The Art of Randyl Bishop | Application Preview
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General Information
Business Registration Number: 430454206
Location: Blythe, GA, United States
Length of Operation: 6-10
Number of Employees: 1-10 Employees
Annual Gross Income: Less than $100k
Annual Gross Expense: Less than $100k
Open to Loans: YES
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Funding Usage
A large portion (up to one third) of this is projected to be used in improving and promoting existing proven product lines, with the rest of the amount being devoted primarily to production expenses (contractor expenses, print run expenses, etc), studio assets such as equipment, facilities and vehicle upgrades.
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Business Plan
The first year will be one of recovery, organizational and strategic planning, and production. This will include planning product line release schedules, and identifying different venues for distribution, which will include conventions, public events, and retail outlets. The second year will be primarily production and execution of the the previous year's plan followed quickly by initial promotion. Success of this crucial early promotion permits subsequent promote/ produce cycles for the ensuing years. Necessary strategic and organizational adjustments will be made throughout this period. Number one: I am a trustworthy individual who wants to do great things for my country and community. I am also highly educated and essentially debt free. I possess degrees in Graphic Design and Illustration, Military Science, The 3D Arts, a Master of Business Administration, two years of work towards a Masters of Fine Art degree and over 500 additional college credit hours in various subjects. I have no criminal record of any kind, and am a retired United States Army Reserve field grade officer ("gray area retiree) with no income aside from this business until I am 59 years old. My business needs to grow to stay relevant, and cannot do so without an infllux of cash. I have had some successes with my product line, but because economies of scale were so small, I have little financial success to show for it. Were I able to scale things up, this would surely change and allow me to reinvest in my own company and the larger community. Additionally, I have a family of four to support and need to be able to demonstrate to my Type 1 diabetic son that success is possible without the military being in the picture, something he will never be able to participate in due to his disability. So this is important to me on a very personal level as well as a professional one.
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Self Identified Competition
Industry leaders are clearly Marvel and DC Comics, with numerous large independent publishers (Dark Horse, Image, etc.) I will spare you their details as they are well-known. Below are some competitors just out of reach of my company's level that are not as well known, but clearly established.. Alterna Comics I am most impressed by Alterna Comics, who routinely borrows and executes ideas I celebrate as being ideal for the medium of comics and general health of the industry (and company). Alterna comics are of high quality. They offers multiple product lines from different creators, but centers around the company CEO Peter Simeti. Mr. Simeti has managed to tap into mass distribution assets I have been unable to touch due to lack of funding. Alterna has impressed me on many levels, but they have perceptibly failed to retain talent and key product lines due to mistakes made related to management issues arising from inexperience and lack of education on how to manage talent effectively. Alterna also frequently and perhaps inadvertently creates win/lose relationships resulting in a perceptibly frequent need to borrow money. Scout Comics and Charter Comics With Scout and Charter, both companies health appears to require a constant influx of new talent they can exploit towards their own selfish ends, something I would NOT do. As you can imagine, their quality varies greatly, but along with professionals, they do provide opportunities to less-experienced creators, many of whom are being published for the first time. As with Alterna, there is also a perceptible sustainability issue related to talent and related revenue streams. Neither company appears to have a clear focus (company vision) or clue what public demand is. Growth in my company is more sensitive to sales than typical businesses. I am in a position to test several target audiences at once by using existing networks, in social media, and in personal and professional business contacts. Because I have already established successful product lines with existing business customers, am able to communicate clearly, am able to pivot my product/pitch focus rapidly with very little overhead expense, and because I have already established the foundation needed to bring in the highest quality contractors, my company is somewhat unique. I chose to list the competitors I did due to their similarities to my own company, because the comics industry playing field is vast. The reality is no company is like mine. I offer a clear vision, which when able to produce it, the public is hungry to purchase. This results frequently in "copycat" behavior from companies bigger and smaller than mine (Marvel Comics is on that list). As you might imagine, it has been a source of great frustration for me, because many times I'm not able to capitalize on a brilliant idea, only to watch, my competitors later seize the same idea and execute it due to their superior financial position before i'm able to act or even react. The issues Alterna has with talent retention would not be an issue at all for my company, as I have years of proven experience with what I term "ego management"; most recently this was demonstrated with my job as second-in-command executive officer for a training and education battalion (2-319 IN). Effective communication, delegation of tasks, and supervision of staff produces results, something I am uniquely qualified to do above my main competitor. Additionally, I am a believer in win/win relationships with a proven track record of competent financial management. A need to constantly borrow would not be a problem for my company in the slightest. Alterna, Scout nor Charter do not appear to have a clear focus (company vision), something my publishing imprints Timebound Entertainment and Head Mouse Studios do in fact have, and which public has demanded. Unlike these competitors, I have proven I can sustain talent participation and interest for years in addition to bringing a clear vision. Due to my contacts in the industry, I am further somewhat capable of producing adjacent products my competition is not postured to make- both within and outside the scope of my publishing imprints. With funding, I can rapidly promote adjacent lines such as music albums, toys, animations, and a litany of other products and services. Due to my background and unique perspective, I understand unique entertainment medium's multiple points of appeal far better than any of these guys, and frequently give consultations to industry veterans on this subject who seek my advice routinely. For this reason, my company motto has been "Pioneering Inspiration".
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