In my post: What can Games teach us about money Part 1 , I introduced some basic elements about money skills and how we can learn these skills from games such as Monopoly and Farmville. This post is a continuation of the same topic and is approached by digging deeper into other games such as World of Warcraft which of – course – is rich of many financial definitions.
What’s the economy inside games such as World of WarCraft (WoW) like. The virtual currencies that they use inside these games is the attention of many gold (a virtual currency term) hunters. Please read my old post Trading Virtual Money for an in-depth coverage of the opportunities of Game currencies. The gaming industry (including game currencies) is milking real money- with huge quantities. Many economists studied the economical signals such as the GDP of these games. In my other posts I wrote about how these games can teach you about money. Its not just that but such skill or craft can be lent to those who want to have virtual money easily (players). I have seen many financial tools being used in MMORPG games such as World of Warcraft which helps you to manage many business aspects inside the game. In wow there is an auction house , trades and crafts which generate goods-that can be sold and you have to deal with expenses and incomes during play time. All these aspects are very similar to real business life. Many skilful players are selling their expertise outside the game in the internet by offering guides on how to make virtual money . The trade tools (addons) being made by players who understand wow money system well are getting popular and a must for any player who wants to profit from the virtual market. For example, there are charts in particular addons, these addons resembles technical analysis charts that are used in IRL (in real world) investing by sophisticated investors. In the case wow, you need these tools to understand the market (auction house). The auction house is very similar to popular auctions in real world and how they operate such as eBay. Like eBay, understanding the market and utilizing the necessary tools is vital in obtaining results.
What does this topic has to do with my blog niche “entrepreneurial tools” you may ask . It does a lot by learning how to understand the multitude of business operations that are being operated in the wow economy , you can learn a lot of concepts that you can apply in real life. You can learn about item pricing and by using some tools you can spot under, fair or over priced goods. You can also learn about bidding and item listing expiry. You can also learn negotiation with other players when they post their items in the trade channel ( a chatting channel). You also learn that you can make money not just by specializing in a trade, but by becoming a trader and profiting from prices arbitrage ( a very important concept in economy). You will also learn the best times to list items and when not to by understanding the market trends and this is also a very important lesson for real world trading. You can also exercise your entrepreneurship skills in wow by being creative in offering new services or unique items for other players. There are many players who learnt from wow lessons and started to play in the real economy. Like Rich dad said : playing (money) games benefits you in real money, which I totally agree with.Being good at it gives you the inspiration to ask your self , if I’m good at virtual money why not apply my skills in real world. It can not be as simple as that but it could be a good start.
Well let me tell you about my story 8 years ago.I was involved with a network marketing company and to be honest they were great. They teach you a lot of good stuff about sales , marketing, motivation and dealing with people. No matter how bad or good the product is , you still can grab good life lessons for success. While I was with them , one day, I was reading a very successful network marketer’s website in the US. He was talking about a life changing book that affected him deeply and made him focused about success especially in his financial life. The book Rich Dad Poor Dad which was written by a very famous American entrepreneur Robert Kiyosaki. I immediately bought the book , and I was too shocked by the way he presented life facts and money issues. He mentioned something very important about GAMES and that’s what I want to focus about in this post. He said that playing games and not any game but games about or involves money is a good exercise for real life and real money. He took this advice from his rich dad and the only game that was available back then was the famous Monopoly board game.
So what can Monopoly can teach us about money ?
According to John Rosenberg from Best Family Games there are few lessons:
1- Invest your money
2- Negotiate always
3- Take chances
4- Always have cash
Another game that I really enjoyed and learned a lot from it about money is “Cash Flow” made by Rich Dad Poor Dad company. The basic goal of this game is how to escape from the rat race. The rat race is a financial predicament in which many people fall into. They are trapped by the excess of expenses over income and by bad debts other than assets. The game comes into two forms: board and video game.
Famrville in Facebook is very popular and a hit. The game brings many lessons about money . One of the lessons is how to understand a very important financial concept: return of investment (ROI). Christopher S Penn suggests a useful economic principle on how to invest in frequent sellable items with small margins rather than investing in big margin items.
