[mike_s]

I thought I should talk about my goal and what I want to create.

Right now

For those who don't know I am creating the commit driver. More on that in my other thread.

The near future

What I plan to do is make myself a lazertag system. In fact, it's not your ordinary system because you'll feel like you're playing duke nukem in person when you're playing the lazertag. Only difference is there will be no real blood. I will have extra features which I won't explain before I open business.

TONS of work has been done

I created this business idea back in 2015 on a train trip to Montreal with my now business assistant. I was able to save $15,000+ by ordering many parts for the project online.
Then I did the circuit boards myself.
The process includes sawing them, etching them with my circuit board designs, drilling tens of thousands of holes, fitting hundreds of components through them, and going through a few reels of solder to manually solder them along with fixing cables.
Oh, and I had to mention, tons of lines of machine code because my boards have many special programmable controllers which does special actions based on the code being executed.
So now it is a matter of heavy testing and gettig the lighting right and things electrically will fall in place.

Before anyone asks, Yes I have heard of surface-mount technology but I went with through-hole because I expect these boards to go through heat and I think with too much heat on the component side, surface-mount will fail easier (because the component leads are so close together). Also, I wanted to save money.

The Coverings

My next immediate step is to work with a company to make the coverings for my electronics, because no one wants to go to a lazertag game where they only wear circuit boards on their bodies because they could jab the people or they might malfunction for being in the open environment. Plus it looks odd too.

Money and COVID is the dilemma

I want to have 20 lazertag units up and running.
After talking to a few companies, I received quotes of $300-$600 CDN for just the lazer gun moulding. This excludes the rest of the parts but because the rest will be more basic to create, I anticipate a lower price for them. This means I'm looking at roughly $6,000 to $12,000.

That's money I and many other people don't have right now.

Because I couldn't agree to the newly made ridiculous terms of my employment several months into the COVID season, I had no choice but to quit a job I had (permanent part time) of 15 consecutive years. Had the COVID season never occurred, then I would be still employed with the same company to this day. I do feel sorry for the business owners that were forced to close their doors for good simply for listening to the government rules.

The clock is ticking

So now, time is ticking for me.

I will need to secure sufficient funds to secure a building long-term, and I will need to hire construction workers to build the game maze and possibly wall graphic designers, plus I have to look at monthly building and utility expenses.

If I can get the commit driver done in a matter of days, then I can use it as reference to success because it'll show a target person that I'm serious about gaming. On top of that, I have successfully repaid a bank a personal loan and my personal credit score is excellent.

So who is the "target" person?

Good Question. Unfortunately I don't have personal sources of sufficient income. And I don't plan to be a panhandler. So my options may be one of the following: Borrowing from the bank (again), or Seeking an investor.

But each option has its pros and cons.

Pros and Cons of investor

If I choose an investor, I may be able to work out a better payback plan whether it be through business profit and/or through business assets which means my credit rating won't necessarily be destroyed if I don't make a cent at all. The bad side to an investor is that they want (at least some) ownership of the business. This means that if I'm slowly successful, there's that chance that the investor could pull the plug for any reason thereby leaving me possibly helpless.

Pros and Cons of Bank Loan

If I choose a bank loan, then I will be able to control where the money goes and I'll have full ownership of the business operations for as long as meet my loan payment obligations. The downside to this option is that despite my pre-approval loan offers have increased over the years, the money is still insufficient, and on top of that, I am obligated to repay the bank a portion of the loan whether or not I make a sale at my business and whether or not I remain open.

In the meantime...

In the meantime, I'll continue with the driver, get some mouldings for a few lazertag vests, and pray that I'll run into the best source of income with the least hassle, because the way I see it now, returning to a dead-end job is a no-no and people that have received degrees and diplomas have even ended their employment during COVID season.

I wish me and the unfortunate business owners and professionals out there who lost their jobs during COVID season (and because of COVID rules) best of luck in future endeavors...

[Danukem]

It sounds like you have worked very hard on this and have some valuable technical skills. I keep hearing about how companies are trying to hire workers but can't find enough...maybe the jobs they are trying to fill are low-tier and unappealing.

I'm guessing your lazertag is some kind of AR game?

[Forge]

Sorry for your difficult situation, but i already sent all my money to a Nigerian Prince that needed my help unlocking his frozen assets.

Just hit up the u.s. government for a business loan and claim minority/ person-of-color special status. They'll throw money at you and don't care if you pay them back.

[Aristotle Gumball]

I love madness.

[Jimmy]

Maybe spend less time writing walls of text and then you'll have more time to look for a job.

[Sangman]

What is a "commit driver"?