I’ve always been entrepreneurial. I’ve started and owned about 4 different companies, and sold 3 of them… sometimes by myself and sometimes with partners. I’ve always loved the idea of working for myself, and it’s part of the reason why I ended up going to business school in the first place. However, straight out of university I ended up working at a video game company.

I’ve been working in the video game industry in Vancouver for the past 4 years. In all honesty, I can’t imagine myself working in a different industry… at least not for a long, long time. Still, I often find myself thinking of new business ideas, thinking of new opportunities… and how to implement them. The strange thing is, out of all of the ideas… the one I want to do the most is the simplest one.

When I was growing up, I always wanted to open a bed and breakfast. In recent years, this dream and desire has intensified, and I am sure now that I would open it in Tofino. I’m so passionate about this idea that I find myself thinking about it almost every night.

I’d like to purchase a home in Tofino, and move out there when I am 40 or 50 to open it as a bed and breakfast. I’ve always known that I wanted to get out of the city and move to the Island when I am older, and it just seems like the perfect plan for Allan and I. Sure, we’d be old farts out there surfing… but we’d have our piece of land, a home, a business to get us by (cost of living is a lot lower out of Vancouver), and we’d get to surf whenever we wanted. And still be close by enough to do trips every once in a while to Mount Washington to get our snowboarding fix.

And of course, the next level to this idea is to also own a bed and breakfast on Mount Washington, or a small mountain town somewhere in BC. We’d work at the Tofino B&B in the summer, and the mountain B&B in the winter, and have a manager to run the operations in the low seasons.

It would definitely be a dream come true.

I feel like it is well-suited to our skills and interests as well. Both Allan and I love entertaining, we can cook and clean, and we love meeting new people. We’d have a social media strategy for the business, and we’d use our other interests like photography and filming to round out our offering. Allan is great at teaching surfing and snowboarding, so it could be a nice little package add-on with photography included. I could go on and on with more ideas we’ve thought up.

I’d love to think of new breakfast ideas to serve to our guests each morning. There would be numerous personal touches to surprise our guests at every turn, like freshly baked warm chocolate chip cookies with milk before bed on stormy nights.

The property would be west-coast style with vaulted ceilings and exposed wood beams, with a focus on earthy elements like wood, stone, and plants.

However, it would be warm and cozy in décor…  lots of lamps, comfy couches, flowers, and warm colours.

Ideally, we’d be living on the beach… or at least with a view of the ocean. The property would be heavily treed, so that guests feel like they are living on the ocean and in the forest at the same time. There would be wooden walkways around the garden where we grow our own produce, surrounded by flowering vines and foliage. The walkway would be lit with lanterns at night, leading to a secluded hot tub where you could gaze at the stars or at your loved one.

At one point, I even spent a few days creating the business plan and some spreadsheets. I crunched the numbers… I did the cashflows and investments required and even detailed licensing and legislature considerations. It looked good on paper. But paper is very different than reality.

I guess we’ll just have to see if the dream ever comes true…

What’s your dream?

Well, at least it seems so in my life!

I mentioned I had a big announcement to make today, and since then I’ve been getting Facebook messages and MSN messages asking me if I am pregnant or engaged. NO PEOPLE, no. Goodness!

Yes, today is my last day at work at a wonderful company. Since graduating university, I’ve been working in the video game industry here in Vancouver. While I absolutely loved games, since March I’ve been trying my hand at working at a software company as a Product Marketing Manager. I was blown away. I can’t say enough good things about this company, my boss, and about my coworkers. In all honesty, I could have seen myself working here for another 5+ years. I’ve been extremely happy here.

And so… if it was any other company that called me three weeks ago, I would have said no. I would have said that I couldn’t make a change now. But, it was that company.

Growing up, one of my closest relatives was my uncle who was working in software at the time. He was a programmer, and when he set up a 486 computer for my family… I fell in love with computers and technology. As I mentioned in my blog post here, I’ve always been a huge nerd. Although I grew up into the arts and playing sports, I wanted to be a programmer when I grew up. Yes, I had a copy of Bill Gates’ “The Road Ahead”. My childhood dream was always to work for Bill. Yes, I know I’m the devil. I took AP Computer Science for a couple years in high school, and I got accepted to Waterloo for Computer Sciences. At the last minute, I made a drastic decision and decide to go to Western and Ivey instead for Business. I’ve always loved video games and in university I joined an Xbox 360 clan and pretty much played dozens of hours a week. And so it was natural that I ended up working in the video game industry after graduation.

Yep, I actually like Windows Vista. I’m excited for Windows 7. I drove down to the States to buy a Zune. I’m probably the only person I know who has a Zune. I use MSN Messenger exclusively as my messaging platform. I own an Xbox 360. I think you can tell where my loyalties lie.

So, as my boss likes to call it, I’ve “crossed over to the dark side”. Next Tuesday, I will be starting my new job full-time at… yup, you guessed it.

I’ll be working at their game studio here in Vancouver, part of their Games Division. I’m nervous, excited, and very happy. I feel like I’m taking a big risk. I can’t believe my childhood dream is actually coming true.

Back into video games!