These games above illustrate an example of the power of gaming. Like I mentioned in my post Stock Market Simulation Game how you can practise investing your virtual money so you can feel comfortable doing it and confident about your skills. I believe that the gaming industry is shifting towards providing good games with special experiences that can teach us and our kids many lessons that we can not do in real life. This part is a start and Part 2 is a continuation of this gaming journey.
I would like to share with you a very nice website that hosts a variety of free software- all free no trial (according to the website owners). The website is called “I Love free software” . In this post I’m going to dig into one category- which is related to my blog niche (entrepreneurial tools). The category is financial tools: such as accounting (my major ), budget, money manager, personal finance software.The tools/software work on either your computer or online- software as a service (SAAS). There are also investment tools: such as stock charts, portfolio manager & price watcher. Please click on the image to go to the portal. Enjoy
Risk management is a process or a collection of strategies and techniques utilised to benefit businesses and companies in many ways: it helps businesses to protect assets by managing and controlling resources; and thus enabling companies improve performance and efficiency by proper planning and tuning that will lead to better decisions. There are many risk solutions in the real world depending on the size and type of industry (case studies).
What are the risk management solutions ?
Many of risk management companies offer some or all of the following solutions;
Enterprise risk management (ERM).
Financial risk management.
Operational risk management.
IT risk management.
Compliance risk management.
Market risk management.
Credit risk management.
Strategic risk management.
There are many tools/software that can be used in risk management. They are designed by many companies. You should be careful not to use any tool though, make sure its compatible with your business model and needs. If you are not sure, you should consider consulting a risk management firm.That’s the advantage of industry specialisation. Many worldwide companies started to pay attention to risk management after the financial crisis that hit the world lately. So relatively speaking , risk management is somehow a new profession/speciality. Insurance used to be the only solution to avoid risk, but its not the case any more. Businesses and insurance companies started to realise that it is vital and necessary also to take risk management into consideration. Otherwise premium will be high and risk is too high. Risk does not have to be physical only, there are many risks and most importantly accounting/money risk that many contemporary companies are falling under ( Credit crunch) and Enron in the past.
Risk management is not a cut-off solution and it does not mean that it will prevent risk entirely. There is no such thing as risk-free. Its just a control and a measure that hopefully will minimize risk, or at least is considered a roadmap (benchmark) which is adjustable and changeable.
There are many risk management companies in the west. I’m just not sure about the Middle East. I think big companies in Middle East depend mostly on Western companies to give them solutions and support, which I do not agree with entirely. Its fine to get help from outsiders if they have good solutions, but there are regional factors that the Western countries can not solve or understand and that is considered as a chief reason. There should be regional business that understands the area. I only spotted few companies such as : Diligence and Sophis , the later is the main sponsor of Risk Middle East conference .There is also a Kuwaiti company: Global Consultants. Please let me know if you have a list of names of other companies.
The reason I’m talking about risk management in this post is because I think risk management is linked with my blog speciality- that is entrepreneurial tools. RM is an important tool for entrepreneurs and companies for any time or any industry. RM is a process that goes hand-to-hand with the business cycle not just emergencies. The technology has provided us many tools that can be used in the risk management business, and we shall take advantage of it. That does not indicate that we should be pessimistic, quite the opposite optimism is healthy and vital, for the sake of innovation and going forward. RM is just a sort of planning for success, and like the saying: failing to plan is planning to fail.
