key and it's foundational and one of the things is that with a business plan, it really allows you to take a deeper dive into your idea. To really think about who am I serving with this? What will success look like at the end of this? What are the steps I need to take and really start doing, a six months, three months, six months, one year, three year. And then of course it has the financials with it, right? So you wanna have some expectations about what are your, what are your financials? What are you gonna measure? How are you gonna measure your success? So that's really the foundation of a business plan. The other thing I think that's often overlooked in a business plan is, the fact of the matter is that many people will try to start a business and not all of them are gonna be successful. And so I feel like the one thing that is often overlooked is an exit strategy as part of your plan. Itm, it may work. I've had several businesses and I've left them because I went on to other things. When I had, my kids were little, I had a daycare. So I did that. I loved it at a great time. But then I exited that, and so there's certain things, you might have licenses, you might have an LLC, you might have to, dissolutions. There's certain things you have to do. And I think even if you're, if you're, business is maybe, segmented based on a time in your life. Like for me, my daycare was, you have to think ahead and build in the exit strategy so that you can transition to your next project or level or business.

Miguel Sanchez 7:28

you mentioned the financials. How was it how do you think about costs? Because we always talk about costs as far as. It costs me X amount of dollars to buy the material and to ship it. What are some hidden costs that you've run into that really surprised you?

Jacquie Carroll 7:45

Yeah. GET 9 is on Amazon.'cause one of the things is. I really wanted to create this game, and I create other games, and I don't wanna really work that much in the business part of it, so I have some good partners that are gonna do some of those things so I can free up my time to do the things I want to. Some of the hidden costs really are, wow, I did not know how much costs, hidden costs there are with Amazon, not only do you have your monthly fees, but they, when you store your product. When you ship your product, you expect that. But the product storage, there's a whole bunch of different things in there that I think are sometimes a surprise. The second thing I think sometimes are a surprise are the day-to-day costs. Just things we don't often think about. So really, there might be insurances, there might be utilities, there might be a variety of different costs that are just the process of doing business. The costs may be a view driving around to go to certain business meetings, to go to the registrar's office to go, it, it just really looking at that and I think a business plan, what's great about that, if you're working out and there, there's several things you can start with. There's plenty of business plans out there in Excel it'll have some starters or you can work with things like the small business administration and they'll have some samples. And when you look at those, it fills in the categories, and there might be categories in there that you thought I didn't know. For the cost of goods, what's all included in a cost of goods, you might think, oh, it's just, printing it and this and that, but there might be other costs. And really learning that aspect because the cost of good is gonna be one of those things you don't wanna pay taxes on. That's, so you need to at least know a little bit about that.

Miguel Sanchez 9:28

the first thing that stood out to me before I, I go into the other lessons, one of them is, leaning on resources like the small business administration. I didn't know that they have templates or resources for businesses. I think that's a great I remember working with in a small business when I was in my teenage years, and we were always just trying to figure out as we went. But having, but just. Knowing that we can go to this government office, it's already great. Advice how has your experience navigating the complex world of higher education as a first gen student and professional prepare you for the complexities of running a business?

Jacquie Carroll 10:05

Okay. That is a perfect question because, as a first gen student I didn't know anything, right? I didn't know how do we do this? What do we need to do? What are the steps? And so I had to figure it out on my own. And sometimes you were lucky and you found a person that was willing to share their knowledge and you're like, okay, let me just sit with you, have some coffee and let's talk about this. And sometimes those people were at institutions. And sometimes they were not. And so I think that goes back to that skillset of being inquisitive. Not afraid to ask questions, going to the source, finding the source, being persistent. Those are skill sets that first gens have, right? Because we have a mission. We wanna change our lives. You wanna, you're getting an education. To create a different opportunity for you and your family in the future. And so that, just that drive and that grit is something that can be directly applied into business, right? I think it's one of those things we're not afraid. And or you might be a little bit afraid, but you're gonna do it anyways. It doesn't matter. You're gonna go for it because you see the benefits, so I think as a first gen student. Because we do muddle around a little bit, we're willing to do that. However, I think the one thing I would say is. That takes a lot of time. It took me a long time and I wish, I wish I would've known a lot of things a lot sooner, and I know there's always that. Oh, if I would've known it sooner, I don't know, would anything change? I don't know, but I would've wanted to know it sooner. And so I think seeking out the experts. Seeking out the experts is important because that will give you access immediately to the knowledge that you need and the level of knowledge. That's why I like working with the Small Business Association and the SCORE program because they assigned you a mentor. You're able to, and those were business professionals, CEOs, marketers, all kinds of stuff. And you went right to the expert, right? And so that is like from a learning perspective, since I'm in education, that's Vygotsky, right? That's the zone of proximal development. That means no matter what group you're in, if you'll tap into the highest level of knowledge of the member of that group. So finding yourself those people. You can, reach out to and get their knowledge. I think that's gonna be key in taking it to the next level and making it go a little faster.

Miguel Sanchez 12:32

How are you able to tap into your network to get help or get advice on developing your business?