————-

In other news, this weekend Allan and I have been invited to stay for two nights at the Wickaninnish Inn in our favourite place, Tofino. We’ve eaten there before and it was fantastic, but never stayed there. We feel very grateful and fortunate for the opportunity (hurray, no camping in the cold this time!). It’s a Relais & Châteaux property, and in my opinion, the most beautiful luxury hotel in Tofino. It couldn’t come at a better time… a little mini long weekend getaway for surf and relaxation before the new job starts to clear our slate is exactly what we need. We leave tomorrow morning and come back Sunday night. I’ll definitely have some photos and videos for you!

It seems to me lately that we’re all living in a little bubble. In Vancouver. A Vancouver bubble.

When is the economy really going to hit us?

People have been talking about the bad economy, but how much has it really affected us? Yes — it’s true, real estate prices are dropping. But not that much. Yet. Yes, some video game studios have closed down, and across the city there have been a number of layoffs in different industries and office closures. And yup, people have been going to Starbucks a lot less.

But what I’ve really noticed is how Vancouver seems relatively unaffected. Part of why I’m noticing this is because of my recent move.

There’s one major thing I noticed while looking for apartments: People can’t sell their overpriced condos anymore, so they are renting them out. But they are renting them out for ridiculous sums of money… that no one wants to pay. $2700 for a 2 bedroom that is 800 square feet is too much. WAY too much. $2200 for a 1 bedroom that is 600 square feet (a.k.a a shoe box) is way too much. Do landlords really think they are going to be able to rent out their apartments for that much?

I also noticed that many apartments had been vacant for months. Hmm, could have something to do with the rental prices.

Another mind blowing observation… stores are barely going on sale. How can they stay in business? Most furniture stores I have been to have been completely devoid of customers. And their prices? Still as high as last year, if not higher. Most stores I have been to these days don’t seem to be offering any significant sales. Why?

People still seem to be shopping at Gucci and Prada. They’re still buying nice cars. They’re still going out for expensive dinners. People are still taking extravagant vacations. Has this decreased? Or is it still the same?

Whenever I ask anyone if they are worried for their job, they say no. Everyone’s business is going well. And everyone’s finances are just fine. Apparently.

Are they lying? Are they in denial? Or are most people in Vancouver doing just fine?

My gut tells me that the recession is going to hit Vancouver hard. And while no one wants it to happen, or while people think it won’t happen… it will. I think it is better to be prepared than to be proud.

Here are my rinky-dinky tips in this economy

1. If you are a store owner or a business owner, discount your prices. People don’t want sales, they want deep price cuts. Better to make less profit than no profit at all, right? And let people know about it. Don’t be ashamed.

2. Bring your lunches to work rather than eating out. I can post a nice chicken noodle soup recipe if anyone is interested. Soup is a great way to bring a healthy lunch to work.

3. Check your car. Take anything out of it that can weigh it down or waste gas. And check your tire pressure. You’d be surprised how many people drive on flat tires and waste dollars worth of gas every day. And drive less if you can!

4. If you must drink, drink at home vs. drinking out. It’s so so much cheaper.

5. Avoid buying new clothes or shoes/accessories. You probably don’t need them at this exact moment in time. Personally I haven’t bought a single piece of clothing since November, and before that sometime in June.

6. Hold underground dinner parties instead of big parties at a fancy restaurant. My friend Jess clued me into this one. There are a number of caterers and chefs holding “underground” dinner parties. Basically how it works is you get in contact with a chef who does this, and they prepare a set meal for you and your dinner party at a local rented space. You can bring your own booze! This is a great inexpensive way to have a nice meal with your friends out. I’m planning on doing one soon so I’ll let you know how it goes.

7. Start budgeting. If you don’t already have one, it’s probably a good idea to start a budget. There are so many great online resources to get you started.

8. Stop eating out, start eating in. It takes only 10-30 minutes to make a really good quick dinner. Why not? Consider cooking with less meat. It’s really expensive and it has a larger environmental footprint.

9. Haggle on prices. I do this all the time. There’s almost nothing you can’t get cheaper in the retail world. Cars, clothes, food, everything. I always ask for a discount. Perhaps a separate blog post on this later.

10. Travel locally. If you need to go on vacation, why not go somewhere near home! British Columbia is one of the most beautiful places in the world. From Tofino to Galliano, to Hornby, to Kelowna, and so much more… you’d be surprised how much neat stuff there is close to home! And consider opting for slightly further away destinations such as Apex or Sun Peaks instead of Whistler. It’s cheaper and often the skiing/snowboarding is even better!

11. Switch to a credit card with a lower interest rate. You’d be surprised how much competition there is out there for credit cards.

12. Buy off Craigslist. I’ve bought just about everything through Craigslist and I can’t be happier. 50-90% what you would pay in stores. Sure, it may be used but you can often find like-new finds. And don’t forget to haggle. Whether it is apartment rentals, clothes, furniture, or electronics… Craigslist is always a good idea!

13. Drink free coffee at work instead of paying for name-brand coffee at Starbucks or Timmy’s.

14. Share/trade things with your friends. Games, movies, books, TV shows, clothes, booze etc etc… you’d be surprised how much stuff you can get for free just by doing this. And it’s a nice way to re-connect too.

