As a couple of mates who successfully got their business idea off the ground, we absolutely relish entrepreneurial drive – in fact, we even encourage it among our ranks. I’d like to think that my and Michael’s enterprising mindset is highly contagious, fostering an innovative and ambitious environment at our office that encourages staff to reach their professional goals on top of working for us. We reckon anyone has the ability to start their own business, regardless of their background, and the only ingredients necessary are passion, dedication, and a stellar idea.
One Milk Chocolate team member in particular is embracing our industrious ethos. Timothy Quill is our resident machine learning engineer, but what his LinkedIn profile won’t tell you is that he’s also a budding board game entrepreneur.
Tim came up with the concept for his debut board game during Melbourne’s first lockdown. With a few extra hours on his hands each week, he started thinking of some creative ways to use his downtime. At first, he was playing board games online as a way of staying connected with friends. He soon realised he could take his new hobby one step further.
“The more games I played, the more interested I became in the dynamics of the gameplay and the more I realised there was so much untapped potential,” he tells us. “Board games are having a bit of a resurgence at the moment and are going beyond just being a family activity.
“A seed was then planted in my mind; I came up with the idea for my own board game, as well as the mechanics, in a few days.”
At first, machine learning and board games may seem a little incongruent, but there’s actually quite an overlap between the two.
“I’ve always been interested in systems and structures,” Tim says. “Designing the mechanics for a game was a really fun way to apply those kinds of ideas.”
Tim’s now full steam ahead and engaging a professional illustrator to bring his vision to life. He expects the board game to be complete by the end of the year and live on Kickstarter in early 2021.
We know the side hustle is nothing new, but what may come as a surprise to some is just how valuable it can be from a business perspective. While balancing a full-time and side gig might seem tricky, and some employers worry that an extracurricular project can impact an employee’s performance, there’s research that totally bucks this idea. A report by Henley Business School at the University of Reading in the UK found that 60% of leaders reckon having a side hustle makes their workers happier and more productive, and 47% of leaders think allowing a side gig attracts the very best talent.
A boon for companies and employees alike? Sounds like a win-win to us.
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