Jacquie Carroll 12:41

Yeah, so I mean they were very instrumental. But like I said before, when I went and created Get nine, I really shifted from the higher education sector into a whole new industry. And that's what I'm swimming around in now. And that is the Game Manufacturers Association, which, from higher education to game manufacturers, it seems like it's a disconnect. But again, I use games all the time to make learning fun and authentic and things like that. But within that association, I joined that association. And then one of the things I did is I looked around to see what opportunities are there for me to volunteer. Where can I provide some of my skillset in this organization that would be valuable, not only to them, but also for me because I could share my expertise a new way of looking at things. And like you said, Miguel, right now there is huge momentum. Everywhere of people going, my God, we gotta disconnect from the screens. It's just too much on the phone, too much on a tablet, too much on a computer. And tabletop games are really projected to grow exponentially over the next 10 years as people are thinking. Realizing it's not that good to be that wired, all the time. But connecting to that new industry and the volunteer positions that are available also allows me to connect to experts that I then can start building relationships with. And if I need some help, I can reach out and say, Hey, you know what? We were talking about this in the committee meeting and I dunno if you have a few minutes, maybe we can talk offline, and things like that. So that's really it. I think. Figure out your new people, who are your new people, and then figure out what are they doing, what's going on in the industry. And then see how you can fit with the skills that you have, the skillset that you bring to the table, the things that you're passionate about, the things that you love and then make new contexts.

Miguel Sanchez 14:44

I want to emphasize the volunteer aspect. When I was looking for a job right out of college, I volunteered for a not-for-profit, and. As you said, bringing value and the time, the value that I could bring was interpretation, translation. So I used to translate for attorneys and from English to Spanish and vice versa, and I did that as a volunteer for about a month and I build a net, my network that way, and which led me into the job that I have today. So for all of you listening as you're trying to figure out how to network, and this goes, this applies to the business part, but just general as you are pursuing your career. It is really important to volunteer not just as a way of doing good, but also it's gonna build your community. So that's one of the great ways that you can do it. As Jacquie mentioned, see how you can add value to the association or to the community, and that's how you build genuine relationships, because I think people can also. Feel or understand when you're not being genuine, that you're just trying to get something outta someone. But making sure that you are building that two-way street relationship, as I call it, volunteering is one of the great ways. What is your advice to people who. Are putting their stability at risk, going from Right. A stable career and going into the entrepreneurial and see what happens

Jacquie Carroll 16:16

Yeah. What I would recommend is whatever stable career you have, build your entrepreneurial at the same side. While you're maybe creating a financial buffer for yourself, you can do it. Again, you're young, you're energetic. This, you can sleep plenty of time when you're dead. So you have plenty of time right now to do those things and do it side by side. Don't give up your financial security. Now, at the same time as you're working to build your business, one of the things that you'll need to do is you'll need to also, again, financially work on that ask. So whether that's, you're gonna start opening your own business accounts and I would say build those business accounts early on because when you do get to a point that you're gonna scale, you're gonna need to go to banks or financial institutions to get loans to take you to the next level because that time will come if your business is successful. And so what they're gonna look at is they're gonna look at your business. Financials, not your personal financials. And I think one of the things that we often do as a mistake early on is not to separate our business from our personal financials. And and to think ahead. That has to be because when I, if I'm gonna go someplace to ask, maybe I'm gonna have a thousand, a hundred thousand dollars order or something like that, or a hundred thousand unit order, let's think. A hundred thousand unit order, right? I'm gonna have to go to an institution. I don't have that kind of cash to say, Hey, here's what I have, and they're gonna look at my books. They're gonna look and see what do you have in your account right now? What have you? How has that flow of income been? How have you managed your expenses? Has, how is that? They're looking at that because you're gonna be a risk. To them, right? And they're gonna say, are we gonna invest in you? And so early on to really lay that foundation and put that money and work that money separately I think is gonna be something that'll help. In addition to. Not giving up. I, all of the things I've ever done, Miguel, I've never given up. You know what I mean? I've always had that side job. I've always had a side hustle. That side hustle has been with me forever just because I know corporate America and you never, nobody's ever safe. Nobody's ever nothing. And so if you have a side hustle, you're always like, it's okay to move on to the next level. You have a little bit transition. You don't have all that angst, you don't have all that stress. Or as much of it. And so I think having a side hustle, I still do that right now. I'm still doing my financial literacy consulting. So I have, big clients like with the state of California and stuff like that while I'm working that at the same time with Game Craft. And and I'll continue to do that because I do like stability and I don't like, the it just it's this, I think it's a good way of doing it is make sure you have a little bit on the side.

Miguel Sanchez 19:04

It goes back to personal finance, right? In a way where. This is for all of you listening. It is one, if you haven't looked into personal finance or getting your finances in order, make sure that you consult with a professional. We're both AFCs accredited financial counselors. We can. Point you in the right directions if you email us or contact us directly, but make sure you look for someone who can help you put your finances in order if you haven't. But if you are considering a business, that will also carry on and apply to the business side because sometimes in the business world you'll hear that a business is sometimes treated as a person in the eyes of. Of regulation and governments and laws. So making sure that you build that business sort of person, It goes back to making wise decisions. You mentioned side hustle and developing this idea, whatever idea you have right on the side while you have your your main job that's bringing in your income. So a lot of us have ideas we think will be great businesses. How do you know? How can somebody tell if their passion project or their hobby is something that could become a business that they can generate income from?

