e-Sports teams: 5 keys to success

The growth of eSports is unbelievable. Every day there are new teams trying to reach glory within the industry. Sadly, most of them fail. Recently I had a discussion with other EPN members about what it takes to be successful as an eSport organization. We came up with 5 keys to success which I would like to share.

1. Educate yourself in basic business administration. Teams are a businesses and the least you will need is leadership and negotiation skills. You will also need basic knowledge of finance, planning and a lot of marketing since you will have little to none support at the beggining.
2. Build a solid organization. Have clear goals and share your vision. You need to know where you are, where do you want to be in 5 years and how will you make that happen. In order to have a solid organization you will need to make a plan, with a solid structure. Who does what? when? how? how do we keep growing? what’s the next step? Those are some questions you will need to answer in your journey.
3. Look for talented and commited players. You will need players who share your vision and that are as committed as you are. At first, it’s quite probable that they will not get paid, and that is something everyone should be aware of. Money will come along the way, but sponsors will seek only for a safe investment, and that means they are looking for solid organizations.
4. Develope the talent within your organization. Not only do you need to make sure your players build up synergy and get better at the game, you also need to develope talent at a management level. it is not only about growing, is also about managing growth.
5. Keep the organization stable. There will be a lot of ups and downs but you will need to endure in order to show that your organization is serious about going pro, this will pay off as soon as you atract new sponsors.