15. And most importantly.. if you’re an employee, work hard at your job. Let your employer know through your work ethic that you are grateful for your job and you want to excel at your job. Make yourself a good investment.

Thoughts?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the how we’ve evolved as a society over time. Yes, prepare yourself for mass generalizations in this post.

We consider ourselves to be evolved as a society and as a race. Many people around the world earn their living by working in offices and sitting at computers. High-tech devices including computers, cell phones, Blackberries, laptops, and of course the internet have enabled us to communicate faster, work faster, and save us time.

So why do we have so little free time?

I read a book a few months ago that spoke about a CEO of a large corporation who moved to a remote part of Hawaii and began his life anew. He lived in a small hut, lived off the ocean and the land, and surfed every day. He didn’t need to make any money because he didn’t need to spend any money. Although this kind of life isn’t for everyone, it sounds amazing to me. Too good to be true, almost.. but I realize this is a pretty extreme example.

Why is it that we require so many “things” in life to be happy? I feel like we’re all running a rat race and we’re not really gaining anything.

How is it that we have all this amazing technology and incredible advances in so many aspects of our lives but we can’t find much time for ourselves, or even for our loved ones?

Many of us don’t live wholly off the land; we go to the supermarket. Many of us don’t do manual labour for work… we don’t build or hunt or even defend. The most “physical” “jobs” in the world are perhaps professional sports, and we revere these incredible athletes. But they’re just playing a game. Why are manual labour jobs considered so inferior to typing on a keyboard in a concrete high rise? If this were pre-historic times, all of us keyboard typers would be dead!

So despite all these devices that are supposed to save us time, why are our work hours getting longer? Why do we work from home and on the weekends? Shouldn’t it be the opposite? We’re all spending so much money on expensive mattresses, sleep therapy, psychiatrists, fitness centres, all-inclusive resorts, self-help seminars and books, spa treatments, house cleaners, personal assistants, and different pillows that can solve our sleep problems. The promise of being happy, healthy, and relaxed is so elusive. Despite all this, we find ourselves busier, poorer, and more stressed just trying to afford the things that may be the magic fix.

I wonder if I’m just idealistic for hoping that someday society in North America can come to a compromise where people can have more time. More time to travel, more time to be with family, more time to sleep, more time to meditate, more time to enjoy nature, more time to be ourselves.

Is this dream ever possible? Or as a human race, are we always going to be trying to run so fast through life that we run ourselves into the ground?

Image Credit: http://www.bcbusinessonline.ca

The video game company I work for recently won a Best Company to Work for in BC 2008 award. The list, published by BC Business Magazine, celebrates the Top 20 companies in BC whose employees have rated them the highest. The list is broken into the 10 companies with more than 100 employees, and the top 10 companies with less than 100 employees.

Of the 20 companies listed, 3 are video game companies. What is it about video game companies that make them so rewarding to work for?

In previous years (during university etc), I worked for a number of large Fortune 500 companies in business positions (Kraft Canada, Bell Communications, Citigroup Financial). Despite the massive amount of financial backing and resources that these companies had, they could never match the vibrant culture of the video game industry.

I started working in the video game industry immediately after graduation, and worked for a medium-large (~150 employees) Vancouver video game company known primarily for strategy games. The beautiful office was located in the Bentall 5 building, set amongst finance and law firms. Even though I was previously a “suit”, I enjoyed walking around the building in my jeans and hoodie. I missed the formality and confidence that business dress exuded, but I enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere of my workplace. Free pop, free beer on Fridays, an arcade machine, and a foosball table were among the many amenities.

The video game industry is well-known for its perks, from Christmas bonuses to limousine rides and big parties. That seems to be toning down a bit in the economy and with a number of large studios and publishers getting shut down, but the fun-loving culture is still there.

The current video game company I’m with is no different. Fun people and a great work environment. I love being able to come in at 10 AM if I’m tired, or come in at 8 AM and leave early if necessary. Flexible hours are so important these days with people being involved in a number of different activities. I love the champagne at company announcements, the cool company-branded gifts, and sweet parties and events. The benefits are great too at video game companies, from full health care coverage, massage, and more.

The darkest side of the video game industry could potentially be the long overtime hours that are worked. Many Electronic Arts employees I’ve talked to attest to staying overnight and working on weekends for weeks or months on end near a deadline. I’ve seen that at the previous video game company I worked for… late night overtime meals are provided and people work late into the wee hours of the morning. Mandatory overtime is sometimes even implemented to keep the project on schedule. Is it a small price to pay for all the other perks?

Fortunately, the current company I’m working for seems to really understand the work-life balance. Employees aren’t happy if they are are overworked, and the company benefits overall from the creativity and energy  of its employees if they are well-rested and happy. People aren’t allowed to work late here, they actually need permission to do so. It’s a breath of fresh air.

What do you think? Are video game companies the cream of the crop in terms of companies to work for? Are there other better industries out there? Is there a dark side to the video game industry? Do you think work-life balance is important?