THE RACE TO THE CANDY CASTLE

In 1949 the very first version of Candy Land was created and released. This game depicts a fantastical realm made of candy, complete with heroes, villains and of course a BIG sparkly candy castle. My personal favorite character was always Queen Frostine (renamed Princess Frostine in 2002). According to the game’s history, the story is actually about the King of Candy Land (aptly named King Candy), but he was  not nearly as sparkly (or big) as Queen Frostine on the board dating from the 80’s that I lovingly played with as a child. In my memory, she will always be the fair and beloved matriarch of the sweet domain.

The gameplay is simple and there are TONS of games that follow the same rules but there is something about Candy Land that makes it withstand the test of time. Basically, you wait your turn, grab the top card from a deck, and jump to the corresponding space on the board, with the larger objective of getting to the sparkling sugary castle before any of the other players. 

 I am a board game lover, and from my perspective, Candy Land is still a pretty great game. I think about the design a lot, and I find a lot of connections between the challenges that business owners face and the hard plastic gingerbread figures standing at the start square. Everyone wants a clear path, an obvious objective, and the opportunity to not only see their progress, but also view their chances to beat out all competitors. 

In reality, there is a lot we can do to get closer to this idealized version of entrepreneurship. Clearly defining your business and your brand will help illuminate the path to success. Intentional market research and understanding key business performance metrics will help you see how you stack up to your closest competitors. Last but not least, honest reflection and strategic growth plans will make your short term and long term goals not only obvious but tangible. 

If you’ve ever played Candy Land though, you know there’s one more component…. The character cards. Like the rest of the game’s dynamics, this part is simple too. Pull a character card, and jump to the space with that character’s symbol. These spaces are scattered across the rainbow colored trail, and can cause a total upset in any given game. You could be 3 spaces away from victory, and dutifully grab the top card, only to reveal Mr. Mint and get sent all the way back to the peppermint forest, only a few small squares advanced from the starting space. 

This is another feature not dissimilar from some entrepreneurial experiences. You could show up for work, prepared for another day of striving toward building your vision, and encounter a burst pipe, staffing challenges, bad online reviews, a long list of things that could send you all the way to the proverbial peppermint forest. 

When I played Candy Land as a child, I played with my younger brother, and he almost always cheated. In one such breach of the rules, he would grab more than one card, and see which one would get him further on the board. When that didn’t work, he would pull one card, and  then skip spaces to proceed further toward that delicious looking castle. While I did not then, and do not now condone cheating in board games, I think there is a way to employ these tactics in business ownership without any ethical violations. 

Making informed decisions and thoughtfully weighing all of your options as you make decisions that will impact the future of your business is the real-life equivalent of pulling a few cards on your turn to choose from the available options, instead of just blindly accepting the next move. I have worked with MANY entrepreneurs who do not take the opportunity to look at a few of the next cards before moving their piece. Look closely at the brands you partner with AND the brands you don’t currently partner with. Which company will support yours better? Which company has better resources? Where do you rent, and is it the best environment for your growth? Does your credit card processing company charge more or less than the competition? Look at a few options, and decide which option is best for your business, in this game, you get to choose. 

In the game, if you pull a card with a small orange square, the directive is to move to the next orange square, and my brother would move to the second or third orange square instead. In business candy land, you can skip spaces too. Especially now, in the world of microbusinesses, influencer commerce, online retail, and self publishing, you can skip over some of the spaces that were required in the past. Before we had the capability to buy anything from a house to a houseplant in our pockets at all times, following a more measured, formulaic path was a requirement. You had to prove your concept at a small brick and mortar before moving to a slightly bigger brick and mortar, then second location, on and on. Now, you could start, scale and sell your business all from home. If you’re ready to skip that first orange square, do it. 

The thing that Candy Land provides so readily, and brightly is the path. The squares, and the time between your turns gives you the chance to breathe, knowing that you’re doing all you can to get to that shining castle, waiting for your next opportunity to advance. You gain the reassurance and confidence that you’re on your way, even if you’ve been exiled to the molasses swamp. You might be stuck in goo now, but you can tell, you’re making moves. As a business owner, that clear progression is hard to see, and the path doesn’t automatically lay itself out in gumdrop hues for you to neatly follow. 

It is the most fulfilling part of my work to help business owners see, or make that path. Through conversational collaboration I can see all of the architectural detail of YOUR candy castle, your perfect-world, dream vision of your business. By analyzing your business structure, we can see where those character cards might come up in the deck, and together, flip over the next few cards to choose which square you want to land on at the end of your turn. From an objective and experienced perspective, I can tell you just how many squares are left to get to the castle, or let you know that the red gingerbread guy is only a few squares behind you. 

Business ownership, team culture development and growth strategy expand beyond the simple rules of a childhood game, of course. However, remembering what it takes to win at candy land, might just help you win in other avenues too. Plus, the more you play, the better your odds. 

If this makes sense to you, and you could use a little help seeing just how to win the race to the candy castle at the end of the rainbow, send me a message or give me a call, I’m ready to help you win.