2014 Inkwell Ideas Year In Review and Future Plans

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The too long, didn’t read version:

  • Even though in 2014 we did well in sales, our expenses were about equal to our sales.  However, a good portion of the expenses are due to things that shouldn’t come up next year.
  • In 2015 we’re going to get the new DungeonMorphs out, refocus on our software (in particular our Coat of Arms Design Studio and Hexographer) and perhaps new release new Creature & Encounter Decks.

2014 Highlights:

How did we do financially?  I’m uncomfortable being specific, but it was about the same as last year. Our DungeonMorphs 2 Kickstarter represents a little over 20% of our total revenue… so that should give you the ballpark.  (Why didn’t 2014 have significantly more revenue than 2013?  A couple big reasons: Although our website sales have grown, we only had one Kickstarter in 2014 vs. two in 2013.  Also, we sold over 1000 sets of dice through ThinkGeek in 2013, but the buyer changed and they didn’t seem interested in re-ordering in 2014.  And 3rd, our GenCon booth location wasn’t as good because we were added late through the wait-list.)  Anyway of the 2014 total revenue, here are our expenses:

  • 35% For the revised DungeonMorph dungeon/cavern dice (Adventurer, Explorer, Spellunker.)
  • 15% For the new village/city/ruins dice & cards.
  • 5-10% GenCon expenses (booth fee, hotel, travel, etc.)
  • 5-10% Art & Writing freelancers: We pay our freelancers for the work they do.
  • 5% Legal: We addressed an issue and took some steps to better protect ourselves.
  • 5%: Hosting and other web/shopping cart fees.
  • 5%: Credit card transaction and bank fees.
  • 5%: Advertising.
  • 5%: Shipping.
  • 5%: Taxes.
  • 5%: Reference material & miscellaneous expenses.

So as you can see, we’re lucky if we broke even.  Inkwell Ideas is still something I juggle as a part-time side job/hobby along with a full-time software development job, wife & kids.  And before I go further, I’d like to thank the many freelancers Inkwell Ideas & I work with.  Without them some products wouldn’t be possible and others would not be nearly as good.

Back to the topic of expenses, in 2015 a couple of those expenses should be minimized.  The dice are all purchased or the money is accounted for in the 2014 numbers above.  We don’t expect to have any major legal issues, either, so that cost should be much less.  So just those changes should make us more profitable…  which isn’t really profit, just something to pay me for my time.

But we do have some costs that may rise.  For example, our GenCon booth felt cramped and so we’re opting for a 20’x10′ booth.  While 10’x10′ was cramped, 20’x10′ is probably a bit too big, so we’re open to sharing some of that space with another RPG company that compliments our products. (If you’ve got a small company looking for some GenCon space, whether you have a couple of products or 20, let us know at joe at inkwellideas dot com.)

Looking forward to 2015… As mentioned above, after getting the new DungeonMorph dice & cards ready, we’ll likely be working on new versions of the Coat of Arms Design Studio and Hexographer.

Coat of Arms Design Studio changes:

  • New user interface.  It won’t look a lot different, but it needs an update to give us options to move to even more platforms.
  • Ability to build native versions for Windows, Mac & Linux.  We’re going to try to not require Java.
  • Even more charges.  We’ve got hundreds of animals, symbols, & ordinaries built in, but expect to add even more.
  • One key often-asked for feature.  Details later.

Hexographer plans:

  • Move to the Cityographer codebase which better separates the model from the view.  (Supports “undo”.)
  • Also update the user interface, similarly to the Coat of Arms Design Studio changes.
  • Ability to build native versions for Windows, Mac & Linux.  We’re going to try to not require Java.
  • Another new icon set which requires a few code changes to pull off.
  • A great additional feature that expands the program’s usefulness into a whole new area/approach to map-making.
  • Many of these changes will dovetail to a Dungeonographer update as well.

Another product we hope to expand (but will depend on demand and time available) are our Creature & Encounter decks.  We actually have a deck’s worth of new, never seen before monster ideas jotted down.  It is a matter of prioritizing that vs. doing another deck of more traditional monsters.  And the Encounter Decks sell well too!  Once people see them and get the concept, they love them.  We could certainly look at another of those as well.

Back to DungeonMorphs, we do need to do a better job of getting them in stores.  A month or two ago I made an effort to contact several distributors, but have yet to hear back.  I’ll be trying to make follow-ups soon, but it is hard to get the time while still making all of our other products.  In the off chance you work for a distributor or want our products in your store, email me at joe at inkwellideas dot com.

I hope that gives you a good perspective into Inkwell Ideas 2014 & 2015.  I hope you’re as excited as I am to see how much we can do!  Thank you for your support over the past years.

–Joe Wetzel