“he who is afraid of asking, is afraid of learning”
I found a helpful online website that can be used to ask or find business questions. Its called Startups ! Its really a good spot for entrepreneurs, business students and whoever interested to know about tips, tools, HOWOTs, advice, .. etc. Its like a free consultation. It saves you time and effort and it allows you to share experiences with people all over the world. Just throw your question in their website, by email or using Twitter. It also has a cool feature- a dictionary. So for example if you don’t understand a jargon or a business term just type it in the dictionary and you will get the meaning. The world now is making life easy and simple for learners and entrepreneurs. Everything is being linked and shared via social media that allows many minds to participate. I remember years ago when such information were hard to find or costly. However, I’m not saying that you should follow or accept every advice you get, because everyone has the freedom to say and express whatever they think its right. This can be risky for beginners or learners as they can not distinguish between right or wrong. But its still valuable for some one who is seeking different opinions, brainstorming new ideas or getting familiar with a new field or industry. The voting system up there can give you a hint of the hottest topics and probably somehow reliable answers. Startups also provides a service that allows you to choose who you want to answer your questions. So in that way you can overcome the fear of getting bad advice. I’m not sure whether or not they have experts in there, but you never know. Its a nice spot to meet like-minded entrepreneurs and possibly building a team and connections. Posting there can also help experts and bloggers who write about business increase their website traffic, improve marketing and building a brand and a name.
P.S. Please note that I choose tools randomly that I believe they have value to entrepreneurs and small business owners. However those websites belong to organizations that I don’t have any contact or contract with them. That does not mean that they are perfect or bad , It depends on readers to judge and choose. The technology is always evolving and improving, so some of these tools is, can or will be obsolete. I welcome advice, comment or criticism. We are all learning.
In my last article Business Network , I talked about an entrepreneurial tool that an entrepreneur can use to build his/her own team or establish a network of business partners. Enternships: a new startup- still beta that specializes in helping entrepreneurs build their teams. Companies post positions that they require or seek. Individuals post their skills and talents they possess in the website. Then they will be hooked if they are matched. Enternships covers wide geographical networks including Africa, Europe, India, Latin America, Middle East, UK and USA.
The good thing about Enternships is that it offers entrepreneurs a huge advantage in hooking up with new startups that might have a promising potential in the future. It also offers new opportunities for individuals who are seeking to improve their experience in new ventures.
I did not know that there is an “Entrepreneurship Day” or such a day exists until I found “WED”-World Entrepreneurship Day. I find the name very creative. WED was founded in April 17th 2009. So this year is year two- happy birthday and I missed it. WED is simply an idea to gather creative entrepreneurial minds around the world to meet yearly. The aim as WED puts it : Inspiration, connection & enlightenment. Well to be honest the number of companies and entrepreneurs who attended this year was astonishing. The quality of speeches and programs that they offer is really good. I also like what WED does. They offer a variety of entrepreneurial tools and videos that are beneficial which you can find them in the resources section. I am also impressed of the sessions they provide for “ideas brainstorming” and their use of creative techniques. I will talk about some of the techniques in the near future.
I have seen many similar ideas or concepts to WED (with different look) every where in the world. Most of them share the same objectives. Any one who wants to establish a business whether small, big or home based should have a look and try to participate in similar events. The experience that will be gained is priceless. I myself have attended few in the past in other countries and I’m looking forward to attend more in the future. It’s always good to mix with like-mind people. Knowledge is very essential especially in the business world. The more knowledgeable you are in the field that interests you, the bigger the chances that you will succeed and you will add more value to your customers. I wish you all happy birthday .
I was browsing Bangor University’s library last week , looking for books for my essay. I found a tiny book called : ” A Technique for Producing Ideas “. I borrowed it and I was amazed of the contents. The contents are so rich in meaning that they are bigger than size of the book. The author is an expert in marketing and he shares his success with readers by showing his “producing ideas” principles and methods. The technique is so simple , and the book is worth buying.
Having some one connect you to suppliers, vendors and customers is a leverage. It saves you time and effort. This blog is all about providing the best online tools that improves business and startup. So back to the topic, I came across a website that can do all that work for you :
I think TradeSeam is a bit different than the rest of the networking websites. It makes it easier than the rest by automating everything and doing the sweaty stuff. Who knows there might be another service like that , I welcome any suggestion or comment .
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), budget, money manager, personal finance software.The tools/software work on either your computer or online- software as a service (SAAS). There are also investment tools: such as stock charts, portfolio manager & price watcher. Please click on the image to go to the portal. Enjoy 