Jacquie Carroll 20:19

Yeah, I really the one tool you'll use is creating a business plan, because in the business plan you will absolutely take the idea and dissect it in all of the required aspects and determine will this be. Viable. You are gonna look at what are the projections in this field? What are the costs? What are what do I need to do? What is the knowledge? I, you're gonna look at all of those things and that is. Good practice whether that idea pans out or not, because here's the thing, I've had a lot of good ideas in the past, but they probably weren't viable or marketable. And so that might be one of the things, this might not be your first idea, might not be the idea that's gonna take, it might be your second or your third idea, but each time that you really dive into it and do the work, you're gonna be stronger. More ready when the right idea does come.'cause sometimes it's timing. It's just timing, right? The universe just all of a sudden goes, ta-da. And you're like, okay this is it. But being prepared when the opportunity comes, that's the key, right? People, some people always say, oh, you're lucky, but really it's when you are prepared for opportunity, then that's a, that's what you're going for. So it's not necessarily luck. Sometimes some things will come your way, but you need to be prepared for it. So I think the business plan, and even though that takes a little bit of time and takes some effort and some thinking about it. And don't do it on your own, do it. Get yourself a mentor. Get yourself, go to score. Go to the small business administration. Don't do it on your own. That's the one thing also is as an entrepreneur, people are always like, oh, you're just doing it all by yourself. I'm like, actually, no, I'm not. I have a great team. I, they're just not employees. They're my third party contractors, right? So for example, I do all my own bookkeeping, but I have an accountant for my taxes because they're more complex. I'm not gonna do that. I don't love doing that. I will do the things, my day-to-day financial management and all those type of things. My designer, I have a design partner. I come up with the designs, I shoot it to him, he makes them. I'm like, yep. And so my shipping partner, I don't, I now have a shipping and logistics and all those type of things. Those are all my third party partners that in the future, once the business takes off even more, of course I will replace with full-time employees. But at this point, you're looking for your third party. Team and to put that team together because that's what's gonna help you get out of the gate.

Miguel Sanchez 22:55

That's great advice. In fact, one of the lessons we hear often from other entrepreneurs, it falls. In line with that thought that it's building the team and, I like how you specified at this point in your business, what your team members look like right there. They're third party contractors but at some point they'll become your full-time employees as they, as the business grows. And so similarly, that's something that we should be thinking about is what stage am I in my business, what my team will look like now, and what would my team look like in the future? I thought that was a great insight. So as we come to the close, Jacquie what are some things that you've learned that we haven't covered that you want to share

Jacquie Carroll 23:40

Okay, so the one thing, and I love that one because this one, somebody told me this early on and I said, ah that's probably not true. But here's what they. They said everything will take longer than you think, and that's a hundred percent true. So the thing is, learn to pace yourself. Learn to be patient, and just do exactly what's in front of you. Do the next step, and just realize it's gonna take longer than you think and and knowing that is gonna make it okay. So I've accepted that. I know things take longer, so I've decided now I'll probably be an overnight success in three years. And I'm okay with that.

Miguel Sanchez 24:19

You know what you mentioned about taking longer than it takes. It kinda reminds me, I live in New York and I travel to DC regularly and it's on paper, it's three and a half hours, it's actually five. We just have to get used to that. It's not what we think, but it's longer. And then Jacquie, as a final thought, what is next for you in the gaming space?

Jacquie Carroll 24:40

My next thing is I'm actually thinking about creating. So one of the things that's going on in the financial education space is that a lot of states are now gonna mandate personal finance courses for high school students as a graduation requirement. And what I'm thinking about is creating a card game that's called Cash Smart. And I'm gonna focus it just on high school students on the things that they should know. By the time they graduate high school. And and then I think maybe that will be the starter game, and I think it could be another game that is similar for people that are in college and then maybe young professionals, because at each of those stages. Knowing certain financial concepts or ideas or skills is integral, right? There's certain things you should know when you graduate high school. What are those things? And put those things in a game so that it's fun and entertaining and you're not, oh my God, I gotta,

Miguel Sanchez 25:39

income statement and my cash flow. Yeah,

Jacquie Carroll 25:42

exactly. So that's what's next for me trying to figure out first of all, I still GET 9 is getting nine on the shelves and getting it to everybody and playing it as much as I can and have fun with people. But then the next step is really trying to provide some resources for high school students and then maybe later on college students and things like that help with comfortable with numbers, being comfortable with numbers.

Miguel Sanchez 26:06

We'll definitely have the links to Amazon Jacquie, thank you again. It's always a pleasure. Thank you for helping me this winter, keeping my son busy and I look forward to connecting in the future.

Jacquie Carroll 26:18

Me on as a guest. I really appreciate it. Enjoyed my time. Thank you, Miguel.