Recently I read a Gamasutra article by the founders of GRIN, a large Sweden based independent game developer. They employ something like 250 people The upper management speak extremely candidly in this article. If you are interested in the business side of running an independent developer I highly recommend reading this.
Independence – a reality check. We hear it quite often: it’s great to be independent. You know, screw the publisher, be independent, be in full control over everything. It’s not always good. Independence requires stamina, endurance, and stupidness.
It takes a certain kind of person to be able to pull off running a small business in any industry. A certain level of risk taking is absolutely necessary. And that is not for everyone.
On presenting an independent development company to a publisher:
He stressed professionalism and efficiency. “What they care about is that you have process,” Bo explained. “That you have structure, that you have the organization, that you have the track record. Then they start thinking about the IP and the technology behind it. You have to understand that you are a service provider. Nothing else. When you realize that, you can sell yourself as the service provider, and not a rock star, because you’re not. Sorry. But you have to understand our role. And once you communicate that to them, the conversation will be so much smoother.”
I highly recommend reading this if you have any dreams of one day running your own business. Even if you’re more interested in a non game related business I think you can still appreciate something about the business motivations presenented in this article.