A ways back, which I can’t remember how long ago anymore, I found myself on MySpace being bombarded with requests to join my friends’ clans on this little flash game called Mafia Wars. (I’m assuming those of you reading this know or at least have heard of this game.)
It never really caught my attention because the vague idea of just starting fights for the sake of phallic sizing and worshipping never intrigued me. I’m not the type to compete with anyone nor have I ever cared if people did things better than me. Anything I do is because of my own accord or personal interest. My worst enemy is myself and there is no greater force.
Then I had to move.
Let me tell you, for a nerd like me who finds almost everything online, being without internet for the last remaining days of my lease was going to drive me insane.
And it’s not like I had time to go out whilst still packing every night after work trying to make my deadline so I wouldn’t be hung upside down by the gods of rental for an extra month because pro-rating does not exist in their world.
So there I am, fingers raw and new calluses forming on my palms from the nearly unlimited supply of Dell PC tower boxes provided by my IT Supervisor roomie (thanks btw), about to turn in for the night to watch more Bones on my laptop, which I’ve seen about ten trillion times that I could recite every dialogue from any episode, but decided to check out my iPhone for new apps.
Long story short… I obviously downloaded it… and found it very addicting.
So now running through the game for a couple weeks, I’ve managed to build a very hefty empire, and my metaphoric penis size has grown from the pwning of hundreds of rival mafias. (I mean, come on, I only have 5 mafia members and I’m taking out armies. I feel so X-Men’ish.)
I’m A Thug… Err… Street Thug
Now let’s run through the basics.
You start off as nothing more than a street thug. Okay, makes sense right? We all start off with nothing in the beginning. As a street thug there’s nothing much we can do except do jobs and probably fight (But that would probably kick your ass if you don’t have weapons, and you need money for that. Hence, we come back to jobs.)
Every time we do a job we gain money and experience. Save up some cash to buy some real estate and businesses to earn more money and continue the cycle. The point is to build your “mafia empire” by acquiring assets and people. Simple.
All of this eventually clicked in my head that people can inadvertently learn to build a lucrative empire using this model. I got so wrapped up in the gaming aspect I didn’t realize it until 2 weeks later.
For those that have played the game, this may all be obvious. But not all of us who play the game are those interested in actually building an empire. Thus, why it intrigued me. And like Pinky and the Brain, I do the same thing every night… (Fill in the blanks).
Hidden In Fun
Here are the business concepts I’ve extracted from this very ego-driven game.
- Rags-to-Riches Model. It can be very rewarding to start off with nothing and build something worthwhile. Definitely a motivating factor if we need inspiration or are in a rut with our own empire, whether it’d be your business, or fanbase, or collection of medieval swords.
- Passive Income. This comes from acquiring real estate and developing businesses which in turn provide you with income on a near-hourly basis. You invest money in the things that will pay off in the long run. Patience becomes key here because in the game, like life, some time has to pass in order to gain certain things. So during that time, do things that will move you forward no matter how miniscule.
- Multiple Streams of Income. This is a basic fundamental with wealth building. If you study those who generate a lot of income, you’ll tend to notice they don’t have all their eggs in one basket. Income comes from many different sources so if one well dries out, there are others to compensate. And, the more sources you have,… well. As a note though, it does get a little more complex to manage with more sources.
- Big Enterprises Trump Smaller Businesses. I concept picked up from Rich Schefren’s Internet Business Manifesto. Those businesses that become powerhouses usually kill off the mom and pop shops under them.
- Outsourcing. Required because big business is difficult alone. Outsourcing and automating your enterprises allow you to work on the things that are important. Leave the minutia to others. Leverage the talents of specialists for things that you lack skill in.
- Consistency. Things that are valuable take time, and also consistent action. You get nowhere by doing nothing. A big part of the game lies in moving up in experience, and doing bigger jobs, as well as taking on more established rivals. If we translate doing ‘jobs’ to ’selling’ something or ’servicing’, or in essence finding ’solutions to problems,’ and replace ‘fighting’ with ‘marketing,’ we have a sound business plan.
Moving On Up… To That Deluxe Apartment In The Sky
I don’t believe acquiring wealth should be a complicated and difficult task. Many of the things needed to achieve it are right in front of us, sometimes we just need to pay attention. And if you’re anything like me, the bored-easily type, maybe you just need a game to play.
Monopoly started it for me years back, what other games can you think of that we could all learn from? And if you liked this post, help me spread the word with the button below.
